Douglas County’s top election officer is seeking to retain his seat for a fifth term in the 2020 election. Jamie Shew, a Democrat, filed for reelection as the Douglas County clerk earlier this week. He has led the clerk's office since he was first elected to the position in 2004. Shew told ...
A 17-year veteran of the Douglas County Treasurer’s Office is the second employee of the office to join the race to become its next leader. Timothy Morland, a registration and tax clerk, on Monday filed to run for the Douglas County treasurer position as a Democrat, according to the county ...
A local food bank that's seen a significant increase in clients amid the COVID-19 pandemic will be getting some extra funding from Douglas County to help feed those in need. The Douglas County Commission on Wednesday voted to provide up to $100,000 in additional funding to Just Food for the ...
Douglas County could soon provide some help to make sure a local food bank can feed county residents during the coronavirus pandemic. The County Commission on Wednesday will consider providing Just Food, a food bank providing services to Douglas County residents, up to $100,000 of ...
Douglas County has reopened most of its facilities to the public, but county officials have asked residents to follow protective guidelines when visiting. On Monday, the county reopened all of its facilities to the public except its treasurer’s office locations, which will remain closed to ...
The Douglas County Commission has abandoned its plan to demolish an unoccupied county building near downtown Lawrence, but commissioners were not happy about how those plans came to be quashed. During their meeting Wednesday, the commissioners retracted the county’s application to the City ...
Douglas County may soon help fund the use of hotels to quarantine homeless individuals during the coronavirus pandemic. The County Commission on Wednesday will consider approving its half of a joint city-county funding plan that would pay up to $80,000 over the next four months for the ...
The population of the Douglas County Jail has dropped significantly since the coronavirus was declared a global pandemic and local and state officials began taking action to stop the spread. The numbers have prompted local opponents of the planned expansion of the jail to amplify their call ...
A rural landowner whose application to subdivide his property for residential development was denied by Douglas County staff received some help from the County Commission on Wednesday. But before Anthony Fanello, the applicant, will be able to make his proposed plan a reality, the county will ...
An activist group opposed to the expansion of the Douglas County Jail now has a study that supports the idea that the county should invest in long-term alternatives to incarceration programs rather than building more jail cells. “All you’re doing is putting a Band-Aid on a problem that ...
A rural landowner who saw his application to subdivide his property for residential development denied by Douglas County staff has appealed the decision to the County Commission. On Wednesday, the commissioners will consider whether county staff was wrong to deny the application. Anthony ...
As the state began to lift restrictions related to the coronavirus pandemic on Monday, Douglas County offices were set to remain closed to the public for another two weeks. The county recently announced in a news release that it would continue its restrictions on public access to its ...
The longtime incumbent Douglas County district attorney said he believes his experience and leadership are needed to “work within the system” to create change. Charles Branson, 50, has not faced a challenger since he was first elected in 2004, even in a primary. In the upcoming Aug. 4 ...
Story updated at 4:41 p.m. Friday Douglas County health officials have ordered restaurants to continue with carryout-only services and local libraries to remain closed through May 17 to continue preventing the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. But most retailers that previously have been ...
The Douglas County district attorney will seek to retain his seat in the 2020 election. Charles Branson, who has served as district attorney since January 2005, announced in a Tuesday news release that he filed to run for reelection. He is running as a Democrat, according to the Kansas ...
The Douglas County Commission will not meet this week. The county canceled its meeting scheduled for Wednesday because it would have been the fifth meeting of April, said Karrey Britt, a spokeswoman for the county. The commission meets regularly on Wednesdays, but it sometimes cancels ...
The coronavirus pandemic has delayed much, but it appears it won’t delay the property tax collector. Home and business owners ought to be prepared to meet the quickly approaching May 10 deadline for property tax payments, as state and local officials told the Journal-World they were not ...
Douglas County will see an increase in costs for its employee health care plan, but the county administrator says it's a better situation than what the county has experienced in the recent past. The Douglas County Commission on Wednesday approved a health care plan with a 6.9% increase in ...
An attorney for a local activist group is arguing that Douglas County’s use of a 1994 sales tax referendum to expand the county jail without a public vote would give the county the ability to debt-finance projects whenever it wants. William Skepnek, an attorney for Justice Matters, said in a ...
A 33-year veteran of the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office is the fourth employee of the office to join the race to become its next leader. Doug Woods, the office’s operations division administrative captain, announced his candidacy for the sheriff position in a news release on Tuesday. He ...