HOUSTON, Texas — The future of Harris County’s mask mandate remains in limbo.
At the moment, Harris County has secured a temporary restraining order that blocks Governor Greg Abbott’s executive order that bans local government entities and school districts from requiring masks.
Last week, Judge Lina Hidalgo defied the governor’s order and announced a mask mandate at all county schools.
On Sunday, the Texas Supreme Court ruled Dallas and Bexar Counties could not enforce mask mandates.
RELATED: Siding with Gov. Abbott, Texas Supreme Court temporarily halts mask orders in Dallas, Bexar counties
KHOU legal analyst Carmen Roe said it’s an indication that Texas Supreme Court justices will rule in favor of the governor when it comes to the Harris County case.
Roe said, “The writing is on the wall. It’s quite clear that once there is an appellate order that it’s going to be stayed as well pending final resolution by the Texas Supreme Court.”
She said the language that empowers Governor Abbott to issue executive orders during disasters like a pandemic is very broad.
“And so he’s pretty much allowed to do whatever he needs to do to ensure the safety of the communities that he’s representing as the governor of Texas,” Roe said.
She added she’s never seen a power struggle between local and state leaders on what’s best for residents like this before.
In a statement, the Harris County Attorney’s Office said “Until the Texas Supreme Court issues a final order on the merits of the case, we will not know what the final impact to Harris County will be.”
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said, “Governor Abbott’s executive order 38 is crystal clear, and the Texas Supreme Court agrees: No governmental entity— which includes counties, cities, and school districts— may require mandating the COVID-19 shot, the showing of vaccine passports, COVID-19 related limitations, or mask mandates. NO GOVERNMENT IN TEXAS MAY IMPOST A MASK MANDATE. Yet too many local officials continue to violate this law. I will sue every single local entity and local official who does. And if they continue to disobey, I will pursue additional legal sanctions.”
Roe said the Texas Supreme Court’s decision will set legal precedence.
“I think that the Texas Supreme Court giving us guidance in this area is going to go a long way towards everyone understanding how to comply, how to remain safe and how to deal with an executive order that is not something that’s very agreed with at this time,” Roe said.
The county attorney’s office said a hearing on the temporary restraining order has been set for next week but they anticipate that it will happen sooner because the issue is time sensitive.