County employees heading back to work in two weeks

More than 400 Bartholomew County government employees will be returning to work on Monday, May 4.

The decision was announced Monday by Bartholomew County Commissioners chairman Carl Lienhoop.

“Barring a further extension from Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb, we hope to resume operations with all of our employees (on May 4),” Lienhoop said.

The commissioners will be discussing the matter with judges and magistrates to determine how they feel about reopening in two weeks, he added.

The revival of county government will be phased in, and the county will likely keep some buildings closed to the public for another two weeks, the commissioners’ chairman said.

“We’re counting on our office holders and department heads to continue to help their staff maintain appropriate social distancing,” Lienhoop said.

In contrast, officials such as the county clerk and election supervisor might consider opening their offices earlier than May 4, Lienhoop said.

Since early in-person voting doesn’t begin until May 26, county clerk Jay Phelps says there’s no reason why the public needs to be in the Voter Registration office before then, Phelps said. Due to the COVID-19 crisis, the May primary has been delayed until June 2.

While a limited number of people are being allowed to come into the clerk’s office, Phelps said it is only allowed for essential business such as getting a protective order, paying an inmate’s bond or getting a marriage license.

“Just about everything else can be done over the telephone or online,” Phelps said. That includes processing voter registration, handling large numbers of requests for mail-in ballots and answering phone calls, he said.

Several months ago, protective glass was installed in the clerk’s office that serves several functions, the clerk said. But one of the most important at this time is keeping staff and visitors from spreading contagious diseases to one another, he said.

Courthouse security is taking an extra precaution of taking the temperature of every person who walks in the courthouse, and sending them home if they have a temperature of 100.2 or higher, Phelps said. He also said that employees in his office are rotating shifts to ensure that if one person gets the potentially deadly virus, it will not shut down the entire office.

While many of his fellow Republicans are applying pressure to reopen businesses and government, Phelps expressed concern about the possibility of cases rising again if restrictions are removed too quickly.