For 23 years, Jolene Cullen has worked in criminal justice. She has provided service in child abuse investigations, foster care placement, corrections, and house arrest programs. She currently serves as the Adult Services Officer in the Douglas County Behavioral Health Court program.

On May 19, she witnessed Amanda Klopfenstein and Joshua Walters graduate from the program and get their criminal charges dismissed. That’s what she loves most about her job.

A dedication and ribbon cutting ceremony for the Treatment and Recovery Center (TRC) will be at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, June 23, followed by an open house until 7 p.m.

The dedication will include brief remarks by Bert Nash Community Mental Health Center CEO Patrick Schmitz, LMH Health President and CEO Russ Johnson, Douglas County Commission Chair Shannon Reid and Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services Secretary Laura Howard.

The Douglas County Heritage Conservation Council (HCC) is hosting a preservation conference, “Trails, Tales and Structures: The Stories of Douglas County Heritage,” June 24-25 in Baldwin City. The conference will offer site tours of historic landmarks on the first day and then panel discussions and interactive sessions about heritage and preservation on the second day. The conference is free and open to the public.

The Board of County Commissioners will hold a public hearing at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, June 15, regarding the petition for incorporation of the City of Clearfield. The hearing will be held in the County Commission meeting room located in the County Courthouse, 1100 Massachusetts Street, on the second floor. The meeting also will be available by Zoom. Here's the link: http://dgcoks.org/commissionmeetings. The public hearing is part of the County Commission's regular business meeting.

The Kansas Supreme Court has upheld all maps as passed by the Legislature and signed by the Governor. The Douglas County Clerk’s Office has been preparing for implementation of new maps when approved.

The public is invited to a retirement reception honoring District Court Judge Kay Huff. The reception will be from 2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. Thursday, July 7, in the historic County Courthouse, 1100 Massachusetts St. in the County Commission meeting room on the second floor.

The Honorable Judge Kay Huff, of the Seventh Judicial District, is retiring July 8. Huff hears felony criminal cases and major civil cases including tort, contract, property and administrative matters.

Jim Carpenter’s primary task may sound strange for a member of a prosecutor’s office.

“I was brought in to help to keep people out of jail,” said Carpenter, a new senior assistant district attorney in the Douglas County District Attorney’s Office.

Moody’s Investors Service assigned a bond rating of AAA, the highest possible rating an entity can receive, to Douglas County with a stable outlook. The county first received this rating in November 2020.

According to an April 1 Moody’s news release, the rating reflects the county’s maintenance of stable financial operations and strong operating reserves coupled with low debt and pension burdens. The rating also incorporates the large and growing tax base with above average resident income that is supported by the institutional presence of the University of Kansas.

When Kent Brown was elected Register of Deeds in November 2020, he had an extensive spreadsheet of all of the traits that he was looking for in a Deputy. These included: leadership skills, industry experience and a willingness to learn. Shari Hicks, who was working in the County Clerk’s Office as the real estate coordinator, checked all of the boxes and more, he said.

“Shari’s positivity and enthusiastic attitude really made her stand out. She’s exactly the kind of energy I want to bring to this office.”

Douglas County is accepting grant applications for American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding. The deadline for applications is 5 p.m. Monday, May 2.

Funds can be used for qualifying expenditures that occur between March 3, 2021, and Dec. 31, 2024. Projects should fall within one of these categories:

The Douglas County Public Works Department is seeking your input on a proposed Vegetation Management Plan. The plan is intended to direct operations that include roadside mowing, park maintenance, revegetation practices, herbicide use and noxious weed control. It will go before the County Commission for approval on March 23.

The phone rings.

A dispatcher in the Douglas County Emergency Communications Center answers, “Douglas County 911. Do you have a police, fire or medical emergency?”