News Detail

County and Courts Declare Emergency in Preparation for COVID-19

Commissioners, Courts

March 18, 2020

Due to concerns regarding the coronavirus (COVID-19), and the increasing likelihood of the virus spreading to Franklin County, the Franklin County Commissioners declared a disaster emergency, effective March 17th, 2020.  The declaration allows staff to expedite activities related to emergency response and readies the county for federal funding for costs related to COVID-19.  In addition, commissioners led a discussion of the pandemic preparation with leaders from healthcare, government and emergency services. A video of that update can be found here: https://youtu.be/1-CzbOgTTbI.
 

At the current time, County services will remain available with the following modifications and recommendations to help ensure the health and safety of our residents and workforce:

 

• Senior Activity Centers – closed to the public until further notice.
   
• Adult Probation – administering temperature checks to individuals reporting.
   
• Franklin County Jail

– All social and contact professional visits are suspended for 30 days.
– All non-essential meetings, volunteer programs, and contractor visits are cancelled. 
– All those entering the facility will be administered temperature checks. The work release program is on hold until further notice. 
– Inmate trips into the community are restricted. 
– Weekender program participants are not to report to the jail for two weeks.
 

• County operations 

– Staff is encouraged to work remotely if able and practice social distancing.
– Non-essential meetings and gatherings have been canceled or postponed.

 

In a separate action, President Judge Shawn Meyers declared a judicial emergency, effective March 18th – April 3, with the potential to extend if deemed necessary. Please see http://bit.ly/FranklinCountyCourts for more information.