Gov. Brian Schweitzer has ordered games to be taken off all employees' computers in state departments under his jurisdiction.

At a Cabinet meeting April 1, Bruce Nelson, governor's chief of staff, told department directors that Schweitzer wanted any computer games like solitaire removed from state employees' computers, Schweitzer's spokeswoman, Sarah Elliott, said on Monday.

There will be a follow-up reminder at the Cabinet meeting Tuesday, Elliott said.

"It's not what you're there to do," Elliot said. "You're there to work. State employees are there to do their jobs and most of them do their jobs very well."

Schweitzer's order follows a March 31 story by Lee Newspapers State Bureau about conflicting state government policies on the games on state employees' computers. Certain games like solitaire, hearts and minesweeper come with the Microsoft Windows software package that's common on many computers, including the state's.

Although it's against state policy for state employees to play games on their computers, state policy left it to each department to decide whether to keep or remove the games from employees' computers.

In some departments, the information technology staffs have removed the games when the computers are delivered.

The issue arose last month at the Child Support Enforcement Division -- part of the Department of Public Health and Human Services -- when employees received new computers without the games. Division Administrator Lonnie Olson said he received complaints from several union and nonunion employees that some other divisions had games on their employees' computers, just as the Child Support Enforcement Division previously had.

Olson, saying he didn't want his division employees treated differently, ordered that the games be put back on the computers. He said he wasn't aware of anyone abusing the privilege of playing games during work hours and would take action if there were any abuses.

A reporter's inquiry to Public Health and Human Services Director Joan Miles' office led her to order games removed from any of the department's 3,000 computers that had games on them. While Miles said she had no reason to believe that employees were playing the games during work hours, it was better to remove the temptation.

"It sends a clear message that computers are not to be used for nonwork activities," Miles said in a newsletter. "We want all employees to understand that state computers are for work purposes and not for entertainment."

Schweitzer's directors head a number of executive branch departments, while other statewide elected officials oversee their own agencies. After a State Bureau inquiry, Superintendent of Public Instruction Linda McCulloch also ordered the games to be removed from employees' computers at the Office of Public Instruction, although the information technology staff found no abuse.

The legislative and judicial branches are independent branches of government not under the governor's jurisdiction. The Montana university system is governed by the Board of Regents, appointed by the governor.