Carbon County Sheriff Tony Harvilla said last week that the backlog of license to carry permits caused by the coronavirus pandemic and subsequent government restrictions has been addressed.

In order to accommodate the additional workload, the office had expanded its hours on Wednesday evenings and Saturdays.

“We haven’t had as much of a desire for individuals to come on Saturdays; we only had a few,” said Harvilla. “So we are going to discontinue the Saturday processing. However, we still have individuals who would like to come in after work so we’re going to continue with the Wednesday evening processing.

“The change in the schedule, instead of walk-in, was by appointment only, and that is working out very well for social distancing because it’s allowing us to control the amount of traffic we have so we’re going to continue with appointment processing during the day at the sheriff’s office and on Wednesday evenings until 7 p.m.”

Harvilla noted the office processed many renewals and an influx of new applications.

“The appointment system was developed to counteract any kind of social distancing issues,” said Harvilla. “Sometimes there would be a crowd of people waiting here to get their applications processed. And now with the appointment scheduling, we eliminated that. And it also became more efficient for us because we were able to process the applications more rapidly.

“The only issue that we’re having, and it’s not just Carbon County - it’s statewide - is that a lot of other sheriffs are trying to get caught up on their backlog, and by the afternoon and evening, the Pennsylvania Instant Check System is delayed. Normally, it’s a rapid turnaround; the applications come in, we log on, process it through the Instant Check System, we get an approval and we issue the permit. In the afternoon, it begins to bog down a little bit.”

While the appointment system has helped Harvilla’s office handle the rush of applications, there is only so much they can do.

“We’re going to be taking appointments in the afternoon and on Wednesday evenings, but it’s not going to guarantee that, if the Instant Check System is delayed, that they’re going to get their permit at that time,” he said. “We’re always recommending that they come in in the morning.”

The county commissioners last week also approved measures being taken by the sheriff’s office to enhance security in the courthouses.

An agreement with Johnson Controls of Allentown to repair the alarm system on the exterior door keypad located at the sheriff’s office was approved in the amount of $2,427.83.

Another agreement with Johnson Controls was approved to update the Access Control System for the Administrative Building, 76 Susquehanna St., the Judges Chambers, and Court Administration at a cost of $41,689.56.

“That’s an ongoing process since I took office in 2016 to upgrade the security systems in the courthouse and most of those projects were suggested through security assessments we had with the United States Marshal and the Pennsylvania Courts,” Harvilla noted. “We asked them to review our buildings here and give us a recommendation, so it’s an ongoing process.

“We’re trying to integrate it so that it’s fiscally responsible to upgrade all of the systems here so that we have one integrated security system for all county buildings. This is one more step we’re taking, and there will be more coming down the pike to continue to enhance security at the courthouse.”