Douglas County District Court announces it has received a $1 million federal grant to establish a new specialty Veterans Treatment Court. The money will be disbursed over four years. The program is expected to start next year with the Honorable Amy Hanley as presiding judge.

The mission is to promote public safety by providing an interagency, collaborative, non-adversarial treatment strategy to veterans in the criminal justice system who suffer from mental health and/or substance abuse issues related to their service in the military.

The Douglas County Criminal Justice Coordinating Council (CJCC) is seeking the community’s input through a survey that will be open until 5 p.m. Monday, Nov. 4. The survey aims to gather input on key priorities the CJCC should focus on to improve the criminal legal system.

By participating in the survey, residents will be helping to ensure the CJCC’s strategic plan focuses on the areas that matter most to the community that it serves. All individual responses will remain confidential and will only be shared in aggregate form.

The Douglas County Heritage Conservation Council is hosting a Barn Fest event Nov. 8-9 in Lecompton where participants will learn about the preservation of historic barns in Douglas County. The event aims to highlight the beauty and stories held within the historic farmsteads of Douglas County and connect and convene property owners, students, contractors and enthusiasts interested in preservation of these places and stories.

Need a car tag? Starting Monday, Oct. 28, the Douglas County Treasurer’s Office will offer its services in two Lawrence locations: the historic County Courthouse, 1100 Massachusetts St., and a new office, 2601 W. Sixth St. Both offices will be open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays.

Douglas County residents can remove expired and unneeded medications from their homes as the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office will operate a National Prescription Drug Take Back Day collection site in downtown Lawrence on Saturday, Oct. 26.

The drive-through site will be open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Oct. 26, in the parking lot outside the Douglas County Courthouse, 1100 Massachusetts St., and the Sheriff’s Office will accept expired or unused prescription and over-the-counter medications. 

The Douglas County Treasurer's Office is closed for staff training today, Oct. 14. Douglas County District Court and the Douglas County District Attorney's Office are closed today in observance of Indigenous Peoples' Day.

Other Douglas County departments are open and available to provide services, including the Elections Office, Appraiser's Office, Register of Deeds, Criminal Justice Services and Administration.

Update: As of Tuesday morning (Oct. 8), the Douglas County Treasurer's Office is able to process in-person and online motor vehicle transactions. Visit the department's webpage for more information: https://www.dgcoks.gov/treasurer. 

Background:

On Monday, Oct. 7, the Motor Vehicle system managed by the Kansas Department of Revenue was experiencing statewide issues, resulting in the Treasurer’s Office inability to process transactions at any of its locations.

Law enforcement radio communication channels in Douglas County will be fully encrypted on Oct. 15 to comply with a mandate from the FBI Criminal Justice Information Services Security Policy.

The policy change went into effect in December 2022 and required local and state agencies to gain the capabilities to be in compliance with encrypting radio traffic to protect personal information transmitted over the air. 

A groundbreaking ceremony for Delmar Place Apartments, 2125 Clinton Parkway, will be at 1 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 1.

The ceremony will include brief remarks from Lawrence-Douglas County Housing Authority CEO Shannon Oury, Lawrence-Douglas County Housing Authority Board Chair Wallace Meyer, Jr., and Douglas County Commission Chair Karen Willey.

The Kansas Department of Transportation has awarded Douglas County $1.4 million in funding through the Kansas Local Bridge Improvement Program. Douglas County Public Works applied for the funds to replace Bridge 1800-1124, which is on North 1800 Road, commonly called the Farmer’s Turnpike, and located 0.76 miles west of East 1200 Road. The bridge carries the road over Baldwin Creek northwest of Lawrence.

The community is invited to participate in a virtual Douglas County Behavioral Health Prevention Summit in September. One-hour sessions will take place on Tuesdays and Thursday and cover topics such as opioid, marijuana, suicide and vaping prevention as well as mental health promotion and supporting youth and families.

The schedule: 

Tuesdays (noon-1 p.m.)

The Heritage Conservation Office, in collaboration with the GIS Department, has created a new interactive story map to share the history and impact of the Natural and Cultural Heritage grant program, which is funded by Douglas County.