Are mask mandates constitutional? Oklahoma City attorney weighs in

OKLAHOMA CITY (KOKH) — An Oklahoma City attorney is asking if mask ordinances at the city level are constitutional, saying his interpretation of the law appears void.

Emergency proclamations related to the coronavirus have been signed by government officials all over the state since March. Some limited the size of gatherings while others shut down hundreds of businesses. The alternative to following declarations would be criminal penalties.

The most recent order in some of the state’s largest cities requires most people to wear masks in public.

“These mandates are unprecedented,” according to Frank Urbanic, an attorney who said some state lawyers don’t believe there’s a statutory basis in Oklahoma law. He pointed out that city governments don’t have the authority to enact laws that are not like any state-wide law.

“If a municipality enacts an ordinance, then it must not be dissimilar to Oklahoma state law. So, there’s obviously no law in Oklahoma mandating or even dealing with the law of masks,” he said.

The question some are asking: What grounds city governments have to enact a law such as mask mandates?

Oklahoma City’s recent proclamation cites a section of a State Statute known as the Oklahoma Riot Control and Prevention Act, which gives cities the power to create ordinances under a State of Emergency.

Urbanic argues applying the ORCPA to the pandemic is a stretch.

“What I’m arguing is not pro–mask or anti-mask. What I’m arguing is that process matters, that if you are going to enact an ordinance or some law, it has to be in accordance with the process set out for you and it has to be authorized in some way.”

A lawsuit has been filed in Tulsa after Mayor G.T. Bynum signed a similar ordinance.

So far, no lawsuit has been filed in Oklahoma City.