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Out of an abundance of caution, Rockdale County Government is taking measures to reduce the potential spread of COVID-19.
Rockdale County is enacting a Daily Operation Protocol that will go into effect today, Mon., March 16 at 3 p.m. and will last until Fri., March 20, which is when executive county officials will make their decision on whether to continue the protocol into the next week.
Within the protocol, several measures have taken place to protect employees and citizens including shutting down access and limiting access to several facilities and meetings.
Please be advised of the following provisions made by Rockdale County Departments:
Rockdale Water Resources
Residents will still have the ability to pay their water bill through Rockdale Water Services Customer Service via the county website at https://ipn2.paymentus.com/cp/rwr, via telephone at 1-844-396-2347 (which is available 24 hours), at the RWR drop box, located at 962 Milstead Avenue, Conyers, GA, 30012, and in person at United Community Bank, located at 1000 Highway 138 SE, Conyers, GA 30013. Anyone who is looking to establish or re-establish water service, please send an email to newwaterservice@rockdalecountyga.gov. For emergencies, please call 770-278-7500.
Rockdale County Fire-Rescue and E-911
Public Safety Personnel, Emergency Management Services, and the E911 Call Center will operate as normal. If you have an emergency, CALL 911. Rockdale County Fire Rescue and EMA administrative functions are operating off-site. If you need assistance with a business or administrative matter, please call 770-278-8401. Your call will be forwarded to the appropriate personnel. To schedule inspections, call 770-278-8401.
Department of Planning and Development
The Department of Planning and Development lobby is closed to the public and staff will be working remotely. Code enforcement will be out during limited hours assisting emergency management. The department can be reached by phone at 770-278-7100 or at the following emails pertaining to subject:
Planning – planning@rockdalecountyga.gov
Inspections – inspections@rockdalecountyga.gov
Zoning – planning@rockdalecountyga.gov
Code Enforcement – code.violationsmailbox@rockdalecountyga.gov
Recreation and Maintenance
All public events as well as facility rentals with the Parks and Recreation Division have been cancelled until April 15.
Closures include:
- Johnson Park Recreation Center
- Tennis Center at Wheeler Park
- Black Shoals Park
- The Walk of Heroes
- Costley Mill Park
- Olivia Haydel Senior Center/Senior Services – will continue Meals on Wheels and have delivered 900 meals in the last 2 days.
- Recycling Center
- Animal Control – only answering emergency calls
- Fleet Services – only answering emergency repairs/fuel needs, not routine maintenance
Outdoor park areas remain open with restrooms at this time. This is subject to change if cases are discovered in Rockdale as playgrounds, restrooms and equipment would be transfer areas. Weddings scheduled for March 28 and April 4 at Costley Mill Park have been cancelled.
Rockdale County Board of Assessors
Rockdale County Board of Assessors is offering services remotely until further notice. The Board of Assessors Office will offer online applications/forms for Homestead Exemption, Conservation Use Valuation Assessment (CUVA), and Motor Vehicle Appeal. All forms will be accepted via email, except CUVA applications which must be mailed. The deadline for filing CUVA is April 1. Applications and certified check or money order can be mailed to P.O. Box 562, Conyers, GA 30012. The deadline for filing for Homestead Exemption is April 1. Applications can be emailed toboa@rockdalecountyga.gov.
For more information, contact the Board of Assessors office at (770-278-7676).
Rockdale Department of Transportation
The Rockdale County Department of Transportation (RDOT) staff will be working remotely and the RDOT office at 2570 Old Covington Hwy SW will be closed through March 20. During this time, RDOT will be fielding and reacting to all inbound calls at 470-277-4788 and 770-480-1170 in lieu of the actual main office number. The department is suspending normal maintenance and handling emergency calls and situations only. Emergency and essential service requests in our right of way are dead animals, downed trees, severe potholes/sinkholes, traffic signal malfunction, missing stop sign or line of sight issues.
For more information, contact John Moretto, Director of RDOT at john.moretto@rockdalecountyga.gov
Stormwater Management
All crews are on-call and standby for urgent situations. For emergencies, call 770-278-7155.
In accordance to the Secretary of State’s office, all early votes already cast in person and all absentee ballots will be counted and every Georgia voter that has not yet had a chance to cast a ballot in the March 24 elections will be able to do so on May 19, along with the elections already scheduled for that date. Early voting in person has ended at this time. For more information, call the Board of Elections Office at 770-278-7333.
Department of Finance
Bids may be postponed. Visit the Rockdale County website at rockdalecountyga.gov or emailtina.malone@rockdalecountyga.gov
Department of Talent Management
Talent Management will be observing the remote working protocol. For any questions, the public an email the Department of Talent Management at talent.management@rockdalecountyga.gov.
Rockdale UGA Cooperative Extension
The Cooperative Extension Office will move to teleworking and will not have in-office personnel. All 4-H events and group meetings have been cancelled for at least 2 weeks at this time. Staff will still be accessible by email and phone and through the Facebook page (UGA Extension Rockdale County). Cooperative Extension will not be accepting soil or water samples but will provide guidance and options for those clients. For questions, send emails to marybeth.hornbeck@rockdalecountyga.gov.
Nancy Guinn Memorial Library
The Nancy Guinn Memorial Library will have essential staff working a modified schedule 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. (Monday- Thursday) and is closed to the public. The Library will close today at 3 p.m. through March 31. This date is subject to change and will be evaluated two weeks at a time.
