Bartlesville Radio: The area’s best source for news, weather and sports!

A resolution to extend a mask mandate that requires masks to be worn in the Washington County Courthouse was approved by the Washington County Commissioners on Monday morning.

District Judge Linda Thomas, District Attorney Kevin Buchanan, Assistant DA Will Drake, and Court Clerk Jill Spitzer were in attendance. DA Buchanan said the resolution is a result of the COVID-19 Emergency State of Disaster. He said they're telling the citizens of Washington County that they have to come to court and participate in the American process.

DA Buchanan said they have jury trials scheduled through the end of March. Buchanan said they have a back log of cases from last year, which is a travesty to the citizens of the County. He said the citizens may feel compelled to fulfill their civic duty.

It is the opinion of the Washington County District Attorney's Office that the Board of County Commissioners has the authority to issue a mask mandate. DA Buchanan said he doesn't know of any law that says they cannot issue a mask mandate. He said they wouldn't have issued the letter if there was one.

If such a law does exist that questions the ability of the Washington County Commissioners to not issue a mask mandate, DA Buchanan said he would be glad to review that law and give you his opinion. Buchanan said nobody has presented such a law to him.

Since the mandate was in place in December 2020, Buchanan said none of the COVID-19 numbers in Washington County have declined to his knowledge. Buchanan said they've sent out over 700 jury summons for jury trials. He said they're getting ready to tell people that they're going to have to leave their home and come to the Courthouse, risking exposure to the virus. He said there will be numerous people in the Courthouse at a time whether it be in the hallway or bathroom during a break, or in the courtroom during trial.

Murder cases are coming up. Buchanan said they can't do anything other than have over 50 people in the courtroom for each murder case because of the numbers of people that'll be legally excused that the parties can excuse on their own. He said they're going to have to have over fifty people per trail, and they're not going to have a choice to stay in their and not participate or not listen.

Buchanan added that the mask mandate is important to protect Washington County employees from public exposure. He said having the public wear a mask will further protect the courthouse staff from being exposed to COVID-19, as they continue to wear a mask themselves to protect the public from being exposed to the virus.

District Judge Linda Thomas said medical advice is clear that wearing a mask protects others. Judge Thomas said employees that choose to wear a mask are choosing to protect others. She said others that come into the courthouse and choose not to wear a mask are exposing themselves and others to the coronavirus.

Judge Thomas said the greatest exposure comes in the areas outside of the courtroom. She said each judge would be able to control the courtroom by telling people to wear a mask, but they'd need a bailiff or deputy monitoring the halls to make sure that the public is abiding by the mask mandate.

According to Judge Thomas, personal opinions shouldn't play into the decision to pass a mask mandate or not. Whether or not people believe the masks work or not, Judge Thomas said it is very clear that the medical community says that masks work. She said the COVID-19 numbers in our area certainly indicate that we're still at risk if we are not wearing masks.

It was Judge Thomas' belief that it would be her duty to limit access to the courts if a mandatory mask mandate was not in place for all common areas of the courthouse.

The resolution passed on a 2-0 vote. The mask mandate for the Washington County Courthouse in downtown Bartlesville was extended by 90-days. You can find the resolution and a letter about the mandate from DA Buchanan here.

Commissioner Mike Dunlap was not present for the meeting on Monday. Commissioner Mitch Antle previously voted no on the mask mandate for the Courthouse in November 2020, but he changed his vote to a "yes" this go around. He said anyone that wishes to speak to him about why he changed his vote can contact him directly.

You can find Commissioner Mitch Antle's contact information here.

You can find the approved resolution and the opinion from the Washington County DA's Office attached here.