Former County Commissioners Nancy Thellman and Michelle Derusseau tackled a lot of big projects in their time in county government — a new behavioral health campus, criminal justice reform efforts, a revamped set of land use regulations — but some of their proudest achievements are a lot ...
Two new Douglas County officials on Wednesday quickly stepped into leadership roles just days after they were sworn into office. Commissioners Shannon Portillo and Shannon Reid were unanimously elected as chair and vice chair of the County Commission during its regular meeting. Both were ...
Douglas County's new law enforcement leaders shared their to-do list with other local criminal justice officials on Tuesday, and they're envisioning new diversion programs for defendants, making better use of space in the county jail and a variety of other criminal justice reforms. District ...
The Douglas County Commission will meet for a brief agenda on Wednesday as two new commissioners take their seats. The commission will consider electing new leadership for 2021 and consider approving some items on a consent agenda, including authorizing the Public Works Department to solicit ...
Despite the challenges posed by the coronavirus pandemic, Douglas County’s new drug court program was able to find its footing in 2020 and began helping a handful of people who are working toward becoming drug free. Douglas County District Court Judge Kay Huff, who presides over the program, ...
Douglas County officials who won elections in November were sworn into office Monday at the county courthouse. Douglas County Commissioners Shannon Reid and Shannon Portillo, District Attorney Suzanne Valdez, Sheriff Jay Armbrister and Register of Deeds Kent Brown were among the newly elected ...
New private docks built on Lone Star Lake will now need to follow specific regulations aimed at preserving the lake and keeping the structures safe. The County Commission on Wednesday approved new regulations related to private structures built in Lone Star Lake Park, a county-owned park in ...
For the first time in Douglas County history, property owners along Lone Star Lake may need to follow specific guidelines when building docks on the water. The County Commission on Wednesday will consider adopting regulations for docks and decks on the southwestern Douglas County ...
After more than four decades of helping young people stay in school, advocating for people with disabilities and inspiring her colleagues, University of Kansas professor Jan Sheldon is hanging up her hat. Sheldon, a professor of applied behavioral science, retired last week. During her more ...
As Douglas County and its community partners were racing to make sure all of their coronavirus relief funds were spent by the end of the year, the federal government provided a deadline extension just days before it was set to expire. Both Gov. Laura Kelly’s office and the National ...
Despite the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and fears it would lead to a significant economic recession, Douglas County will begin its 2021 budget with $6 million on hand, showing that it avoided dipping far into its reserve funds this year like many residents, businesses and other organizations ...
The total number of criminal cases filed in Douglas County District Court has dropped by almost 50% in the last 15 years, data from the Kansas Office of Judicial Administration shows. However, many of those cases are still being filed — but in municipal courts rather than the district ...
After working for Douglas County for 30 years, a longtime official is ready to step away from the job. Kay Pesnell, who has worked for Douglas County’s Register of Deeds Office since 1990, will retire from the office’s top position at the end of the month. She has led the office for 18 ...
Nearly 70 rural properties on Wednesday moved into compliance with Douglas County codes for the first time in decades. The County Commission unanimously approved rezoning 67 properties located on Lone Star Lake’s western and southwestern banks from transitional agriculture, also known as ...
Douglas County may soon make changes to its current budget to account for increased spending and revenue it did not originally plan for. The County Commission on Wednesday will consider approving an amendment to the 2020 budget, which was originally crafted in the summer of 2019. The ...
Thanks to federal aid, more than 1,000 Douglas County residents received housing support this year as the coronavirus pandemic caused many to lose income. But with a new year coming and little new funding currently available, those residents may soon see that support disappear. Leaders of ...
The Douglas County Commission has reallocated another $290,000 of unspent CARES Act funding to help make sure all of its $24.9 million are spent by the end of the year. The commissioners also gave county staff the authority to make further changes to the funding plan when needed this month to ...
More changes to Douglas County’s plan to spend federal relief funds for the coronavirus pandemic could be coming soon. On Wednesday, the County Commission will consider making further reallocations of unspent funds from its $24.9 million Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act ...
Updated at 2:35 p.m. Friday Douglas County, starting Monday, will adopt a 10-day quarantine period for asymptomatic close contacts of people with COVID-19, according to a news release from Lawrence-Douglas County Public Health. The move came Friday after the Kansas Department of Health and ...
To make sure outstanding federal pandemic relief money is spent before an end-of-the-year deadline, the Douglas County Commission on Wednesday reallocated about $650,000 unspent funds in its CARES Act spending plan. And county staff believes there will be more funds to reallocate in about a ...