Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton reportedly sued the city of Austin and Travis County on Thursday for failing to lift their mask mandates in accordance with Gov. Greg Abbott’s order lifting coronavirus restrictions.
Paxton’s reported suit is follow-through on a warning he gave to Austin Mayor Steve Adler and Travis County Judge Andy Brown in which he told the two officials he would sue if they didn’t comply.
“The decision to require masks or otherwise impose COVID-19-related operating limits is expressly reserved to private businesses on their own premises,” Paxton said in the letter, adding that he would give the city and county until 6 p.m. to lift their restrictions.
Abbott’s order lifting the state’s mask mandate and business capacity restrictions became effective at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday.
Leading up to Wednesday, Austin and Travis County reiterated that their mask mandates “remain in place through April 15, 2021, unless modified or extended.”
“It’s really the easiest and simplest thing we can do to ensure that we are going to be able to keep schools open for more and more students in person, open up businesses more and more, but we don’t know exactly how the public is going to act to that,” Adler said of masking.
Under the existing Health Authority rules for Austin and Travis County, businesses and other sites must require individuals to wear a face covering.
Masks will also continue to be required on or in County property.
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— Travis County TX (@TravisCountyTX) March 10, 2021
Abbott said during a March 2 press conference that it was “time to open Texas 100%,” adding, “Everybody who wants to work should have that opportunity. Every business that wants to be open should be open.”
El Paso Mayor Oscar Leeser sent a letter to Abbott on March 4, urging him to allow local jurisdictions more discretion in decisions about mandates and restrictions. Abbott’s order allows county judges a measure of discretion to use restrictions in the event that their counties have high hospitalizations, but they may not order businesses to operate under 50% capacity.
“There are 254 counties in your jurisdiction,” Leeser said in the letter. “Each one is different.”
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Adler’s office and Brown’s office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
