Lawrence-Douglas County Public Health releases updated guidance for early childhood and K-12 school settings on the identification of positive cases, identification of close contacts, and quarantine in school settings.

An updated dashboard provides a snapshot of the current population of the Douglas County Correctional Facility, including demographic data, time served in custody, judicial status and the type of arresting offense.

Douglas County Drug Court program team members and participants invite the community to join them in a Recovery Walk 7-8 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 21, in South Park, south of the County Courthouse, 1100 Massachusetts St. There will be luminarias and signs along the sidewalks that will promote the hope of recovery for those who struggle with substances.

“We want to light the path of recovery to provide hope and awareness,” Drug Court Officer Shannon Bruegge said.

The community is invited to a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 14, to celebrate the completion of The Passerine Pavilion at Wells Overlook Park, about two miles south of Lawrence. The new accessible viewing platform is on the northern end of the park and provides a breathtaking view of Lawrence, the University of Kansas campus and the surrounding hills, valleys and farmlands.

Douglas County Government’s general and satellite offices will be closed Monday, Sept. 6, for Labor Day. The Douglas County Sheriff’s Office, Emergency Dispatch Center and Criminal Justice Services will be operating. If you have an emergency, please call 911. If you have a non-emergency, call 785-843–0250. We wish everyone a safe and happy Labor Day weekend.

Couples who need a marriage license in September should apply for them now because a database courts use to process licenses will be offline for a week in September. Couples can expect some delays as a result.

Courts use a database managed by the Office of Vital Statistics to record marriage license application data. The database will be offline Sept. 8-13, so no data can be entered.

Douglas County District Attorney Suzanne Valdez today announced that a jury returned guilty verdicts on three felony counts of aggravated indecent liberties with a child and five misdemeanor counts of sexual battery against Shawn O’Brien, 50, of Lawrence.  

The felony charges stemmed from multiple incidents in O’Brien’s home in which he touched a girl younger than 14 under her clothes on her chest and inside her underpants, while claiming to give her a massage.

In alignment with Douglas County Unified Command partners, Douglas County will be requiring face coverings in all Douglas County buildings, regardless of vaccination status, beginning Monday, August 9. The requirement of face coverings applies to County employees and members of the public who visit buildings that are owned, operated and leased by the county.

The election canvass for the primary was held at 9 a.m. Aug. 16.  The official election results are posted at http://dgcoks.org/primary2021. The top 6 vote-getters in the race for Lawrence City Commission and the race for USD 497 School Board will advance to the general election in November.

Douglas County District Attorney Suzanne Valdez issued the following statement in response to Attorney General Derek Schmidt’s announcement regarding prosecution of recently enacted voter laws:

Researchers will present preliminary findings from their examination of pedestrian and traffic stop data during a community meeting at 6 p.m. Monday, Aug. 9, using Zoom. The data has been collected from Douglas County law enforcement agencies.

The Lawrence-Douglas County Planning Commission is recommending a proposed text amendment to the subdivision regulations for Lawrence and the unincorporated areas of Douglas County. The amendment is scheduled to go before the Douglas County and City of Lawrence commissions for consideration in August.

In areas close to the city limits (Tier 2), the amendment would restrict land division until the property is annexed into the City of Lawrence. Farther outside the city limits (Tier 3), the amendment would limit residential development to help preserve agricultural lands.