FACT SHEET

Settlement Agreement between

the United States of America and

Stewart County, Georgia

 

On May 9, 2013, the Department of Justice entered into a settlement agreement with  Stewart County, Georgia under title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA).

The Department of Justice initiated a compliance review of Stewart County to improve access for people with disabilities to civic life in Stewart County. The compliance review is part of Project Civic Access, a Departmental initiative to ensure greater access for persons with disabilities to state and local government programs, services, activities, and facilities. An on-site survey of the County's buildings, programs, and services was conducted in August 2011. The County Attorney and County staff worked cooperatively with the Department throughout the compliance review process in order to reach an agreement.

Facilities and programs surveyed by the Department and covered by the agreement include: Brooklyn Fire Station, the Stewart County Health Department, the Stewart County M.R. Center, the Stewart County Senior Center, the Stewart County Sheriff's Department, the Lumpkin Municipal Building, the Stewart County RV Park, the Stewart County Commissioner's Office, Louvale Fire Station, Old Omaha City Hall, and Richland City Hall.

The text of the settlement agreement specifies the modifications Stewart County will be making to its programs, services, and facilities. Among other things, the County has agreed to:

• Make physical modifications to its facilities so that parking, routes into the buildings, entrances, restrooms, service counters, and drinking fountains are accessible to people with disabilities.
• Post, publish, and distribute a notice to inform members of the public of the requirements of Title II and their applicability to the County's programs, services, and activities.
• Identify sources of qualified sign language and oral interpreters, real-time transcription services, and Braille transcription vendors to ensure that communication with individuals with disabilities is effective.
• Train staff in using the Georgia telephone relay service for telephone communications with individuals who are deaf, have hearing loss, or have speech disabilities.
• Implement a policy for the Sheriff's Office to provide effective communication for people who are deaf or hard of hearing.
• Develop policies and procedures and perform necessary planning to ensure that individuals with disabilities are afforded equal, integrated access to emergency management programs, including emergency preparedness, notification, evacuation, sheltering, response, clean up, and recovery.
• Ensure that barriers at polling places are removed or a substitute accessible polling place is identified.
• Develop a method for providing information for interested persons with disabilities concerning the existence and location of the County's accessible services, activities, and programs.
• Ensure that the County's official website and other web-based services are accessible to persons with disabilities.
• Install signs at any inaccessible entrance to a facility directing individuals with disabilities to an accessible entrance or to information about accessing programs and services at other accessible facilities.
• Implement a plan to ensure the accessibility of sidewalks and curb ramps throughout Stewart County.
• Amend its employment policies, as necessary, to comply with the regulations of the U.S. Employment Opportunity Commission implementing Title I of the ADA, codified at 29 C.F.R. Part 1630.

The agreement requires actions to be completed within three years. The Department will actively monitor compliance with the agreement until it has confirmed that all required actions have been completed.