Douglas County and Treanor will host an open house from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Monday, July 1, about the Judicial and Law Enforcement Center (JLEC) renovation and addition project. The community event will begin at 5:30 p.m. with a brief presentation on the second floor of the JLEC, 111 E. Eleventh St., in the Division 4 courtroom. 

The Douglas County District Court Legal Self-Help Office will offer its services at Lawrence Public Library, 707 Vermont St., on Tuesdays, starting June 11, between 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. The Legal Self-Help Office can assist residents with finding legal forms as well as providing information about court processes and available resources.

Douglas County has become aware of a potential phone scam where the caller claims to be District Court and then says the person needs to pay a fine or they will be arrested because they missed jury duty. Douglas County District Court will never seek payment or have someone arrested for missing jury duty.

If you are a victim of a scam, contact the Kansas Attorney General’s Office – Consumer Protection Division at 785-296-2215 or https://www.ag.ks.gov/in-your-corner-kansas.

As a part of the ongoing effort to increase the safety of open burning in the unincorporated area, Douglas County has increased the options for citizens to log their burns and receive burn ban notifications.

A recently-formed Douglas County Drug Court Alumni Group is about to get a boost thanks to a $2,500 donation from the Social Service League, the oldest nonprofit organization in Douglas County. Meg Davis, vice president of the Social Service League, is scheduled to present a check to the alumni group on June 7 during a Drug Court graduation ceremony. The alumni group will use the funding for recovery activities and community events.

Felix Kirkland, first-place winner of this year’s Douglas County Youth Entrepreneurship Challenge (YEC), was selected as a finalist in the state competition this spring.

Felix was among 81 students who participated in the Kansas Entrepreneurship Challenge in April in Manhattan. They were judged on their business executive summaries and mock boardroom presentations. Thirty-one students received a cash prize, including Felix who received $1,700. The competition is open to students in grades 6-12. 

Common Ground, the community gardening and urban agriculture program, will offer free workshops about composting in June. Composting is the natural process of recycling organic matter such as leaves and food scraps into valuable fertilizer that can enrich the soil for gardening and farming.

The instructor for the workshops will be Stan Ring, former Douglas County Extension Horticulture Program Assistant and a Douglas County Master Gardener. The workshops will be held at four different Common Ground sites:

Penn Street Community Garden got a colorful makeover in May thanks to Kansas City-based artist Jude Croft. The garden is one of the oldest Common Ground sites, established in 2012. 

A letter dated Jan. 20, 1937, was recently discovered during renovation work in the County Commission chamber. The letter and a document resembling an English assignment in the same handwriting were found between boards in the storage area that is located behind the old jury box. The letter was signed by Dwight Dale.

Douglas County has received a Spring 2024 Preservation in Progress Award from the Lawrence Preservation Alliance for its preservation work on the historic County Courthouse in downtown Lawrence. The award recognizes two projects that are underway: waterproofing of the foundation and renovation of the Commission chamber.

The Douglas County Sustainability Office has published the final draft of the “Adapt Douglas County: A Climate Action and Adaptation Plan” that aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and help the community adapt to the risks of climate change.

The Douglas County Heritage Conservation Council announces the recipients of the 2024 Natural & Cultural Heritage grant program after receiving approval from the Board of County Commissioners in April. A total of $220,000 was awarded to 11 projects.  

An additional $200,000 was awarded to four projects focused on Open Space themes. These Open Space grants were made possible through a one-time allocation of federal American Rescue Plan Act funds awarded for the planning and implementation of Open Space initiatives in Douglas County.