(BENTON, IL) — The public is invited to attend an open house and ribbon cutting at the new Franklin County Government Annex Building, located on the south side of the Benton Square, Thursday. The open house will run from 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. with the ribbon cutting at 10 a.m. The new county annex building opened in April and is home to the Franklin County Board, the Regional Office of Education #21 office, the County Election office, the Supervisor of Assessment and Board of Review. The Franklin County Board began discussions last October about moving the Government Annex building from the West Main location to the new facility – formerly known as the Campbell Building – due to several factors including sewer issues, wiring and non-existent handicapped accessibility to the second floor. The board voted in December to relocate the Government Annex building to the Benton Square and renovation work began in January at a cost of around a half-million dollars. A decision by the County Board as to what will happen to the former annex building still has not been made at this time.