Arizona county mandates masks in defiance of state law

The Pima County Board of Supervisors has voted to resurrect a mask mandate despite an Arizona law that bans public mask mandates.

In a 3-2 vote on Tuesday morning, the board instituted a mandate that requires everyone in the county to wear a face covering indoors “when six feet of physical distance cannot be maintained.”

“The public should view today’s vote as a rally cry for everyone in our community to take a simple and benign action that will go a long way to protect themselves and their community from the spread of a deadly disease,” said District 2 Supervisor Dr. Matt Heinz. “Masks work if everyone wears them. So please wear one and help our community slow and stop the spread of COVID-19.”

The policy takes effect immediately.

The resolution states that the Arizona Supreme Court’s nullification of portions of Senate Bill 1837 means “the County is NOT prohibited from mitigating the COVID-19 pandemic with any measure that may impact private entities, including an order, rule, ordinance or regulation that mandates using face coverings."

The board noted a Tuesday memorandum from Acting County Administrator Jan Lesher that said the county in November had 15,851 cases of COVID-19 compared to 13,933 cases in November 2020.

Ducey commented on the resolution.

“Arizona law clearly states businesses are NOT REQUIRED to enforce mask mandates that any city, town, county or other jurisdiction in this state established,” he said in a statement. “Rest assured, this law will not change. It took effect in September, following the signing of House Bill 2770 which echoed an Executive Order. If you want to wear a mask, please do so. We believe wearing a mask is a personal choice.”