Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, local officials battle over mask mandates

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A chaotic and confusing patchwork of mask mandates has emerged across Texas as state officials and local governments take it to court and COVID-19 beats the state.

Often times, a county line or a school district line can make all the difference in whether or not a mask is required to be worn.

A number of cities, counties and school districts last week opposed Governor Greg Abbott’s ordinance banning masking and making it mandatory to wear masks in public schools to try to prevent the highly contagious Delta variant from becoming too young school children infected to get vaccinated – and to prevent the hospitals from overflowing with COVID-19 patients.

Dallas County had the most comprehensive mask mandate in the state – encompassing public schools, colleges, corporations, and many government buildings. Nowhere in neighboring Tarrant County, the county does not require the wearing of a mask.

Colleges in Travis County have to ask for masks – but not two hours south in Bexar County. There officials decided to keep the mandate only at K-12 – a move that should give state officials challenging the order in court fewer opportunities to overturn it.

“We restricted it because we didn’t want to overdo it and we have another reason [for the state] to put down our order, ”said Bexar District Judge Nelson Wolff.

For Texans who live in urban areas, the ping pong litigation between Abbott and local officials is another source of confusion about wearing masks. In some cases, a local mask mandate has been revoked by one court, only to be reinstated by another within hours.

For example, the Texas Supreme Court temporarily lifted mask mandates in the Bexar and Dallas counties on Sunday night. Less than a day later, a lower court judge essentially reinstated the Bexar mandate for public schools – but not without acknowledging the confusion.

“I just wanted to apologize to all these parents, school principals, the superheroes we call teachers for what someone has called a legal tug-of-war, in which our children are unfortunately in the middle,” said District Judge Antonia Arteaga in her verdict on Monday afternoon.

Following the Supreme Court ruling, Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins tweeted that the judges “did not reject my face mask order.”

But the court made Jenkins’ order unenforceable by depriving him of the ability to fine companies for failing to comply, said Doug Alexander, an attorney who represents Jenkins.

“What ‘cray cray’ is is that everyone is telling it [Jenkins] he needs mask mandates to save lives in Dallas County, ”said Alexander. “For reasons I cannot fathom, the governor and attorney general are determined to tie the arms of all government agencies to do exactly what the doctors on the front lines tell them to do to stop the growing pandemic. ”

Amid the legal mess, many school districts have withdrawn plans to require masks.

San Antonio’s Northeast Independent School District imposed a mask order after Bexar County officials persuaded a judge to suspend Abbott’s ban on mask mandates. But after the Supreme Court ruling on Sunday, the district foiled its plans.

The same goes for Fort Bend ISD – another district that was supposed to require masks, but changed course despite the mask order from Fort Bend County’s Judge KP George for the district that also includes public schools.

Some counties aren’t waiting for the state to challenge local mask orders to reverse course. In Travis County, the Eanes Independent School District withdrew its mask mandate following the ruling by the state’s Supreme Court – although the decision did not apply to Travis County and the county mask mandate remains in effect.

“We will follow the law in this legal chess game, as determined by the highest court,” said the school district on Twitter.

Others have stuck to their mandates through the chaos. ISDs in Dallas, Austin, and San Antonio will continue to require masks despite the Supreme Court order.

In parts of the state where masking orders are unaffected by the legal crossfire, officials are considering extending the mandate beyond schools and colleges.

Many Austin companies have introduced their own masking requirements without a local mandate, said Austin Mayor Steve Adler. However, he hasn’t ruled out making masks mandatory for private companies if the number of COVID-19 patients in hospitals continues to rise – though Adler doesn’t like the idea.

“We’re all just trying to keep people safe and keep the economy open,” he said.

Abbott has in recent days pushed back growing rebellion from cities, counties and school districts against his order – arguing in court that municipalities have no authority to ignore his order and create undue confusion with local mandates. Texas has exceeded the need for mask mandates, Abbott said.

“Any confusion comes from local officials breaking the governor’s orders in their attempt to restrict the rights and freedoms of Texans,” Abbott spokeswoman Renae Eze said in a statement. “Every Texan has the right to decide for himself and his children whether to wear masks, open his shops or get vaccinated.”

For Adler, it is Abbott who creates the confusion.

“I think there is a lot of confusion when science and doctors all say we have to do whatever we can to get people to mask and get vaccinated – and our governor is not going to do that and the local ones Preventing communities from doing what they do. “Can do,” Adler said.

Disclosure: Steve Adler, a former chairman of the board of directors of the Texas Tribune, was a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, non-partisan news organization funded in part by donations from members, foundations, and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the journalism of the Tribune. You can find a full list of them here.

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