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JUSTICE DEPARTMENT ANNOUNCES AGREEMENTS REACHED

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Justice Department today announced agreements with five communities that will improve access to all aspects of civic life including, courthouses, libraries, polling places, police stations, and parks.

These agreements are part of the Department's Project Civic Access initiative, a wide-ranging effort to ensure that cities, towns, and villages comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act or "ADA." One aspect of the initiative includes investigators surveying villages, towns, cities, and counties across the country. Another aspect includes the distribution of two user-friendly guides to cities and towns explaining how to comply with the ADA.

"Access to civic life is a fundamental part of American society," said Assistant Attorney General Bill Lann Lee. "We call on localities to take this initiative seriously and to use these agreements as models to make their programs fully accessible to all people, including people with disabilities. These important steps should be taken even without a review by the Department."

The five settlements announced today cover public facilities in the City of Dodge City, Kansas; the Town of Elkin, North Carolina; Cambridge, Ohio; Ashland, Oregon; and Warminster Township, Pennsylvania. The Department now has secured 22 settlement agreements under the Project which entailed reviews of 55 localities and states. The Department continues to work on the remaining 33 investigations. Voluntary settlements are expected in the majority of those cases.

On-site investigations have concluded in all 50 states, plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Local government officials across the country have indicated a willingness to make changes to comply with the ADA and have cooperated with the Department's investigations. The project began last fall.

Depending on the circumstances in each community, the agreements address specific areas where access can be improved. For instance, the agreements require certain communities to:

• improve access at city and town halls; police and fire stations; sheriff departments; courthouses; teen and senior activities centers; convention centers; libraries; baseball stadiums; golf course club houses; parks, pools, skating and skateboard rinks, and band shells;

• alter polling places or provide curbside or absentee balloting;

• upgrade 9-1-1 emergency services for people who are deaf, hard of hearing, or have speech impairments;

• install assistive listening systems in legislative chambers, courtrooms, and municipal auditoriums; and,

• provide delivery systems and time frames for providing auxiliary aids, including sign language interpreters and materials in Braille, large print, or on cassette tapes;