While the Guthrie County Sheriff’s Office has remained closed to the public since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic last March, the virus became unavoidable to their staff as the County’s total case numbers doubled in the span of a month this fall.

Guthrie County Sheriff Marty Arganbright tells Raccoon Valley Radio that a few of his staff members had recently tested positive for COVID-19, which can cause havoc on a small-staffed 24/7 department. Arganbright says his staff had done well the last several months in not contracting the virus, “Also we would never want any kind of COVID in our jail with our inmates because they’re in jail they have to stay in jail and if they had to go to the hospital it would cause us to have our deputies up there because they are in custody. So we try to be as safe as we can and (have) everybody wear a mask.”

The public is reminded that they can find the Sheriff’s Office’s contact information and other resources they can’t access in person at this time on the County’s website.