County and Courts Declare Emergency in Preparation for COVID-19

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.

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