Prepare to be a little confused. Columbus Day was one of those holidays that was a day off for government employees, but not for all. The holiday calendar has gotten just a little messier with the addition of Frances Xavier Cabrini Day, Monday, Oct. 5. 

But not all governments or other institutions have adopted Cabrini Day, so here are a few things to keep in mind.

• It’s a state holiday, which means state employees are off and state agencies closed. That includes the Secretary of State‘s office.
• That doesn’t apply to public colleges and universities or their employees. Those institutions are open, as much as they can be, on Oct. 5 and will be open on Oct. 12.
• Public schools are open. Columbus Day isn’t usually a holiday anyway.
• Colorado’s state and district courts — including the Colorado Supreme Court — are closed. Municipal courts are open, as are federal courts, such as the U.S. Supreme Court.
• What Cabrini Day is not: a federal holiday, which means things like banks, mail delivery and federal offices are still operating today. That also means that the federal Columbus Day holiday will still take place next week, so expect banking holidays, as well as a day off for postal workers and for those who work in federal agencies. 

How the day is being treated at the local government level is another matter.

It’s not a holiday for employees in the City and County of Denver, but neither is Columbus Day, and that’s pretty common across many municipalities. 

Kevin Bommer, executive director of the Colorado Municipal League, said the law didn’t change the holiday for municipalities (and not for county governments, either). “I’m not aware of any municipalities taking this as a paid holiday unless they had previously taking Columbus Day off,” Bommer told Colorado Politics Monday (and at CML, they’re working today). 

But as far as county offices are concerned, it’s all over the map, literally. Arapahoe County, for example, will close its county offices for Columbus Day; Douglas County will be open, but that’s because employees long ago chose the day after Thanksgiving as a day off instead of taking Columbus Day, according to spokeswoman Wendy Holmes. Mesa County doesn’t celebrate Columbus Day or Cabrini Day, so its county offices are open Monday and will be on October 12, too. Eagle County’s calendar indicates county offices are open both Mondays. Boulder and El Paso County governments are also open both days. Summit County denotes Oct. 12 as Indigenous Peoples’ Day, and while county offices will be open select library branches will be closed, and the main branch will close early at 5 p.m.

If you anticipate needing to conduct business with your county next Monday, it’s best to check with the county government before  then to see if those offices will be open.