VALDOSTA — The biggest effect of the partial federal government shutdown on Lowndes County seems to be in the courtroom.

About a quarter of the federal government was told to go home Dec. 22 when spending appropriations ran out and Congress could not reach a budget deal with President Donald Trump, who is demanding more than $5 billion for an anti-immigration wall along the Mexican border.

Among the federal facilities affected in the Valdosta area:

• The Courts. All civil cases involving the federal government in the Middle District of Georgia have been suspended indefinitely, following a request by U.S. Attorney Charles Peeler, according to a judge’s emergency order.

Clay Land, chief judge of the district, issued the order Jan. 8. 

“The Court has been informed that because of this lapse attorneys and other employees of the Civil Division of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Georgia, with limited exceptions, are prohibited from working, even on a voluntary basis, during the lapse of funding,” the judge’s order states.

Criminal prosecutions will continue, as these are considered vital activities, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney’s office.

About 80-84 percent of the U.S. Department of Justice is exempt from the shutdown furloughs, although they, like other vital federal employees, will not be paid until Trump and Congress can reach an agreement, the statement says.

At Valdosta’s federal building, the courtrooms and attached offices of the court clerk and the probation office were up and running Friday, as was security.

• Valdosta Regional Airport. Commercial flights between Valdosta and Atlanta continue, and the airport has not been affected by the shutdown, said Jim Galloway, airport manager.

“(Air traffic control) in the tower is operated by a private company, radar approach for the airport is handled by Moody (Air Force Base), and the Transportation Security Administration screeners are at work,” he said.

TSA screeners in Valdosta declined comment when asked if the shutdown was affecting operations.

Nationally, some TSA agents have quit due to the lack of a paycheck, said Hydrick Thomas, president of the TSA Council at the American Federation of Government Employees, a union representing federal workers.

• Moody Air Force Base. Defense operations are paid for under a separate budget from other federal operations. The shutdown has had no effect on the civilian workforce at Moody, according to the base’s public affairs division.

• Postal services. Most post office operations are not affected because the U.S. Postal Service is a self-funded entity, raising its own funds through sales of goods and services. Passport applications can still be filed at the Inner Perimeter Road post office; the U.S. State Department’s website says standard passport processing will still take the usual four to six weeks.

• Law enforcement. Both the Lowndes County Sheriff’s Office and the Valdosta Police Department said they have had no issues with federal law-enforcement agencies during the shutdown.

“They (federal law enforcement) would still come out regardless,” Lowndes County Sheriff Ashley Paulk said. “We’re not impacted at all.”

The Federal Bureau of Investigation Agents Association, a private group representing federal agents, has sent a petition to Congress and Trump urging a swift resolution to the budget impasse, claiming limited funding is threatening FBI operations and some agents may lose security clearances because the bureau cannot afford to perform regularly required financial background checks. Many FBI websites are not being updated.

• Social Security. The Social Security Administration’s budget was passed earlier, so that agency is not affected by the shutdown, said Frank Viera, deputy regional communications director for Social Security. The Social Security office on Inner Perimeter Road remains open for business, and checks will go out as usual, Viera said.

• Weather forecasts. The meteorologists at the National Weather Service’s Tallahassee, Fla., office continue to issue forecasts for the South Georgia region. 

“Much of NOAA National Weather Service operations are in excepted status and therefore remain in place to provide forecasts and warnings to protect lives and property,” said a spokesman for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the weather service’s parent organization. “With several storm systems impacting the country, staff continue mission-essential functions. In addition to forecasters at our local offices and national centers, appropriate technical and engineering staff are ensuring our Earth observations, high-performance computing, modeling and other systems required to meet this mission are up and operating.”

• VA clinic. Valdosta’s VA clinic remains open. The Department of Veterans Affairs is completely funded for 2019 and is fully operational, according to the VA website.

• National parks. The visitor’s center and many visitor activities at the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge in Charlton, Ware and Clinch counties are closed, said Dylan Renshaw, a cashier at Okefenokee Adventures, a private shop near the visitor’s center in Folkston that organizes boat tours and kayak rentals for the famed swamp.

Driving and walking trails through the national natural landmark are still open, “though they won’t be as well maintained,” he said. Volunteers aren’t even allowed to enter the park to pick up trash, he said.

Okefenokee Adventures is still open, though there has been a slight downtick in business since the shutdown began, Renshaw said. 

“People just assume we’re closed too,” he said.

Banks Lake National Wildlife Refuge in Lanier County is still open. It has no ranger staff of its own, depending on personnel from the Okefenokee to visit whenever necessary to check water levels and perform other duties, said John Fitton, director of the Lakeland-Lanier Chamber of Commerce. The general store at the refuge is run by the chamber as a concession.

Terry Richards is senior reporter at The Valdosta Daily Times.