Governor orders state offices closed May 16
By Karin Grunden
Tribune-Star
Planning to renew your driver's license, stop by the Workforce Development Office or contact the Department of Revenue on May 16?
You won't be able to in Terre Haute.
All nonessential state government workers whose work site is in Vigo County will have the day off.
Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh is scheduled to die by lethal injection shortly after 7 a.m. that day in the U.S. Penitentiary, Terre Haute.
The governor's decision to close the state offices came Monday, just days after local officials announced that Terre Haute and Vigo County offices would close May 16.
"It's certainly a precautionary measure just in case the worst would happen," said Thad Nation, spokesman for Gov. Frank O'Bannon's office.
All schools in the county will be closed the day of the execution, as will the federal courts.
State workers scheduled to work the day of McVeigh's execution will be given leave with pay, Nation said.
Employees required to work, including state police or road crews needed in an emergency, will be granted compensatory time off on an hour-for-hour basis for the hours worked, according to a news release from the governor's office.
State government offices in Vigo County affected by the one-day closure will include the Department of Workforce Development, the Family and Social Services Administration's Department of Family and Children and Vocational Rehab, the Department of Revenue, the Indiana Department of Transportation and the Bureau of Motor Vehicles.
Normal services will resume May 17, Nation said.
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