Masks are still required in public in Sedgwick County, despite the local mask order being revoked, thanks to the governor’s mandate issued four months ago.
A day after the Sedgwick County Commission revoked its mask order and all other public health restrictions, county officials announced Thursday that masks are required until at least March 31 because of Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly’s previous executive order.
A November 25, 2020, executive order by the governor required masks statewide, but it allowed counties to opt out. If county officials took no action, the state’s mask mandate went into effect. The state’s order did not apply to counties that issued their own orders requiring masks.
At the time, Sedgwick County had its own mask mandate in place. But when the county commission revoked the health order on Wednesday, effective immediately, it did not formally opt out of the governor’s mandate.
The county is now under the governor’s order, which is scheduled to expire at the end of the month. Kelly has said she plans to issue a new statewide mask mandate after the current one expires.
County Manager Tom Stolz explained the situation during a Thursday afternoon media briefing.
“Our local law department was looking at this earlier today and kind of puzzle-pieced this together, and this is our interpretation,” Stolz said. “... This is information that we’re discovering today.”
Sedgwick County Commissioner Jim Howell, who led the charge to rescind the order, saying the decision should be left to elected officials, said the finding was a surprise.
“I am not sure the governor or the legislature realized the state’s Executive Order would suddenly be applicable to a county where the local health order was rescinded or just nullified when SB 40 became law,” Howell said in a written statement Thursday evening. “The county certainly intended to lift all orders but we did not know about this until today.”
Senate Bill 40, signed by Kelly on Wednesday night, essentially strips County Health Officer Dr. Garold Minns of his authority to issue public health orders.
The Sedgwick County Commission, which also serves as the Board of Health, rescinded its health order due to an impending change in state law designed to curtail county and state government emergency powers. Local officials anticipated the revised Emergency Management Act would lead to a slew of lawsuits against health orders, clogging the court system.
“We know in this community, we have a number of people who do not like to wear the mask,” Stolz said. “Had the commission kept the order going after Senate Bill 40 is passed, we know we would have had grievances coming in.”
Republican House and Senate leaders have pledged to oppose any extension of state mask mandates by the Kelly administration.
“Governor Kelly’s announcement that she intends to issue another unnecessary mask mandate shows the importance of this oversight,” three GOP House leaders said in a statement. “House Republicans stand ready to take action if Governor Kelly moves forward with this plan.”
Health officials have warned against ending mask mandates, citing concerns that the state could soon experience another surge in the coronavirus pandemic.
“All the mask doubters out there, I’m sorry, you’re just wrong,” said Dr. Steve Stites, the chief medical officer at The University of Kansas Health Systems. “... Masks prevent disease transmission, and anybody that tells you anything else just doesn’t want to believe reality. ... I don’t know why anybody would want to stop mask mandates right now.”
“Masks are helping keep people alive,” he said.
A study by the Institute for Policy & Social Research at the University of Kansas found that “Kansas counties with mask mandates had half the rate of new infections.” The study was first published in October, but was later updated with case data from the November surge in COVID-19 cases.
This story was originally published March 25, 2021 7:07 PM.