Delaware Treasurer Colleen Davis says she didn't know she was not allowed to take a state-owned vehicle home without permission.

The acknowledgment comes after she was caught driving on a suspended license in November – exactly one week after she defeated incumbent Republican Ken Simpler in the 2018 election.

Davis had been regularly parking a state Toyota Prius at her house since first getting the keys in May.

"I should have been proactive," Davis told The News Journal on Wednesday. "We didn't receive sort of a manual on it. ... We were given reference to where to get more information as far as forms."

Most state employees, including Davis, aren't allowed to drive state-owned vehicles outside work hours unless they receive permission from the state budget office, which operates the state fleet. The cars can be driven only on official state business and cannot be used for personal trips such as to the grocery store.

Since her agency received its state-owned car, Davis had driven it to her home more than 30 times, her spokeswoman said. Sometimes, her car was parked at her home over the weekend.

The treasurer's office found in September that Davis was not following fleet policies after a conversation with the state budget office about some paperwork, said Christina Haas, a Davis spokeswoman.

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Davis said she will pay the state back for any mileage or fuel costs.

Justice of the Peace Courts can issue a fine of up to $50 per offense when an employee uses the car for personal use or fails to park it where it should be.

Davis, who makes $117,582 per year, said she does not think there are other state laws she is failing to follow.

It is unclear at this point the extent of how much Davis drove the car outside of her job.

So far, her office has found some "parades and events" on Davis' calendar "that may have been personal or campaign-related," Haas said.

The treasurer said on Wednesday that she is unsure now how many times, if at all, she drove the vehicle outside of official state business.

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"There isn’t a clear definition of what constitutes as personal," Davis said. "There are several sort of gray areas."

She used the state-owned car once to shop for artwork for her Dover office, but Davis said she did not remember when she made that trip.

Haas said Davis may also have used the car to attend functions where she might not have been invited if she wasn't treasurer, but the event "didn't really end up being office-related."

"She may have been invited to meet with a major company or a nonprofit, and the meeting is with her, but ultimately it doesn't have to do with receiving a state grant or anything like that," Haas said. "She does have a campaign entity that they could have reached out to instead."

It's also unclear whether Davis used the car to campaign.

"They should not be using the vehicle and going to these functions and representing themselves as a candidate," said Robert Scoglietti, a spokesperson for the state management and budget office.

Scoglietti could not think of another instance where a state employee or agency head was found misusing a state vehicle.

"I don't believe it's common at all," Scoglietti said.

Davis said she would consider increasing transparency around her spending of state funds, such as disclosing her individual transactions.

“If there was some type of transaction that was not authorized, I would disclose that," Davis said.

Largely unknown before declaring her candidacy in late June, Davis received financial backing from the state party and endorsements from several unions and then rode a wave that put Democratic women into the last two statewide offices held by Republicans and flipped two seats in the Delaware General Assembly.

After Davis was ticketed in November for driving with a suspended license, she pleaded guilty in December to speeding, and charges of driving on a suspended license and other offenses were dropped.

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It was the fourth time Davis has been charged with driving on a suspended license in the last 21 years, according to court records.

Davis said at the time that her license had been suspended because she failed to show up for a court date she requested, citing the demands of campaigning for statewide office while working a full-time job as a health care consultant.

Davis said her license was reinstated in November soon after her arrest. It remains unclear how long her license was suspended and exactly when it was reinstated. State law bars the Division of Motor Vehicles from releasing such information.

Have a story tip about state government? Contact Sarah Gamard at sgamard@delawareonline.com.