Leaders vote to opt out of Kansas’ mask mandate

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    LEAVENWORTH, KS (KCTV/KSMO) — Leavenworth County’s Board of Commissioners voted 3-1 Wednesday morning to opt out of the Kansas governor’s statewide mask mandate that Gov. Laura Kelly announced last week.

The statewide mandate allows individual entities to opt out, but so far, all Kansas counties in the Kansas City area have affirmed the order, with the exceptions of Leavenworth and Linn counties.

The commissioners spoke for about an hour Wednesday morning about civil liberties versus general welfare.

Commissioner Vicky Haaz, the only board member to support the mandate, said she “loves individual freedoms” as much as anyone, but will not “put politics above public health.”

Jeff Culbertson, representing the First District, said if they do not have the power to enforce the rule, the board should not make the rule.

The Cities of Leavenworth and Lansing each approved a mask ordinance. The orders go into effect Saturday.

The public comment section of the meeting featured only citizens advocating against similar orders for the entire county.

“It hasn’t had any impact at all on the number of people who are or aren’t wearing masks. The only impact it’s had is that psychologically, it’s just making people stay home so that they don’t get harassed about masks,” said Pat Proctor, Kansas State Representative.

Chairman Doug Smith said the board encourages people to use common sense and wear mask, but it will not enforce the recommendation.

Leavenworth County has had 3,503 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 29 deaths so far during the coronavirus pandemic. The City of Leavenworth approved a mask mandate last week.

Fifty of the state’s 151 counties have a mask requirement in place.

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