he City of Hinesville has issued a press release describing countermeasures and precautions they are implementing in order to protect both their citizens and employees during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Information Sharing 

The City will be sharing information from our local partners, state and federal agencies regarding combating the COVID-19 outbreak in the Coastal Georgia region, the State of Georgia and the nation. According to the release the city has set up a page dedicated to sharing press releases, links to their social media pages and to their local partners and state/federal agency pages and social media accounts. 

"We encourage all Hinesville and Liberty County residents to follow the list of social media accounts below, along with joining our subscription lists for press releases on our website," the release said.

• Facebook: City of Hinesville

Liberty County, Georgia 

Hinesville Police Department 

Georgia Department of Public Health 

Georgia Governor’s Office 

CDC 

Georgia Emergency Management/Department of Homeland Security 

Hinesville Downtown Development Authority

• Twitter: City of Hinesville

Liberty County, Georgia 

Georgia Department of Public Health 

Georgia Governor’s Office

CDC

Georgia Emergency Management/Department of Homeland Security

• Websites: City of Hinesville 

Liberty County, Georgia

Georgia Department of Public Health

Georgia Governor’s Office 

CDC 

Georgia Emergency Management/Department of Homeland Security

The city encourages Hinesville residents to familiarize themselves with the CDC’s guidelines on evaluating symptoms and contacting their healthcare providers. Contact your healthcare provider if you begin to feel ill and are experiencing symptoms. 

City of Hinesville PR Director Whitney Morris-Reed said that all City services and departments are currently operating with normal business hours; including emergency response services, trash collection and Liberty Transit routes. 

"However, to avoid spreading illness in our community, we encourage citizens to conduct their City-related business over the phone and online as much as possible. This includes payment of utility bills, court and probation fees and questions regarding services. This situation is extremely fluid and are monitoring for changes in our community and will alert citizens to any change in schedules as quickly as possible," she said.

Here are numbers you may call:

• City Hall Main Desk: 912.876.3564

• Water Department: 912.876.3564

• Business License Office: 912.876.3564

• Inspections Department: 912.876.4147

• Community Development Department: 912.876.3164

• Hinesville Downtown Development Authority: 912.877.4332

• Public Relations: 912.271.6421

• Hinesville Police Department Non-Emergency Line: 912.368.8211

• Public Works: 912.876.8216

• Municipal Court: 912.368.8206.

Citizens may also submit questions via their online contact form or through messaging any of their social media accounts. 

Community Events and Gatherings

The release went on to say that effective immediately and in keeping with CDC recommendations regarding gatherings of greater than 50 people for the next 8 weeks, the City of Hinesville and Hinesville Downtown Development Authority will be canceling or rescheduling City-sponsored community events occurring between March 16 and May 3. 

These dates are subject to change, as the situation is extremely fluid. The Business License Office will not be issuing permits for the following types of gatherings at this time and City and/or HDDA staff will be contacting individuals with these types of events scheduled during the 8-week time frame to discuss contingency plans.

• 5ks

• Festivals

• Large community gatherings

• Large community meetings

• Any other type of gathering that would normally require a permit with the Hinesville Police Department. 

The City will reevaluate the COVID-19 situation at the end of 4 weeks.

Municipal Court and Probation

Chief Justice Melton of the Georgia Supreme Court issued a judicial emergency beginning Monday, March 16 for a period of thirty (30) days. This means that the Hinesville Municipal Court will be rescheduling all court cases scheduled to be heard during this time frame. These court dates are March 18, April 1 and April 8. Letters will be sent to all defendants in the coming days with their new court date to the addresses listed on their citations. New court dates have not been set as of yet, but defendants will be notified as soon as possible. Additionally, if citizens need to pay court fees, they will still be able to pay these in person, but we encourage you to please pay these online and outside of the Court’s offices. The link to do this can be found below: 

https://www.cityofhinesville.org/350/Online-Bill-Pay

If you have additional questions about your court fees, payments or hearing dates, please contact the Municipal Court at 912.368.8206. Probationers are encouraged to contact their Probation Officers for instructions regarding in-office appointments. Additionally, they are encouraged to pay their probation fees online, rather than coming into the office. In order to maintain the safest environment possible for our residents and citizens, citizens will not be charged the online convenience fees for credit card payments until further notice for municipal courts fines and fees. Additional information will be shared as it becomes available via the City’s website and social media accounts. For more information, please contact Whitney Morris – Reed, Public Relations Manager, at wmorrisreed@cityofhinesville.org