Douglas County District Attorney Charles Branson announced on Thursday an end to filing criminal cases for simple marijuana possession offenses.           

“After a careful survey of policies in other cities, including Lawrence, Wichita, and Kansas City, Missouri,” DA Branson said, “the District Attorney's Office will no longer prosecute cases of simple marijuana possession.” 

Douglas County Public Works announces that, weather permitting, E 1750 Road (North First Street in Baldwin City) between Route 12 (N 400 Road; State Lake Road in Baldwin City) and N 500 Road will be closed to through traffic beginning Monday, Oct. 7, for the start of an improvement project. Public Works anticipates the road section will remain closed through the 2019 fall season.

Voters in Douglas County, Kansas, will no longer have to pay postage to mail their advance election ballots. Advance ballot envelopes will now be marked postage paid, and a voter will be able to drop the return ballot in the mail without a stamp. Previously, voters had to affix one first-class stamp to return advance ballots by mail.

“Our job is to identify and remove potential barriers to voting. As mail advance ballots have increased so has potential confusion about how many stamps are required for returning the ballot,” Douglas County Clerk Jamie Shew said.

The Douglas County Clerk’s office has mailed more than 66,000 informational brochures and advance voting applications to voters ahead of the Nov. 5 City/School General Election. The informational mailers will start arriving in mailboxes of active registered voters the week of Sept. 23.

In Douglas County, there are 57 polling locations that require at least 170 workers on Election Days, and there’s one person who coordinates all of them: Julie Ybarra.

Douglas County Public Works announces that N 1200 Road from Route 1061 (E 2200 Road) to E 2300 Road will be closed beginning Monday, Sept. 30, weather permitting, for intersection and ditch improvements. Public Works anticipates the closure duration to be four weeks, weather permitting.

Douglas County is seeking applications for the 2019/2020 Youth Entrepreneurship Challenge!

The competition — open to students in grades 6 through 12 — consists of preparing a written business plan or executive summary, a tradeshow booth, an elevator pitch and final presentation. Students compete for $3,500 in prize money:

Notice of Sheriff's Sale of real estate situated in Douglas County, Kansas on October 25, 2019 at 10:00 a.m. in the County Commission Chambers, on the second floor of the Douglas County Historic Courthouse, 1100 Massachusetts Street, Lawrence, Kansas.

Property Map

The Douglas County Zoning and Codes Department is hosting several meetings in October about proposed changes to the Zoning and Subdivision Regulations for unincorporated Douglas County. During the meetings, staff will provide an overview of the changes and then encourage residents to share feedback.

The meetings will be:

Public Works announces that pavement rehabilitation on portions of Routes 438 and 1029 will likely begin Wednesday, Sept. 25,  or Thursday, Sept. 26. It was previously scheduled to begin Monday, Sept. 23. The postponement is due to a contractor delay in completing previously contracted work outside of Douglas County.

About 140 athletes will compete in the 2019 CSCAA National Collegiate Open Water Swimming Championship at Lone Star Lake on Saturday, Sept. 14! The men’s race is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. and the women’s race will be at 10 a.m. 

The event has been held at Lone Star Lake for the past three years, and is presented by KU and the College Swimming Coaches Association of America.

Schedule for lake use:

• Thursday, Sept. 12 - The course will be set up, but the lake will remain open.

Douglas County has partnered with United Way of the Plains and Johnson County to provide MyResource Connection, a new website where residents can locate hundreds of services. The website is Douglas.MyResourceConnection.org.