This is a breaking news story and will be updated.
Masks will once again be required in schools, businesses and county buildings, Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins announced Wednesday.
Already a subscriber?
This is a breaking news story and will be updated.
Masks will once again be required in schools, businesses and county buildings, Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins announced Wednesday.
His new executive order comes after a Dallas district judge issued a temporary restraining order late Tuesday that restricts enforcement of Gov. Greg Abbott’s ban on mask mandates and as school districts and local governments across the state line up to defy the governor’s order.
The new masking mandate goes into effect at 11:59 p.m. Wednesday, and requires the following:
Jenkins said he worked with school superintendents, restaurant, bar and retail owners and more when crafting the order.
“Your personal freedom is important to me and to you, but your personal freedom doesn’t come to harming your neighbors,” Jenkins said. “I’m hopeful that we will turn the tide somewhat with these orders.”
Jenkins has said that masking is necessary to help slow the spread of the delta variant of the COVID-19 virus as cases skyrocket and hospitals quickly run out of beds. The county announced over 3,000 new cases in three-day totals yesterday. UT Southwestern Medical Center predicts the county will reach more than 2,000 cases a day and 1,500-plus hospitalized patients by late August.
Jenkins first issued mask orders in April 2020, a month after coronavirus cases first started popping up in Dallas County and elsewhere. At that time, orders also included lockdown and occupancy limits. Jenkins said that CDC guidance has changed and is not recommending such drastic action, but that the order could change.
“You may see more orders, you may see changes,” Jenkins said. “It’s a small price to pay to protect our children and public health.”
Public health experts say the new variant is especially concerning for children under 12 years old who cannot get the vaccine. As classes start back up for the school year, only two pediatric ICU beds were available Tuesday in all of North Texas.
Dallas ISD and Fort Worth ISD have defied the governor’s order, saying they will require masks. A Bexar County judge issued another restraining order, allowing the county and city of San Antonio to require masks in government-owned buildings and schools.
Immediately following Jenkins’ announcement, Carrollton-Farmers Branch, Richardson, Mesquite, Grand Prairie, Cedar Hill, DeSoto, Duncanville and Lancaster school districts confirmed they would enforce a mask mandate. Dallas Superintendent Michael Hinojosa already announced earlier this week that DISD would enforce its own mask requirement.
“Although we are four independent school districts, our families and communities regularly engage and interact with one another. One community’s health and well-being are interdependent with the neighboring communities,” the superintendents of Cedar Hill, DeSoto, Duncanville and Lancaster wrote in a statement. “We believe this emergency order aligns with our efforts to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 within our communities.”
Representatives from Coppell, Highland Park, Garland and Sunnyvale ISDs indicated their districts were still working through the decision, not committing to the order or against it yet.
“At this time, Sunnyvale ISD will meet with legal counsel to fully understand the scope of this situation so that we can make the best decision for our students, teachers and families,” spokeswoman Emily White said via text.
A spokesperson from Irving ISD did not respond to a question about mask requirements immediately.
In a message to families, Richardson officials acknowledged how quickly the mask rules were evolving.
“This situation continues to change, and the potential for additional legal action may change the situation again in the coming days or weeks,” they wrote. “For now, masks will be required.”
Jenkins’ similar order is the result of a win in the courts late Tuesday as part of a suit between Jenkins and Dallas County Commissioner J.J. Koch, who was escorted from a commissioners court meeting last week for not wearing a mask. Koch sued Jenkins for violating Abbott’s order, who in turn sued the governor.
A Dallas County judge heard arguments from Jenkins’ and Abbott’s attorneys Tuesday, before deciding that the governor’s executive order precluding local mask mandates was “not [a] necessary action to combat the pandemic.”
“The citizens of Dallas County have and will continue to be damaged and injured by Governor Abbott’s conduct,” the order reads. “Judge Jenkins cannot be precluded from implementing the mitigation strategies he believes are sound, reliable, and backed by scientific evidence.”
A hearing on whether the temporary order should become a permanent injunction is scheduled for Aug. 24. Jenkins’ lawyers said Wednesday they expected there wouldn’t be a challenge to the order until then.
Attorney General Ken Paxton told conservative talk radio host Dana Loesch on Wednesday he plans to appeal the Dallas judge’s decision to the Texas Supreme Court, and hopes to get a ruling later this week or early next on whether Jenkins’ order can stand.
He and Abbott have dug in on the ban on mandates, saying it should be up to individual Texans to choose to wear a mask — although Abbott has repeatedly encouraged people to do so.
”[Jenkins] can’t just make up laws and choose laws that he doesn’t like,” Paxton said on Loesch’s radio show. “He may get liberal judges in Dallas County to do as he asks, but ultimately I think we have a Texas Supreme Court that will follow the law.”
Reporters Emily Donaldson, Talia Richman and Corbett Smith contributed to this report.