The Board of Commissioners, in consultation with the St. Joseph County Department of Health, has developed the following safe and measured approach to opening its offices:

• Beginning May 11, 2020, offices in the County-City Building will start to shift from a primarily remote workforce to having employees start returning to their offices.
• Beginning May 18, 2020, the Department of Health will administer vaccinations at their immunization clinic at the Mishawaka Services Building.
• Beginning May 26, 2020, the lobbies of the County-City Building and the Mishawaka Services Building will open to the public for the purposes of Absentee In-Person voting only. Public access will be restricted to the lobbies.
• Beginning June 3, 2020, all offices in both the County-City Building and the Mishawaka Services Building will open to the public.

In accordance with the Department of Health’s order, all employees and members of the public will be required to wear face coverings (covering nose and mouth) upon entering the County Buildings and must wear face coverings in all common areas, lobbies, hallways and elevators where physical distancing of at least six feet is not guaranteed.

The County-City Building will remain open for people needing to access the Health Department’s Immunization Clinic, but all other offices will be closed to walk-in traffic. However, some departments might meet with residents on an individual, limited basis by appointment only. Please contact the office directly to see if appointments are available. Many services are available online through the county’s website, http://sjcindiana.com.

Residents are strongly encouraged to contact county departments via phone and email, even after June 3, 2020, and attempt to conduct as much business remotely as possible. A full directory of county offices is available online at http://sjcindiana.com/directory.

Residents needing to conduct business with the courts should utilize drop boxes located in Courthouse 1 and should utilize the main entrance located at 101 S. Main St., South Bend, IN 46601. During this time, the courts will be performing some essential functions.

The County Health Department will continue to monitor this health issue in St. Joseph County to determine if this county office closure needs to be extended.