The 2020 Census is well underway and Judge Executive Todd Ruckel says being counted is important.
“We need for every individual in Lewis County to be counted for many reasons,” he said.
“The Census results will determine the number of seats each state has in the US House of Representatives, and will influence how hundreds of billions of dollars in public funds are allocated for critical public services like emergency response, schools, health care, roads and bridges for the next 10 years,” Ruckel said.
Those who haven’t yet responded to the Census requests, or who didn’t receive one, are urged to complete the brief questionnaire as soon as possible.
If you need some help, Ruckel says assistance will be available at his office this week by phone.
The help will be available Monday through Thursday this week between 9:00 a.m. and Noon and will be available for call-back at other times.
Call the judge executive’s office at 606-796-2722 during those hours to speak with the helper or call anytime during regular hours to schedule a telephone appointment.
Ruckel said the first Census invitations began to arrive at more than 5,000 Lewis County households in March.
Residents with PO Boxes, however, did not receive an invitation in the mail.
Local response has been lower than expected at this point, he added.
Lewis County’s response rate stood at 43.8 percent early Monday. That compares to 53.2 percent nationwide ad 56.2 for Kentucky.
The final response rate for Lewis County from the last census count in 2010 was 55.3 percent.
“We can do better. It is very important that we have an accurate count of our Lewis County residents,” Ruckel said.
He added that in the past, Census workers would visit households to either hand-deliver invitations and paper questionnaires or to conduct interviews with households to collect their Census data.
“With the COVID-19 issues we have at this time, I’m not sure how the home visits will be conducted,” Ruckel said.
Final reminder postcards will be delivered soon to households that have not yet responded.
The US Constitution mandates a census of the population every 10 years.
For more information about the 2020 Census and to be counted, visit 2020census.gov.
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