With the Wright County Emergency Declaration that was adopted this morning (March 17) in the battle with the COVID-19 coronavirus, in preventing community spread of the virus, the Wright County Board of Commissioners voted to close all public facing counters in county offices and departments. The one exception is the Wright County Sheriff’s Office, which is Constitutionally required to allow prisoners to have visitation rights, making public counter closure impossible.

The issue in the Wright County Government Center was ramped up due to long lines at the Department of Motor Vehicles License Bureau at the Wright County Government Center, where customers stood in very close proximity to others and the social distancing guidelines could not be properly enforced. It became a daily issue with the potential for spread of the virus. The DMV was shut down at 10 a.m. today and the remainder of the public facing counters were closed at noon today. The term of the closure was set until April 1, at which point the county will address its next course of action.

Here is the statement from Wright County:

“In light of the declaration of a state of emergency in Wright County all public counters, with the exception of the Sheriff’s office, will be closed as an added caution. All departments will begin implementing telecommuting to the greatest extent possible. This is a very fluid situation and we ask that staff and the public stay informed as we will continue to make changes to better serve and protect the citizens of Wright County. We ask that all non-essential committee meetings be postponed until April 1.”