The Washington County facilities that have been closed to the public for the last three months due to COVID-19 are now open with restrictions in place. At Tuesday’s Washington County Board of Supervisors meeting the supervisors unanimously approved a motion to open county facilities Tuesday afternoon with restrictions on occupancy determined by each department head for their office.

County Auditor Dan Widmer said a person will be stationed at the door of the courthouse to check people in and out to maintain the capacity limits, “People, members of the public, what have you, that will be coming into the court house, while they will not be required to wear a mask or a shield, they will be strongly, strongly encouraged to do so. And we will have the PPE available to them. And again, we’re going to strongly encourage them to make use of that.”

The person at the door will be either a reserve deputy or transport officer from the Washington County Sheriff’s Office. The approximate $700 per week for this position will be paid for from the county’s buildings and grounds budget.

People are still encouraged to call in advance to set up appointments for their business with county officials or to complete items remotely. Each office will have its own limits in place at the courthouse and other county buildings.