Upshur County Courthouse to remain closed through Friday — except for early voting

Monica Zalaznik
October 19, 2020

BUCKHANNON – The Upshur County Commission voted to keep county facilities closed through the week, except for the courthouse for early voting and the James W. Curry Library, which provides vital support for children attending school virtually in the southern end of the county.

The commission had a special meeting via teleconference Oct. 19 where they voted to keep facilities closed through the week. They also decided that during their weekly meeting on Thursday, Oct. 22, they would determine if they will keep facilities closed based on the most recent West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources Data.

W.Va. DHHR numbers are made available at 10 a.m. daily.

County administrator Carrie Wallace said the Upshur-Buckhannon County Health Department informed her as of 9 a.m. Monday morning, Upshur County had 223 confirmed cases and three probable cases, for a total of 226. Seventy-eight of those were active, with 148 of them having recovered.

“Today on the DHHR map, you are gold, and on the Department of Education map, we are orange, and we are testing today at the high school from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. and again tomorrow from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m.,” Wallace said.

Commissioner Kristie Tenney suggested keeping facilities closed for the week and evaluating the case number during the next commission meeting.

“We keep it as is until Friday, no matter what – we will keep the courthouse as is until Friday — with the exception of early voting and then, this coming Thursday we would assess what to do for the following week,” Tenney said.

Commissioner Sam Nolte said he did not know if the numbers would be low enough to reopen, but they would have to see.

“I feel that we might not be out of the woods yet, with the uptick,” Nolte said. “Hopefully, it’s slowing down, but I just need to see a couple more days of good numbers before I’m a firm believer.”

Wallace said early voting will start Wednesday, Oct. 21 and go through Saturday, Oct. 31 at the Upshur County Courthouse located at 40 West Main Street. Office hours for early voting are 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. during the week and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays.

The courthouse will remain staffed so people may conduct business over the phone, email, online or by appointment only. According to a press release share by the commission tax payments may be mailed, submitted via the drop box in Chancery Street or paid online at www.upshurcounty.org.

View the Oct. 19 press release in full below:

During a Special Meeting conducted today, the Upshur County Commission voted to keep the Courthouse, Annex and other County owned and operated facilities closed to the public through Friday, October 23, 2020, with the exception of early voting and the James W. Curry Library’s Virtual Learning Program.

During the regularly scheduled Commission Meeting on Thursday, October 22, 2020, the Commission will consider the most recent DHHR numbers that are made available at 10 a.m. to determine operations of the facilities for the week of October 26th.

Early voting will be conducted October 21st through October 31st at the Upshur County Courthouse located at 40 West Main Street. The Courthouse will be open for early voting only. All other time sensitive matters will be handled via appointment only. Office hours for early voting are 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. during the week and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays.

Offices will remain staffed and available to serve the public via telephone, email, USPS, online or by appointment. County employees working in the office will continue to wear masks and adhere to social distancing guidelines while others will continue to telework, if possible.

Tax payments may be mailed, submitted via the drop box in Chancery Street or paid online at www.upshurcounty.org. Individuals may access the Tax Department; however, office occupancy is limited to three individuals at a time. DMV matters will be handled by appointment only.

Courts will provide notification of continued hearings and trials.

Ongoing information will be released to the press or via the DHSEM’s emergency notification system, WENS, if necessary. For the most recent information, we encourage you to visit the CDC’s website www.cdc.gov, the WVDHHR website at www.dhhr.wv.gov and the DHSEM Facebook page.

To sign up for WENS: Text UpshurCoWVAlerts to 69310 or visit http://entry.inspironlogistics.com/upshur_wv/wens.cfm.