AUSTIN (Talk1370.com) -- Local mask mandates in the city of Austin and Travis County will remain in effect for the time being, after a judge decided against granting a temporary restraining order sought by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on Friday morning.
District Judge Lora Livingston said there wasn't enough time for the defendants in the case to prepare for the hearing. Paxton filed the lawsuit Thursday afternoon, one day after threatening local officials to either rescind their orders or be sued.
Livingston set a hearing in the case for March 26.
"I don't know why there's any emergency," Livingston said during the hearing Friday morning. "People have been wearing masks for a year. I don't know that two more weeks is going to matter one way or the other."
As attorneys for the AG's office continued to push for a hearing Friday morning, Livingston declined to move forward. "I don't know that it is fair to any defendant to be served with a petition on Thursday and to be required to call witnesses, put on evidence, file a response hours later, and that's what's happened here," she said.
The legal wrangling comes after Texas Gov. Greg Abbott's latest executive order, which went into effect on Wednesday, lifted the statewide mask mandate as well as COVID-19 related business capacity limits.
Austin Mayor Steve Adler and Travis County Judge Andy Brown have vowed to continue to enforce local orders that are tied to public health rules issued by interim health authority Dr. Mark Escott, actions that have drawn the ire of Paxton's office.
Under the city ordinance, non-compliance with the public health orders in effect could result in a Class C misdemeanor charge, punishable by a fine of up to $2,000. City officials said Austin Code officers will enforce compliance, with complaints being directed to Austin 311.