Two Washington County row offices closed, one reopening Thursday
The highly contagious novel coronavirus has resulted in the temporary shutdown of two row offices in the Washington County Courthouse.
The register’s office closed at noon on Tuesday of last week.
“We come in daily and process everything that needs to be done,” said Register of Wills James Roman.
The register of wills office also issues marriage licenses, but more wedding ceremonies take place in warm weather months rather than around the Christmas and New Year holidays.
“Typically in December there’s not a lot of demand for marriage licenses,” Roman said.
A note on the main door of the register’s office announced it will reopen at 8:30 a.m. Thursday.
Confidential filings, such as guardianships, are to be dropped in the mail slot rather than left in a box outside the main entrance door.
The register of wills is also the clerk of Orphan’s Court, which finalized 50-some adoptions, it was noted in November in conjunction with National Adoption Awareness Month.
“Most of the time, the judges have been calling me and we come in and process things for them,” Roman said.
An adjoining office, that of the prothonotary, which is the filing repository primarily for civil litigation, including divorce and custody matters, closed Monday.
The prothonotary’s office had a computer screen set up outside the exit door nearest the courthouse elevator so the public could view files that had already been scanned, but printers were inside the shuttered office.
A series of cartons with various designations for source materials were also placed outside the row office.
Prothonotary Laura Hough could not immediately be reached for comment Monday afternoon.