AUSTIN – The Texas Supreme Court ruled Friday that Gov. Greg Abbott has the authority to call off local mask mandates in response to COVID-19 or any other disasters.
The court ruled in a case from Harris County that the county’s local disaster response authority does not supersede executive orders from the governor. The unanimous opinion rendered moot lawsuits from Dallas and Bexar counties filed after Abbott issued an executive order in 2021 banning mask mandates.
“We hold that, during a declared disaster, the Governor has the lawful authority to prohibit local officials from imposing mask requirements in response to a contagious disease,” Justice Jimmy Blacklock wrote for the court.
The suit centered around Abbott’s June 2021 executive order that prohibited local authorities from requiring masks or issuing vaccine mandates in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. While the executive order only applied to the COVID-19 order, Friday’s ruling provided what appears to be a clear precedent for any future conflicts between the state and local government authority over the response to any disasters.
“Rarely in Texas law would a direct conflict between state authority and local authority be resolved in favor of local authority, and the statutes at issue do not dictate such an upside-down result here,” Blacklock said in the ruling.
The ruling nixes opinions from three separate appeals courts that found the governor’s executive order violated the Texas Constitution. The Fifth Court of Appeals in Dallas ruled in November 2022 that Abbott’s executive order violated Dallas County’s ability to manage the response to the pandemic.
“Obviously we’re disappointed with the decision, but it is also quite clear in indicating the decisions of the governor are supreme over all local authorities in any and all disasters, period,” said Doug Alexander, the lead attorney for Dallas County in the case.
Abbott let his executive order expire in June in anticipation of a new law passed this year that bans mask requirements, vaccine mandates and the closure of schools and businesses because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Abbott signed the bill into law on June 2 and it goes into effect in September.
Permanently ending COVID-19 restrictions was one of Abbott’s top priorities for this year’s legislative session. Abbott’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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