As Richland County continues to work toward safely reopening County facilities, several offices have reopened to the public by appointment only.

Residents can now sign up for in-person appointments with the following offices, departments and divisions at the County Administration Building, 2020 Hampton St., Columbia:

• Assessor’s Office
• Auditor’s Office
• Business Service Center
• Development Services (Permits, Zoning)
• Finance
• Neighborhood Improvement Program
• Register of Deeds
• Treasurer’s Office

To sign up for an appointment, visit the County’s website, www.richlandcountysc.gov, to find appointment pages and instructions for making appointments for each office. For the full list of offices available by appointment, visit www.richlandcountysc.gov/all-appointments. Available appointment times will vary, depending on the office. Residents can also call departments directly to schedule an appointment.

Residents who have signed up must enter the County Administration Building through the rear entrance, where they will check in with a Sheriff’s Department deputy. The rear entrance is accessible via Harden and Lady streets.

“We recognize that South Carolina is seeing some positive trends in the decline of percent positive rates associated with COVID-19,” County Administrator Leonardo Brown said. “We want to make sure that as we look to allow citizens to have limited access to County facilities that we maintain a certain level of awareness that COVID-19 has not gone away – we’re just keeping it more in check.”

Richland County has taken steps to mitigate the risk of COVID-19 inside County facilities, including providing masks to employees, implementing temperature checks at entrances, installing signage to encourage social distancing and following safety protocols, and adding hand sanitizer stations.

“We’re certainly looking forward to allowing citizens to access in-person services by appointment so they can take care of their needs, while at the same time keeping them protected and keeping the employees who are serving them protected,” Brown said.