Beginning March 23, 2020, the Unified Government will close all public facilities to in-person serves. To ensure all community members continue to receive a high level of service, staff will be working remotely. Here are highlights of the most relevant changes that we felt applied to our readers, including free bus fair.
Neighborhood Cleanup Activities
• Due to the widespread impacts of COVID-19, the Unified Government is postponing neighborhood cleanup activities through May, 2020. This will include Operation Brightside’s neighborhood cleanups as well as the Adop-A-Spot program.
• The Unified Government will be evaluating conditions and will determine the appropriate timing to reschedule these neighborhood cleanup programs.
Clerk’s Office – Senior Citizen Refund Programs
Two refund programs are available to seniors at this time:
• The Senior Citizens’ Utility Tax and KCKS City Sales Tax Refund Programs are in effect through March 31, 2020.
• Filing for the Homestead Property and Safe Senior Tax Refunds is available through April 15, 2020.
• File remotely via U.S. Postal Service OR fax to (913) 573-5005 OR email at ClerkWest@wycokck.org.
• Visit https://www.wycokck.org/Clerk.aspx for information on eligibility.
• Contact the Clerk’s office with questions at (913) 573-2876 or (913) 573-5260.
Treasury (Motor Vehicle and Real Estate/Personal Property Administration)
• All operations for Motor Vehicle Titles/Registration and Real Estate and Personal Property Taxes are closed to the public from March 23rd to April 3rd, 2020.
• These agencies will continue to process transactions via online at https://www.wycokck.org/Treasury.aspx or sent in by mail.
Human Resources
• In-person applications for job openings within the Unified Government will not be accepted.
o Applications will be accepted electronically or by mail and can be accessed online at www.wycokck.org.
o Send applications in via email to jobs@wycokck.org
o Fax applications to (913) 573-5006
o Mail applications to the Unified Government at 701 N. 7th Street, Room 646, Kansas City, KS 66101.
Transit / Meals on Wheels
• KCATA, the Unified Government, Johnson County, Kansas, and the City of Independence, Missouri, have suspended fares on public transportation effective immediately.
• KCATA and Unified Government Transit are working to keep buses clean and disinfected.
• The department has purchased hospital-grade disinfecting foggers.
• Meals on Wheels staff are increasing personal hygiene practices throughout daily deliveries.
• Except for clients with extenuating circumstances, Meals on Wheels deliveries will be made using the “knock, drop and walk” method.
Delinquent Real Estate
• The Unified Government’s Delinquent Real Estate tax sale, currently scheduled for April, is postponed.
Appraisers Office
• The Appraisers Office will be conducting all appeals currently scheduled by phone or by encouraging submittal of an evidentiary appeal online.
• The Appraisers Office will be contacting property owners and tax representatives who are currently scheduled for an in-person appeal and advise that those will be changed to a phone hearing.
• Appeals: Phone and evidentiary only will be held; in-person online submittal has been disabled, and the creation of an appeals Document Upload has been completed to assist the public in the easy upload of their documentation.
• Field Work: All field inspections have been suspended, which include sales inspections, appeal interior inspections, building permits, and annual re-inspection processes.
Parks and Recreation
• Activities, programming, and events at community centers have been canceled.
• Reservations at George Meyn Community Center, James P. Davis Hall, and Pierson Park will be postponed until further notice.
• Parks remains open. Please remember to clean up litter and trash.
Wyandotte County Sheriff’s Office
• The Wyandotte County Sheriff has suspended visitation for inmates to prevent the spread of COVID-19 within the jail. Visitation will resume when it is deemed safe to do so.
District Court of Wyandotte County
• District Court and District Court proceedings are canceled until further notice.
• All jury trials, criminal and civil, scheduled through April 19, 2020, are continued – court will not be held.
• Jurors who received a summons for jury trials through April 19, 2020, do NOT need to report for jury duty on the assigned dates.
• Jury trials scheduled to commence on or after April 20, 2020, will be evaluated on a weekly basis.
• All other scheduled hearings, dockets, and court appearances will proceed as scheduled.
Municipal Court
• Court will remain closed to ALL court hearings until April 17, 2020.
• Hearings will be postponed to a date selected by the Clerk. This will include court hearings, reviews and trials, in addition to probation and payments scheduled during this time.
• The Clerk of the Court will serve notice by standard mail delivery or electronic means when available.
• The Clerk will make available payment and case tracking methods for citizens on the myWyco app and at www.municourt.net.
• Bonds on Kansas City, Kansas Municipal Court cases will be posted at the Wyandotte County Jail in accordance with current policy governing Court closures. All bonds posted on Kansas City, Kansas Municipal Court cases will be set for court appearance after April 17, 2020.
• The Clerk will continue to make available customer service to citizens when and how it is feasible, however, we must remain in compliance with additional orders from local and state governing bodies.
• The Administrative Judge will conduct a daily review of all persons booked in the Wyandotte County Jail for Kansas City, Kansas warrants, including Saturday and
• Sunday, while this order is in effect.
• In order to protect the health and safety of our citizens in the Wyandotte County Jail, including the Wyandotte County Sheriff’s Department, correctional employees and inmates, we will continue our Thursday a.m. video public defender docket as possible. All efforts will be made to limit appearances to those being detained only on Kansas City, Kansas Municipal Court warrants.
• All bonds posted at the Wyandotte County Jail will receive a court appearance date on or after May 4, 2020.
• The Court will take action where possible to postpone all scheduled jail sanctions during the closure.
• The Court will re-evaluate all standing orders for work release and current sentences.
Wyandotte County District Attorney’s Office
• All in-person meetings are canceled, excluding law enforcement. The only exception to this “face-to-face” contact limitation is in preparation for evidentiary hearings.
Election Office Operations Plan during COVID-19 Emergency
If daily operations are suspended for less than 30 days:
• Voter Registration
• Voters can submit voter registration applications online and by mail.
• Data entry requires access to the Election Voter Information System. Designated staff must come into the office to enter new voter registrations and to make any requested changes to voter records. The System does not provide remote access.
• Advance Voting
• Election dates are August 4th and November 3rd.
• The application period to request an advance ballot by mail begins April 1st and ends 7 days before each election.
• Applications are accepted earlier, but data entry does not begin until April 1st.