Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins asks court to block Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s ban on mask warrants

This story has been updated throughout.

Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins on Monday asked a court to block Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s ban on mask warrants, arguing the Republican governor’s executive order violated state law.

The counterclaim follows a lawsuit between Jenkins, a Democrat, and Dallas County Commissioner JJ Koch, a Republican, over a mask warrant at Commissioners Tribunal meetings. He appoints Abbott as the counter-accused and asks that a judge file an order to end the application of the July Governor’s Executive Orders that prevent local governments from adopting mask warrants.

He is also asking that Jenkins be allowed to take action to deal with the pandemic, including making masks mandatory. Jenkins’ request for declaratory judgment and a temporary restraining order comes as delta cases of COVID-19 soar nationwide and emergency departments at local hospitals are overrun with patients.

“In a few days, schools will restart and young children, who are increasingly at risk for the Delta variant and who are not eligible for any of the vaccines, will be indoors,” the Jenkins case says. “This is a recipe for exploding the community transmission of the Delta variant as it passes through schools and children take it home to their families. “

Abbott’s office did not immediately respond to questions about Jenkins’ claim.

The document, obtained by The morning news from Dallas, was filed electronically late Monday but had not been stamped as filed by the district clerk’s office.

“Governor Abbott’s hype couldn’t have come at a worse time,” Jenkins said. “Texas lags behind most states in immunization and has had one of the highest total numbers of coronavirus transmission cases. The pandemic is an imminent threat to public safety. “

Abbott issued its executive order after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended wearing masks for both vaccinated and unvaccinated people indoors. Those who defy its mandate face a fine of up to $ 1,000.

The governor’s decree also bans schools from requiring masks, but many districts are fighting back.

Dallas ISD said on Monday it would need masks as part of another effort to challenge Abbott’s ban, and the state’s largest school district, Houston ISD, said it would consider a similar measure.

In a statement announcing 796 new cases and three deaths on Monday, Jenkins praised the Dallas ISD decision.

“I think what you will see, and I hope what you will see, are more local leaders in government, schools, hospitals and businesses standing up to follow science and protect public health. “Jenkins said. “The enemy is not the other. The enemy is the virus, and it’s about saving lives. “

A Dallas County judge previously denied Koch’s request for a temporary injunction against Jenkins’ mask warrant in the courtroom, saying there had been no harm in forcing the commissioner to wear a face cover at a meeting last week. Jenkins makes it clear in his counterclaim that he views Abbott’s action as causing serious damage.

“These injuries are irreparable and there is no adequate remedy in law because nothing a court can do at a later date can change the infections, spread, disease and death which will certainly occur for the worse. number “, according to the court record. “The evil is permanent and it is serious. Lives are at stake. ”

Abbott also ordered outside help on Monday to provide additional staffing to healthcare facilities as they grapple with increasing COVID cases. He also called on the Texas Hospital Association to tell hospitals to delay elective surgeries to make room for an increase in the number of COVID patients. Additionally, the governor is calling for more COVID antibody infusion centers to open statewide to treat patients who do not need hospitalization and to increase vaccine availability.

Jenkins said Monday there were only 14 intensive care beds left across the county. The last time Dallas intensive care units were this full was Feb. 16, according to the county.

“Without one of the few tools available to us to tackle the deadly virus, Judge Jenkins is prevented from fulfilling his delegated legislative duty to deal with this escalating pandemic disaster,” he said.