Public Service Announcement

Message from the Sheriff

Kittitas County, WA – 03/13/2020 – “As it is with all emergencies and disasters, we begin with more questions than answers. One of the key questions is, how will this affect our local government services.

“Kittitas County Government remains open for business, but we have made some adjustments in how our services are provided.

As noted by our Public Health Officials, one of the top actions we can take to protect each other from contracting and/or spreading viruses is social distance.

“To that end, we are modifying some of our practices in an effort to minimize close and/or direct contact with each other. So when our law enforcement officers are standing a little farther away while talking to you, when staff stand a step back from the counter, when we limit direct contact to a few minutes, please know that we are doing this for every one’s benefit. This is a practice we can all participate in to help mitigate this situation. A 6 foot gap during social and business contacts that last more than 4 to 6 minutes is recommended.

“Consider wether you can postpone projects or processes for a few weeks. If you have to conduct county business, use indirect methods of communication whenever possible (email, phone, text etc.). Look to the county web site for information on specific restrictions or modifications to our services, as well as recommendations for care through our Public Health Officials.

“The elected officials in our community activate these types of protocols to ensure we have a measured response with the least amount of service interruption as possible.

“In closing, those of you with a propensity for criminal activity, you know who you are, consider not doing that. Our community is better served if our law enforcement officers’ time can be spent helping people in need, rather than chasing you down and locking you up.”