Texas Supreme Court hears arguments over mask mandates during disasters

Attorneys for three Texas counties on Wednesday argued before the Texas Supreme Court that local governments should be able to implement face mask requirements, including in schools, during public health emergencies despite executive orders against those mandates.

This case is one of several stemming from mask mandates during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In August 2021, the city of San Antonio and Bexar County sued Gov. Greg Abbott over his executive order prohibiting local governments from issuing mask mandates, including in schools.

The city and county had implemented mask requirements in public facilities and schools.

Abbott issued his orders prohibiting public mask mandates in May and July 2021.

During oral presentations Wednesday, Christopher Kratovil, an attorney representing San Antonio and Bexar County, argued that local authorities had the right to respond to local conditions during a declared disaster, including COVID-19 outbreaks.

“There is a grant of authority to the local officials to respond to a disaster that is in many ways co-extensive in plain language to the Texas Disaster Act with the grant to the governor,” Kratovil.

Local governments have authority to act for their area's interests, he said, adding, “We have 254 counties in this state in a geographic area larger than France.”

The San Antonio case was one of three in which the court heard arguments Wednesday over mask mandates. Lawyers for Harris County and Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins also argued that local entities should be allowed to issue mask mandates, if needed.

Lanora Pettit, an attorney with the Office of the Attorney General, argued that the governor has been appointed as the chief of state and has authority to act during a disaster declaration.

“The people of Texas have to know what they can and can’t do during a disaster,” Pettit said.

The justices asked questions about how far the governor’s authority reached, how to reconcile discrepancies between local and state disaster rules and if the cases are relevant now that COVID-related mask mandates have been rescinded.

“If the Texas Disaster Act needs a tiebreaker mechanism, it currently lacks one, and that’s an issue for the Legislature to handle,” Kratovil said.

The lawsuits are just a few in a legal mess the state government, cities, counties and school districts got entangled in during the pandemic over masking requirements.

During his State of the State address last week, Abbott called for the end of COVID-19 restrictions and supported legislation aimed at preventing vaccine and mask requirements or school and business closures.

However, Texas is still under a state of disaster related to COVID-19 and Abbott reaffirmed that declaration in early February.

Lawyers for all the local entities noted Wednesday that officials had no plans to issue mask mandates now, but wanted to reserve the right to do so should COVID-19 surge or should the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issue guidance recommending governments do so.

The justices didn't decide the cases Wednesday, and they will review the details and issue a decision at a later date.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Local masking authority questions reach Texas Supreme Court