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.

Douglas County’s IT Department will begin migrating services to a new dgcoks.gov domain in May.

Why move to .GOV? It is easier to identify governments on the Internet and using a .GOV domain shows the website is an official government entity. The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) sponsors .GOV and makes it available solely to U.S.-based government organizations and publicly controlled entities.

Additionally, using .GOV increases security:

Douglas County is celebrating National County Government Month by hosting its first Douglas County Government Day event on Tuesday, April 23. The event will be from 4 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. at the Douglas County Fairgrounds, 21st and Harper Streets, in the Open Pavilion. The event is free and open to the community.

“We are excited to host a fun event to share our important services with the community,” County Administrator Sarah Plinsky said. “From maintaining roads and providing public safety to supporting human services and conducting elections, we are proud to serve Douglas County.”

The Douglas County Sheriff’s Office, District Court and mental health providers are set to begin a local process for evaluating mental competency of defendants and offering outpatient treatment for restoration.

The process is believed to be the first to begin at the county level in Kansas and would help address the statewide backlog that has delayed numerous criminal cases in recent years due to the shortage of bed space at Larned and Osawatomie state hospitals.

On Feb. 14, 2024, the Douglas County Appraiser’s Office mailed letters to owners of properties identified as short-term rentals to notify them that their assessment classification was going to change from residential to commercial, which would likely result in an increase in property taxes. Information gathered for that determination was obtained during the last half of 2023.

The Board of County Commissioners will consider a text amendment to the Zoning and Land Use regulations for the unincorporated areas of Douglas County at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 1, during the business meeting. The text amendment - TA-22-00031 - is regarding Wind Energy Conversion System (WECS) standards.

Felix Kirkland, of Liberty Memorial Central Middle School in Lawrence, received first place in the 2023-2024 Douglas County Youth Entrepreneurship Challenge on Feb. 16 at the Dwayne Peaslee Technical Training Center. He received a $1,250 check and qualified for the state competition in April in Manhattan. His business Greener Grass is an all-electrical lawn tool rental service.

Felix competed with 15 students who represented nine businesses. Since Felix won first place, his teacher Devin Heath received a $250 award.

The Board of County Commissioners will consider a request from Kansas Sky Energy Center for a conditional-use permit, or CUP, during a special business meeting at 9 a.m. Saturday, April 13, for a commercial/utility scale solar energy conversion system use, commonly referred to as a solar farm, on 1,105 acres of property north of Lawrence in Grant Township. The meeting will be held at the Public Works/Zoning and Codes Building, 3755 E. 25th St., in the training room. The meeting will also be available by Zoom.

Building on countywide input and Plan 2040, the draft “Douglas County Open Space Plan: Preserving Douglas County’s Future Together,” is now available for the public to review. The plan is a local effort intended to identify voluntary land conservation options and partnerships, and foster appreciation and access to nature for future generations.

Beginning Thursday, Feb. 1, the Office of the Clerk of the District Court will be closed to the public from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays to process all of the work caused by the filing of more than 23,000 documents that have been filed since the Oct. 12, 2023, security incident that disrupted access to information systems used by courts statewide. Reduced public hours are expected to continue through February.

Public Works is accepting applications for the 2024 user-fee dust control program. The deadline to submit an application is Friday, March 8.

The basement of Judicial and Law Enforcement Center, 111 E. 11th St., has sustained damage due to a small fire that occurred about 10:49 p.m. Jan. 23 in the jury deliberation room in the Division 7 courtroom of District Court. The room had experienced water damage from a sprinkler head that was damaged during recent freezing temperatures. The fire was determined by Lawrence-Douglas County Fire Medical to be accidental due to an electrical/mechanical malfunction of a fan that had been left running in the room to assist with the drying process. There were no injuries.