The county's government continues to shrink in the face of the coronavirus pandemic, with mandated furloughs the latest development in precautions enacted over the last few weeks.

Late Monday afternoon, the county commissioners announced an unpaid furlough would go into effect Tuesday.

In their announcement, they called for all nonessential county employees to be let go during the duration of the COVID-19 epidemic, which has nearly 413,686 globally confirmed cases and has killed 18,589 people worldwide.

County officials said Tuesday that the decision was made for several reasons, including a slowdown in county work after the government building closed to the general public and an expectation that Gov. Tom Wolf will expand the state's stay-at-home-order to Butler County.

The furlough order called on the heads of all county offices to determine who could be released from their departments during the duration of virus precautions. Already, county officials have taken countermeasures like canceling jury selection and rescheduling larger court gatherings like sentence court.

This latest decision comes after county commissioners declared a disaster emergency last week under the advisement of Steve Bicehouse, the county's emergency services director.

“You're balancing safety with protecting people's constitutional rights, which is why the government center and courts remain open,” said Leslie Osche, chairwoman of the county commissioners. “There are functions that must be protected and must go on.”

The commissioners invited all furloughed employees to use their paid time off days and file for unemployment if needed.

As of Wednesday, the commissioners said they hadn't received a final figure on the extent of the furloughs as department heads continue to adjust their staffs, but several department heads told The Eagle they were releasing more than half of their staff.

“We are slowly ramping down as the risk increased,” Osche said. And as that happens, the commissioners decided “it doesn't make sense to have somebody here with nothing to do.”

The commissioners further noted Butler County Prison and the 911 operations center, which employs about 300 people between them, are excluded from the furlough order. In total, the county employs around 635 people. Out of that, there were 175 who have been deemed essential. So far, out of the remaining 460 non-essential personnel, there are 169 people who have been marked as taking vacation, sick time or have been furloughed, according to Tom Victoria, a county spokesman.

All furloughed employees will continue to be covered by whatever health care plans they had.

Chief Public Defender Kevin Flaherty said the Public Defender's office, charged with representing the indigent in criminal cases, is down to three attorneys from six.

“This is a brave new world for us,” Flaherty said. “It was a tough decision for everybody. We'll do what we can to keep the office going.”

And District Attorney Richard Goldinger's office is down from eight prosecutors to himself and two assistant district attorneys. The office also furloughed all of its victim advocates.

“It's had a huge impact on us,” Goldinger said. “These are hard workers that can't come in right now.”

As time goes on, Goldinger said, he will consider bringing back a victim advocate if there is a need.

“The most important thing is to adapt because this situation will continue to change so we have to be responsible in management,” said County Commissioner Kim Geyer.