County sheriffs near Charlotte call new NC mask mandate ‘unenforceable’

Most of the county sheriffs in the Charlotte area said they will not enforce the new state order that requires people to wear face coverings in public areas.

That includes the sheriff’s offices in Cabarrus, Gaston, Iredell and Union counties. The office for Mecklenburg County Sheriff Gary McFadden did not respond to multiple requests for comment Friday. The Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office also did not respond to a request for comment.

At least 15 N.C. sheriff’s offices have said they would not enforce the mandate, which took effect at 5 p.m. Friday as the latest way to try to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus.

The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department won’t be enforcing individual use of face masks, Deputy Chief Jeff Estes said Friday.

Businesses can be cited for not following the mandate, according to the order, and customers who refuse to wear masks or leave local businesses can be cited for trespassing.

The new provision states that individuals must wear a face covering in public spaces like businesses, restaurants, public transportation and child care facilities. In most cases, it will fall to the establishment to enforce the face mask requirement on their property.

Sheriff’s offices across North Carolina have said the language of the new Executive Order prevents them from charging individuals who refuse to wear a mask in public.

“Law enforcement personnel are not authorized to criminally enforce the Face Covering requirements of this Executive Order against individual workers, customers, or patrons,” the order reads. The rules will operate on an “honor system” that the state hopes will prevent people from putting others at the risk of “serious illness or death.”

Gaston County Sheriff Alan Cloninger called the honor system described in Cooper’s order “unenforceable.”

Iredell County Sheriff Darren Campbell posted a statement on the county sheriff’s Facebook page Wednesday expressing similar sentiments.

“I firmly believe that the order mandating face coverings is not only unconstitutional but unenforceable,” Campbell wrote. “We have no intention of enforcing this order nor can we enforce this order.”

Educating the public

Exceptions to the mask mandate include people who have a medical condition preventing them from wearing a mask, children under the age of 11 and people who are exercising. The order includes 11 exceptions and states that people who refuse to wear a mask do not have to provide proof that they fall under one of the exceptions.

“If someone says they have a breathing problem and cannot wear one, you can’t question them. So it’s basically unenforceable for law enforcement,” Cloninger said.

The only circumstance in which the sheriff’s office or other law enforcement can enforce the mandate is if an individual is violating trespassing laws, Cloninger said.

If a business asks a customer without a mask to leave the premises and they refuse, the sheriff can intervene. Multiple sheriff’s offices said they would uphold trespassing laws as they normally would before the mandate began.

“Trespassing is trespassing,” Union County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Tony Underwood said. “You have no choice but to enforce a trespassing issue.”

The order also states that businesses or organizations do not need to ask customers without masks to provide proof that they fall under one of the exceptions listed in the order.

Several local sheriff’s offices said they do not expect to face issues with non-compliant businesses.

Tessa Burchett, a captain at the Cabarrus County Sheriff’s Office, said her office would repeatedly try to educate non-compliant businesses first before ever approaching the district attorney’s office.

“When we respond to complaints about this type of thing, we really try to proceed with compliance through education — just explain what the orders are, what they are about, that type of thing,” Burchett said.

Cloninger said his office’s powers have essentially been limited to suggestions.

“The most law enforcement can do is remind individuals without a face mask that masks are now mandated, Cloninger said. “We can just tell them, and move on.”