Etowah County Courthouse limits entrances, encourages online services

New measures will be put into place at the Etowah County Courthouse to preserve the health of the public and of county employees as officials aim to keep the courthouse open in light of the ongoing COVID-19 spread.

While the novel coronavirus had not been detected in Etowah County as of Tuesday, the County Commission declared a local state of health emergency during its meeting and discussed ways to strengthen preventative measures within the courthouse.

In addition to the commissioners and Chief Administrative Officer Shane Ellison, Revenue Commissioner Linda Barrett-Vaughan and Probate Judge Scott Hassell discussed ways to prevent the spread of the virus at the courthouse.

“It’s our intention that the business of the people is going to continue, but there’s going to need to be some fundamental changes,” Hassell said.

In the probate office, some changes have already been implemented, from adding a hand-washing station at the entrance to the office to hiring a third-party sanitizing company to come in and disinfect the office.

In-person hearings also have been postponed until April 16, but video conferencing or telephone hearings are available at the office’s discretion. However, the office will remain open for filings and other business.

Hassell also said they have limited the load to 10 people in the probate office at once in order to follow CDC precautions about the number of people gathered together. Employees also are working in a staggered system to allow them to utilize leave time to eliminate excess personnel in the office.

Barrett-Vaughan said she received notice yesterday that across the state, residents needing to renew their tag in March will have until April 15 to do so. That could allow Etowah County residents more time to get their tag renewals complete because of the virus.

Additionally, she said the revenue office has nine counters, but they will limit only one person at a time to approach the counter in order to reduce crowd size in the facility.

She raised concerns over security and access to cleaning supplies, saying that they were not able to access hand sanitizer or cleaning materials. An employee was able to find gloves in Fort Payne, however.

Satellite tag offices in Rainbow City, Sardis City and Hokes Bluff either had already closed or will be closing soon, she said.

“I would like to see us encourage people not to come and to use online services,” District 1 Commissioner Joey Statum said.

Barrett-Vaughan and Hassell agreed, although Barrett-Vaughan said some services had to be done in person at the courthouse. Driver’s license renewals, recordings, tag renewals, property taxes, mobile home renewals and more are available for service at www.etowahcounty.org. In the case of tag renewals and others, a mailing fee typically charged for online services will be waived, although a credit card fee may still apply.

Other policies will be put into place across the courthouse to combat the spread of illness. Beginning as early as Wednesday, entrance to the courthouse will be restricted to two ADA-compliant entrances on the west and south sides of the building. At those entrances, hand sanitizer or hand-washing stations will be made available, and court security and staff will be present to encourage hygiene upon entrance. Following suit with an order announced over the weekend concerning the William H. Rhea Judicial Building, anyone displaying signs of illness will be asked to leave the facility.

Also during the commission meeting on Tuesday, commissioners voted to appoint Katie Browning and Johnny Grant to the Board of Directors of Greater Etowah (310 Board) for four-year terms. Commissioner Grant abstained from the vote.

Ellison, present commissioners, County Attorney Jim Turnbach and Economic Development Director Marilyn Lott participated in an executive session to discuss business and commerce. No action was taken following the session.

Pursuant to a declaration of a local state of health emergency, the commission does not plan to meet for its weekly work sessions for the next two weeks. The next public meeting is expected to be held on April 7.