The Kern County Sheriff's Office announced on Tuesday that they were upgrading their app to help the community stay informed during the coronavirus pandemic.

"The Kern County Sheriff’s App is now offering broadcasts and rebroadcasts of Center for Disease Control (CDC) COVID-19 alerts, as well as local alerts. The app and the upgrade are available free for Android and Apple. The goal is to help the public and local businesses stay current on COVID-19 alerts and news."

The new COVID-19 feature is on the app menu. To sign up for alerts, go to settings, then notifications and register for the CDC alerts.

These changes are in addition to the existing features, which include push alerts, inmate search capability, correctional facility information, social media, job opportunities and more.