TOPEKA — Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt has provided guidance to law enforcement and prosecutors on the enforcement of wearing face masks in the state.
Schmidt says the guidance, updated earlier guidance and reflects changes to the Kansas Emergency Management Act. The amendments include changing the violation of an emergency order issued by the governor from a Class A misdemeanor to a civil violation, which is enforceable by a lawsuit filed by the county or district attorney. Schmidt says law enforcement officers may not arrest or detain a person in violation of an emergency order.
Schmidt also says individual counties may adopt provisions that are either more or less restrictive.
If an individual county has done so, then the governor’s emergency order may not be enforced in that county, even by a civil lawsuit.
The full memorandum can be found here.
