The Barton County Commission met in special session on Friday to discuss the Covid-19 crisis.
“The COVID-19 incident is ever changing,” County Clerk Donna Zimmerman said. “We will provide updates as things change. We strongly encourage citizens to maintain social distancing by using the County’s online functions, emailing or calling for assistance.”
The commission made the following county operational changes.
• The Courthouse will close to the public beginning at 5pm Friday, March 20, 2020 until further notice. Employees will continue to work and monitor phone lines.
• Road and Bridge, Environmental Management and 911-Communications are also operational but closed to the public.
• The Noxious Weed Department, Juvenile Services, Central Kansas Community Corrections and Court Services are working but open to the public by appointment only.
• The Health Department is open and available to the public by appointment.
• The Sheriff’s Office Administrative building is closed to the public. Use the Detention Center/Jail for all inquiries. The Sheriff’s Office has suspended all VIN inspections until further notice. All fingerprinting have been suspended with the exception of the medical field.
• The Register of Deeds office is encouraging the public, to mail any documents that need to be recorded, directly to the Register of Deeds Office at: 1400 Main, Room 205, Great Bend, Ks. 67530. Include name, address and daytime phone number. Call the office at 620-793-1849 with any questions. No Passports will be processed until further notice.
• The Treasurer’s Office encourages use of their drop box located outside the East Courthouse door from 7:30am to 4:30 pm weekdays for tag renewals, title work, tax payments and payment plan payments. The drop box will be checked every thirty minutes.
The renewals, etc. will be completed the same day if dropped off prior to 4 pm provided no problems are encountered with the documents. Please call the office at 620-793-1831 prior to dropping off your paperwork so we can provide guidance and answer questions. Please put a daytime phone number on the envelope so you can be contacted with questions or instructions for pick-up. If you have title work, please call ahead for instructions on what needs to be provided.
Forms will be available upon request. You can also renew your tags by phone by calling our office.
Barton County is fully committed to providing essential services and serving the public, she said. 911 and emergency services will remain in full operation.
“Thank you for your patience as we work to keep our employees and the public safe,” she said.
