AUSTIN – Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is suing the city of Denton after it refused to pull down its mask mandate in response to a notice letter from the AG’s Office.
“No one is above the law. No one,” Paxton said. “This sheepish attempt at defiance will be handled swiftly. The only ones who suffer in this repeated political theater are the great people of Texas. They deserve better.”
The suit, which also names several city officials as defendants, asserts Denton’s mask mandate violates Gov. Greg Abbott’s Executive Order GA-38, which prohibits governmental entities from forcing any person to wear a mask.
“In flouting GA-38’s ban on mask mandates, Defendants challenge the policy choices made by the State’s commander in chief during times of disaster,” the suit states.
“But the Texas Legislature made the Governor—not a patchwork of city officials, county judges, superintendents, or school boards—the leader of the State’s response to and recovery from a statewide emergency.
Paxton is arguing that the city’s mask mandate should be immediately enjoined.