Georgetown County to move to gtcountiesc.gov and roll out refreshed website on May 7

Randy Acres, a staff member in Georgetown County’s IT and public information team, said the county will switch its web address to gtcountiesc.gov and roll out a refreshed site on May 7.

Acres told the county’s First Friday podcast that the change to a .gov domain is intended to make official county communications easier for residents to verify because .gov registrations are vetted at the federal level. He explained the move is intended to reduce scams that exploit look-alike .org or other domains.

The county will also change staff email addresses to the @gtcountiesc.gov domain; Acres said the county will maintain the existing gtcount.org address and email for a transition period ("at least six months, maybe a year") so users have time to update bookmarks.

What’s changing: the refresh is a design update based on analytics of what residents search for and visit most. Acres said frequently accessed items such as the forfeited land commission and marriage-license pages will be more prominent. Several external department sites have already been integrated—storm water, economic development and the airport—and the county plans to bring in Midway Fire Rescue, county fire EMS, parks and recreation, and library web presences after the launch.

Funding and departments: Host Jackie Brooch said Economic Development Director Kelly Robertson Slaggel helped secure a $10,000 grant from Santi Cooper to fund custom redesign sections for the airport, economic development, parks and recreation and the library.

Launch details and support: Acres said the county expects to "flip the switch" at about 11:00 a.m. on May 7; visitors should see the new domain and refreshed design as the default that day. If users encounter issues after launch, Acres asked them to use the contact form on the county website to report problems so staff can make adjustments.

The announcement included a reminder that county meetings and library events remain listed on the site and that live streams are available at youtube.com/gtcountsc.