CLAYTON — Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt sued St. Louis County on Wednesday to try to overturn a new mask requirement approved by local legislators the day before.
The mask order, which took effect at 8:30 a.m. Wednesday, requires masks in public indoor spaces for both vaccinated and unvaccinated people older than 5. The County Council voted 4-3 Tuesday to approve the measure in response to a record surge in COVID-19 infections and hospitalizations.
The move was meant to replace a mask order that had been issued by County Executive Sam Page and Dr. Faisal Khan, acting health director, but was rescinded Dec. 9 after a Cole County judge presiding over a separate case struck down state regulations allowing local health departments to issue such orders. St. Louis County has appealed to intervene in the case and challenge the ruling, which did not explicitly bar orders approved by local politicians.
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Schmitt announced just after the council vote that he would challenge the measure in court.
In a 16-page lawsuit filed Wednesday, Schmitt argued the council vote was illegally done, that the mask order violates state limits on public health measures, and that it represents an “unreasonable” burden on residents.
“Yet again, County Executive Page is attempting to impose his will on the citizens of St. Louis County through the forced masking of adults and even children,” Schmitt said in a prepared statement. “Citizens of St. Louis County should have the freedom to choose what is best for them and their families — the government has no authority force them to wear a mask or get vaccinated. My Office has fought Sam Page’s illegal mask mandates from the beginning, and we’re not going to give up now. This is a fight worth fighting.”
Page spokesman Doug Moore said Wednesday that Schmitt’s suit was aimed at garnering media attention for his election campaign.
Schmitt, one of several candidates for Republican nomination to U.S. Senate, has previously sued St. Louis County and other governments to challenge COVID-19 health measures.
“People are dying, hospitalizations are at record levels, schools are going back to online learning and all Mr. Schmitt cares about is getting his name in the press,” Moore said in a statement.
“The council’s actions last night will save lives. Mr. Schmitt’s will not.”
This is the second lawsuit Schmitt has filed challenging county mask orders since a new state law enacted in July gave local politicians powers over health orders.
Under that law, the County Council voted 5-2 to rescind a mask order issued by Page and Khan a day earlier. The bipartisan majority — Rita Days, D-1st District, Tim Fitch, R-3rd District, Shalonda Webb, D-4th District, Ernie Trakas, R-6th District, and Mark Harder, R-7th District — complained that Page did not consult them first.
Schmitt, who had sued to block the order, cited the vote in court to win a temporary restraining order blocking the county from strenuously enforcing a mask requirement.
In August, after weeks of criticism and debate, Days and Webb joined Councilwomen Lisa Clancy, D-5th District, and Kelli Dunaway, D-2nd District, in approving a nonbinding resolution supporting a mask requirement. The county issued a new mask mandate, and county judge lifted the temporary restraining order.
The county ultimately rescinded the mask order Dec. 9 after the Cole County ruling, which came in a 2020 lawsuit by a St. Louis-area resident, a restaurant and a church challenging health regulations like occupancy limits. Schmitt, who defended the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services in the lawsuit, had declined to appeal the ruling despite the agency’s urging, and sent schools and governments cease-and-desist letters demanding they lift health regulations.
The new mask order approved Tuesday was supported by all four council Democrats; Republicans objected, arguing it violated state law.
In the lawsuit filed Wednesday, Schmitt argued the new mask order is effectively the same as a previous order issued by Page and Khan in July that a County Council majority voted 5-2 to overturn. Because of the council vote on July 27, Schmitt argued, a mask mandate remains a “prohibited order.”
Schmitt also argued the county could not yet issue another mask requirement because the state law prohibits such health orders to 30 days within a 180-day period, if they don’t get two-thirds legislative approval.
And Schmitt asked the courts to declare that the new countywide mask order does not apply to school districts.
Schmitt argued school districts are “distinct and separate political subdivisions,” from the county government, under the state constitution.
A number of local school districts have reinstated mask requirements this week, the first week of classes since the holidays, amid record COVID-19 infection levels and hospitalizations. Page and other county officials had said a countywide mask requirement would support schools and businesses requiring masks.
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