Madison County State’s Attorney Tom Haine announced Friday that Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s new mask mandate is “not criminally enforceable.”
“This new executive order relies on the same legal foundation as the Governor’s previous executive orders relating to COVID-19,” Haine stated in a press release. “It remains my legal opinion that such orders are not criminally enforceable. My office is neither able nor willing to file criminal charges against anyone suspected of violating these orders. For further information, please review my legal opinion from December 2020.”
Haine added that while the mask mandate is not criminally enforceable, private businesses still have the right to require COVID-19 precautions, including masks.
“While my office cannot charge any individual with a crime for not following these COVID-19-related state directives, we can prosecute individuals for trespass or disorderly conduct if someone refuses to leave an establishment after being asked by the business owner,” Haine stated. “Just as individual citizens have rights, businesses also have rights which will be protected. Businesses must be given discretion on how and when to operate in accordance with applicable guidelines and subject to their own risk management.”
Pritzker’s most recent mask mandate begins Monday and reinstates previous mitigation requirements. Masks will be required indoors for all individuals two years old and older regardless of COVID-19 vaccination status.
Pritzker is also requiring higher education personnel and students, pre-k - 12 teachers and staff, and healthcare workers to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. Those who are unable or unwilling to receive the vaccine will be required to get tested for COVID-19 at least one per week, according to his new mandates.
In response to Pritzker’s previous mask mandates, Haine said last year that his legal opinions specifically apply to the criminal enforceability of the COVID-19 mandates by his office.
He stressed that violating COVID-19 mandates could carry civil liability, loss of insurance coverage, or business licensing penalties. Those risks are unrelated to the actions and discretion of the State’s Attorney’s Office, he wrote.
Haine recommended Madison County businesses and organizations seek legal counsel to discuss civil, insurance, and licensing risks before taking actions related to the issues.