For more information call the Library at 770-388-5040.
Rockdale Court Services
State and Superior Court:
The Rockdale County Courthouse is open for critical business, warrants, filing of Temporary Protection Orders and bond issues. The Order Declaring A Judicial Emergency signed by Chief Superior Court Judge David Irwin HAS NOT cancelled ALL court sessions in the Rockdale circuit. Essential court sessions will still take place. Jury trials are the only cases cancelled/postponed in March and April.
For those that received Grand Jury Summons for Monday April 6 – this date has been postponed to Tuesday May 19, 2020.
If you are a victim, witness, defendant, attorney or any other person affiliated with a case and you are scheduled for a court appearance in the Rockdale Judicial Circuit between now and April 13, 2020 – please contact the applicable court before you decide to not appear.
For State or Superior Courts, please contact 770-278-7900 Monday through Friday, between 8:30 a.m. and 5:00 p.m.
Direct contacts for Superior Court:
Chief Judge David B. Irwin or Susan Simons: 770-278-7740
Judge Robert F. Mumford or Loquita Buckhault: 770-278-7690
Temporary Protective Orders – Adrienne Cooper: 770-278-7696 or the District Attorney’s office 770-278-7961
Magistrate Court:
Pursuant to the Orders Declaring Judicial Emergency of Georgia Supreme Court Justice Harold Melton and Rockdale County Superior Court Chief Judge David Irwin, certain court hearings have not been cancelled during the next 2 weeks in the Rockdale Judicial Circuit.
If you are a victim, witness, plaintiff, defendant, attorney or any other person affiliated with a case and you are scheduled for a court appearance between now and April 13, before the Magistrate Court, please
contact 770-278-7800, or magcourt@rockdalecountyga.gov, Monday through Friday, between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.
Juvenile Court:
The Rockdale County Juvenile Court remains OPEN to address essential Court functions. However, court staff and employees will be working and carrying on the day-to-day functions of the Court from home. During this time, the Juvenile Court will continue to hold delinquency detention hearings, dependency emergency removal matters and emergency matters. However, to the extent that the hearings mentioned above are held, they will be held by videoconference to limit the risk of exposure to the public.
For questions call 770-278-7777 or visit https://rockdalecountyga.gov/county-departments/court-services/juvenile-court/.
Probate Court
The Rockdale County Probate Court will continue operating during normal business hours. However, all parties should contact the Court at least three days prior to any scheduled hearings to confirm that the hearing will go forward as scheduled. Only the parties, their attorneys, and witnesses will be allowed to attend the hearing; no spectators will be allowed in the courtroom.
All Georgia Weapons Carry License holders with an expiration date prior to April 30 will have until May 15, 2020 to renew their license. This date is subject to change depending upon new developments or orders from the Governor, Chief Justice of the GA Supreme Court, or Chief Judge of the Superior Court.
If anyone is required to take an oath in the Probate Court, they should contact the Court to make an appointment. This will reduce the number of customers in the office at any given time.
Any petitions required to be filed in the Probate Court should be mailed to the Court. Prior to mailing the petition, the petitioner should email it to probateestates@rockdalecountyga.gov. to obtain the appropriate fees.
It is preferred that applicants for Georgia Weapons Carry License schedule an appointment to file their applications. For more information call Rockdale County Probate Court at 770-278-7700
Rockdale County Tax Commissioner’s Office
The Rockdale County Tax Commissioner’s Office has closed lobby access to the public until further notice. Agents can be reached during normal business hours at 770-278-7600 to complete most transactions, and by text at 678-964-4712 to obtain information. There are also several motor-vehicle and tax-related services available to the public, without the need of in-person interactions. Residents can access services online or utilize MVD Self-Service kiosks to complete transactions.
Motor vehicle transactions can be completed using the e-services portal online at https://eservices.drives.ga.gov or at any MVD Self-Service Kiosk, including Kroger in Conyers Square. Property tax transactions can be completed online atwww.rockdaletaxoffice.org.
For more information, call the Rockdale County Tax Commissioner’s Office at 770-278-7600, send a text to 678-964-4712 or visit www.rockdaletaxoffice.org.
Please be advised of the following meeting changes that went in effect Friday, March 13:
- Shop Talk – All 4 events that were scheduled to happen on March 21, May 16, August 15, and October 17 have been postponed indefinitely. New Dates TBD.
- Chairman Oz Nesbitt Spring Break Enrichment Camp – The event that was scheduled for April 6th through April 8th, has been cancelled.
- The Rockdale State of the County Address will not be open to the public, however, it will be broadcast live via the Rockdale County Website and Facebook Pages at 3 p.m. on the scheduled date of event – Thurs., March 26.
- Rockdale County Homeowners and Civic Association Meeting – The meeting set for April 16 has been cancelled indefinitely.
- The Great American Clean-Up – The event set for April 11 at Pine Log Park has been postponed indefinitely; Date TBD.
- Rockdale County Animal Control Meeting – The meeting set for April 15 has been postponed indefinitely; Date TBD.
These closures and procedures will remain in place until further notice. Rockdale County is monitoring the evolving situation involving the novel coronavirus. This is subject to change. Please continue to follow the Rockdale County Facebook Page at facebook.com/RockdaleGov and the Rockdale County website at rockdalecountyga.gov for information.
For any questions or concerns, please send a direct message to the Rockdale County Facebook Page or by contacting the See Something, Say Something hotline at 770-278-7888 or at saysomething@rockdalecountyga.gov.