GREENE COUNTY BOARD impressed with website update

By Editor | July 13, 2026 |

By Carmen Ensinger

The Greene County Board, at their July 9 regular meeting, heard an update on the county’s website, which will celebrate it’s first birthday later this month. The website can be found at greenecountyil.org.
The website was created by Courthouse Intern Billy Springman, who has continued to improve and update the website over the past year.
“The website was launched on July 22 of last year and from that day until June 22 of this year, there has been a little under 32,000 people who have visited the County website,” Springman said. “Whether it is just looking at it or visiting some of the services that we offer, that is just under three times as many people that currently live in the county.”
Of course, the most visited page is the homepage, since this is the first page that pops up when the site is visited. Following that, the second most visited page is the Treasurer’s Office with a total of 2,889 views.
County Board member Rob Hall asked Springman if the website allowed residents to actually go online and pay their property taxes online through the website. Springman said it did.
Most impressive of all was the fact that over the past year, there have been a total of 109.415 events listed on the County website
“Whether it has been someone who has scrolled, they’ve clicked, they’ve looked around, they’ve searched – looks like 1,700 people have searched for things on the website,” he said. “It doesn’t tell us what they are searching for, but at least we know people are using that service.”
New additions added from when the website was first created last year include:
Victim services, agendas, ordinances, compensation packages, community resource guide created by the health department, Freedom of Information Act request form, school districts page, updated County contact form and a new weather alerts page.
“There is a new victim’s advocate services page under the State’s Attorney’s Office,” Springman said. “It has contact information and services it offers through the Victim Advocate Program.”
Under County Board there has been several things added, the newest being the addition of the agenda for the monthly board meeting. Also added are the compensation packages for employees earning over $75,000 a year, which is required to be posted.
For those wanting information about the courthouse, there are several links that can be clicked on to find out interesting information, such as the fact that the cannon that sits out front isn’t a cannon at all – it is actually a parrot rifle.
Weighing approximately five-tons, it was gifted to the Carrollton Post of the G.A.R. by the U.S. government. Designed by R. P. Parrott, it fired 100-pound projectiles and saw action aboard the gunboat Sassacus, including off the coast of Brunswick, Ga. It arrived in Carrollton on Oct. 26, 1900 and was formally dedicated a year later.
Most interesting of all, is the information on the courthouse clock, the one that stands 70 feet above the ground, and, other than the water tower, is said to be the highest point in Carrollton.
It was installed in 1893 by the E. Howard Watch and Clock Company and was hailed as “first class in every particular.” Its four black dials measure five feet across and sits 70 feet above the ground. The original mechanism included a 1,200-pound bell, a 70-pound pendulum and weights for striking and running totaling over 1,000 pounds. The striking weight had a 50-foot fall and was suspended by copper wire. Wound every eight days, the clock struck on the hour and half hour.
Because the building was not initially designed for such a large mechanism, internal modifications to the tower were necessary. On April 17, 1907, one of the clock’s iron weights broke free, crashing through the rotunda floor.
Originally visible from the courthouse’s open center, the clock tower was later hidden by the installation of a ceiling. In April of 1968, the clock was electrified by George Kavanaugh of St. Louis for the sum of $2,500, which was shared by the city, township and county. The dedication of the newly electrified clock took place on July 8, 1968. Despite efforts to keep the clock in working order, records do not indicate when the clock stopped working.