Johnson County woman sues city over COVID mask requirement. Judge rules against her
A Johnson County judge sided with the city of Shawnee on Monday after a resident sued when she was denied entry into a city meeting without wearing a mask.
It’s among the latest in a string of challenges to mask mandates under Kansas Senate Bill 40, which opened up a new system for fighting city, county and school district COVID-19 restrictions. In Johnson County alone, several residents have challenged mask mandates in three school districts — Blue Valley, Olathe and De Soto — and all were upheld.
In the meantime, the Johnson County Board of Commissioners will consider whether to end or adjust its countywide mask mandate at its meeting on Thursday. The mandate is currently set to expire at the end of the month.
On Monday, Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas announced that the city would loosen its pandemic-related emergency orders, but decided that masks are still required in most indoor settings where people are close to one another.
In Shawnee on April 12, Debbie Detmer attempted to enter the City Council chambers without wearing a mask, despite the Johnson County health order requiring they be worn in public. Detmer claimed to have a medical condition allowing her to be exempt.
A police officer informed Detmer that she would need to sit outside the building. City officials said she could watch the meeting from a monitor and hear it outside through speakers. She was also given an opportunity to speak from outside during public comments via a wireless microphone.
Detmer sued under Senate Bill 40, which the Republican-controlled Legislature passed and Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly signed last month. The law allows residents who feel they’ve been “aggrieved” by a state or local public health order to challenge the policy in court. Those appeals are sent to county district courts, where a hearing must be given within 72 hours.
Municipalities must prove they are applying the orders in the interest of public health and are protecting those interests in the least restrictive way possible.
Detmer argued that the city did not allow her to fully participate in the meeting, and that its application of the county health order restricted her constitutional rights.
“I struggle to breathe always, and I cannot limit my airway,” Detmer said during Monday’s hearing.
“I just want to be able to go to a public meeting at the City Council and sit in the room, be a part of it, and have my voice heard if needed and when needed.”
Attorney Andrew Holder, representing the city, countered that Shawnee did not burden Detmer by following the county health order. He said that Detmer was still allowed to participate in the meeting and was provided accommodations to do so outside.
After hearing arguments for about an hour, Johnson County District Court Judge Robert Wonnell agreed with the city.
“The guidelines that are in evidence in this case of how the city of Shawnee chose to interpret the Johnson County public health order, I find did not substantially burden you, Ms. Detmer,” the judge said, “and I find that they were narrowly tailored to respond to the local public health order from Johnson County, and that they used the least restrictive means to do so.”
Earlier this month, Wonnell dismissed a lawsuit filed by Johnson County Commissioner Charlotte O’Hara against the Blue Valley school district after she was refused entry into a district hearing because she wouldn’t wear a face mask. He agreed with Blue Valley’s attorneys, who argued that O’Hara did not have the standing to challenge the district under the law, because she is not an employee, student, parent or guardian in the district.
This story was originally published April 26, 2021 at 3:20 PM.
