Starting Monday, refusing to wear a mask in public spaces will be a criminal offense in Indiana, but the county’s top law enforcement officials say they’re not going to enforce it.
Gov. Eric Holcomb said Wednesday he will sign an executive order requiring everyone in the state to wear a mask starting next week. The requirements include wearing a mask while inside a public building or business, and outside when social distancing is not possible. Exceptions will be made for medical reasons, and when eating or drinking at a restaurant.
Refusing to wear a mask will be a Class B misdemeanor, Holcomb said during a Wednesday news conference, but he does not expect law enforcement to become “mask police” and arrest people for not wearing one.
“We don’t want it to get to the point where misdemeanors come into play,” Holcomb said. “We don’t think we’re there yet.”
For now, the state is depending on Hoosiers to do the right thing, Holcomb said.
Johnson County Sheriff Duane Burgess said in a statement Thursday the sheriff’s office will not police the state’s mask mandate in the county, and people should not call 9-1-1 to report someone for not wearing one.
“It’s going to overwhelm our dispatch. We still have other crimes that have to be worked on,” Burgess said.
Burgess said a business does have the legal right to refuse service to anyone who is not wearing a mask, though, and failure to leave the property could result in a higher Class A misdemeanor charge.
He also said people should be respectful if they choose to confront someone about not wearing a mask.
“I’m not against it. I wear a mask when I go to the store,” Burgess said. “I’m not going to tell anybody to approach anyone. I think you should leave it alone and go about your day … We will respond to a disturbance, but we’re not going to go on runs for someone not wearing a mask all day long.”
The decision to not police the order should not be taken as law enforcement “picking and choosing” which crimes to enforce, Burgess said.
“I’m not against masks. I’m against this being a B misdemeanor. We’re not going to go out one day and say, ‘Oh, we’re going to go arrest people for not wearing masks and take them to jail,'” Burgess said.
Other local police agencies are following suit, saying they will not enforce the mask order.
Read more of this story in Friday’s Daily Journal.
