Applying a Retroactive Emergency Closing Causes Issues with Returned Items

[Jennifer Pringle]

Evergreen 3.3.4

We have had reports of several items that are having their due dates extended by emergency closings despite not currently being checked out (status is Available) and the previous patrons are receiving the Due Date Extended emails.

A few of our libraries entered emergency closing dates that extended into the past in order to extend due dates on items that had recently become overdue.

Overdue items that were returned within the period that has now been marked as closed had their fines voided but no xact_finish date was applied. Because the circ is still open the items are having their due dates updated and associated patrons are being emailed about items they don't have out anymore.

Ideally the fines would be voided and the circulation closed for items that are no longer checked out.

Example:

Emergency Closure applied on March 13th with a start date of February 14th and an end date of April 30th.
Item was originally due on February 22nd and returned on February 28th.
Overdue fines on the patron's account for the 22nd to 28th were voided but the circ was not closed.
Item's due date was updated to May 1st (item status is available)
A new emergency closing was added on April 14th with a start date of April 14th and an end date of June 16th.
Item's due date was updated to June 17th (item status is available) and email sent to previous patron.

[Tina Ji (tji)]

Observed the same behaviour on 3.5.

When retrospectively marking emergency closing, the due date for returned circs with fines is updated and the overdue fines are adjusted.

Adjusting the fines may be desirable. But the due date should not be updated, since the item has been returned.

Another associated issue is that both the bills and circs are left open (xact_finish not filled) when the balance reaches zero after bills being adjusted. When a library extends the closure, these circs are updated again.

[Michele Morgan (mmorgan)]

Marking Confirmed. Due dates for circulation transactions that have already been checked in should not be changed.

[Terran McCanna (tmccanna)]

Is it keeping the status as Available for these items, or is it reverting them to be checked out again?

[Galen Charlton (gmc)]

Terran: I can confirm that it wouldn't change the item's status or make the item be checked out again.

[Galen Charlton (gmc)]

Thinking through a minimally-disruptive fix:

- It wouldn't affect loans that were fully settled during the closing period. I.e., if you returned an item during the retrospective closing period and paid its overdue fines, Emergency Closing Handling wouldn't touch the loan. (One might wish to refund the patron who went to the extra effort to get to the library in a snow machine during that period, but that would be an enhancement.
- Both loans and reservations are affected by the problem and would have the same fix. Hold requests aren't a factor, as Emergency Closing Handler already ignores cancelled and fulfilled holds.

Two specific changes would be made (once for loans and once for reservations, for a total of four distinct changes):

1. If a loan/reservation was returned/checked in, its due date would be left unchanged.
2. After voiding any overdue fines on _returned_ loans/reservations only, if the resulting balance on the transaction is zero, the transaction would be marked as finished.