The DAR Deadline Memo: Which Rule Actually Governs
Below is an excerpt from a memo dated February 20, posted in the roll-call room of a county courthouse.
'Effective March 3, every officer assigned to Courtroom 4 must file a Daily Activity Report (DAR) before leaving the building. DARs are reviewed on the next business day. Officers on the 4 p.m. to midnight tour who complete an off-site prisoner transport may file within 24 hours of the transport's conclusion instead of before leaving. Beginning April 1, this 24-hour alternative is discontinued.
Separately, a tour captain may waive the before-leaving-the-building requirement for any officer who worked more than two hours of overtime that tour, provided the captain gives written notice to the Tour Commander before the officer departs.'
On March 18, Officer Reyes completes an off-site transport at 11:40 p.m. and then works three hours of overtime.
1. When is Officer Reyes's DAR due under the memo, and does the overtime waiver change your answer?
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March 18 falls before the April 1 cutoff, so the 24-hour alternative is still in force. Reyes completed an off-site transport, which is exactly the trigger for that alternative. Her DAR is due within 24 hours of the transport's conclusion: by 11:40 p.m. on March 19.
The overtime waiver does not move the deadline. The waiver modifies only the requirement to file before leaving the building, and the transport clause already displaced that requirement for this tour. Because the underlying rule is replaced, the waiver has nothing to operate on here, even though Reyes's three hours of overtime would otherwise qualify her.
2. A newly assigned officer will complete a transport ending at 10:15 p.m. on April 5 with 90 minutes of overtime and no waiver. Write a short note (three or four sentences) telling that officer exactly when the DAR is due and why.
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April 5 is after the April 1 cutoff, so the 24-hour alternative no longer exists. Ninety minutes of overtime is under the two-hour threshold, so no captain's waiver is possible either. The general rule therefore controls.
Sample note: 'File your DAR before you leave the building that night. The 24-hour extension for off-site transports ended April 1, so it does not apply to your April 5 run. Overtime only helps you if it exceeds two hours and a captain gives written notice to the Tour Commander before you go.'
3. Identify one ambiguity in the memo that could cause a late filing, and state how you would resolve it rather than guessing.
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The memo never defines when a transport 'concludes' - arrival back at the courthouse, handoff of the prisoner to the cellblock, or the end of the tour. Two officers could compute two different deadlines from the same run.
A second gap: the memo does not say how the 24-hour clock runs when it expires on a weekend, even though review happens the next business day.
Resolution: ask the Tour Commander for a one-line clarification ('conclusion means the moment the prisoner is signed back into the cellblock') and have it posted at roll call. A deadline rule should not depend on each officer's individual reading.