MO Republican wants Jackson County to refund fines for COVID-19 mask mandate violations

Jackson County and other health departments within the county may be required to pay back fines they issued to businesses for not complying with COVID-19 regulations if a proposed bill is approved by the Missouri General Assembly.

The bill, sponsored by Missouri state Rep. Chris Sander, a Lone Jack Republican, was heard by the House Emerging Issues Committee Wednesday afternoon.

The bill targets Jackson County because when the county’s mask mandate was in place, businesses found violating the order could be issued a ticket and even be temporarily closed. The bill can also be applied to Kansas City and Independence, which both have their own health departments.

Kansas City did not immediately respond to answer how much they collected in potential fines issued.

“It’d be similar to the process if a police officer pulled you over, wrote you a ticket and collected a fine, all with no judge, no jury, and nobody knows where the police officer would have the money,” Sander said.

The county’s mandate required people to wear a mask while inside any public space, regardless of vaccination status. It applied to areas in the county outside of Kansas City and Independence because those cities have their own health departments.

A total of $2,275 was collected from 10 tickets paid to the county, Marshanna Smith, a spokesperson for the Jackson County Executive’s Office told The Star in an email. There were 35 total public health order violations filed, and 21 were dismissed by a prosecutor. Four outstanding warrants are still pending, Smith said.

Sander testified at the hearing that he asked the county for information on how much money was collected, but the county never provided him the numbers it provided to The Star.

Rep. Dave Hinman, an O’Fallon Republican, said at the hearing that it would be concerning if the county was purposely withholding the information on fines collected.

Independence collected a total of about $550 from four tickets, Meg Lewis, communication manager for Independence, said in an email. She said nine total tickets were issued but five were dismissed.

“I don’t know if it’s $1,000 or a million dollars, but I would like to give that back to the businesses that had to pay them because the way it was done, it’s unconstitutional,” Sander said.

Amanda Wohletz, the owner of Rae’s Cafe, testified at the hearing about her experience facing fines and citations for violating the mask mandate in 2021.

“It cost me everything I own as a small business owner. It cost me every dollar. I’m in business debt now,” Wohletz said.

Wohletz’s attorney, Melinda Clark-Sann, said that at the end of it all, Wohletz paid a $500 fine issued because she was operating her restaurant without a permit because it was revoked after defying the mask mandate. All of the fines and citations from Jackson County Environmental Health Department concerning the mandate violations were dismissed by a prosecutor, Clark-Sann said.

Sander said as the bill language currently stands, the bill would not refund Wohletz’s fine for operating without a permit, but he hopes to amend the language to help more people like her who faced municipal fines. Currently the bill only applies to fines issued by the county and local health departments, not municipal fines, Sander said.

The enforcement of Jackson County’s health order relied on complaints filed, Smith said. After receiving a complaint, the county’s environmental health division visited the businesses and only issued a warning or ticket if they witnessed the violation.

Smith said they issued one warning and provided education on how to correct the violation before a ticket was issued.

The mandate was reissued in early August 2021 and was approved by the Jackson County Legislature every 30 days, as required, until it decided to rescind the mandate in early November 2021. The county’s first mask mandate began in July 2020.

A few weeks after the 2021 mandate was lifted in Jackson County, a Cole County Circuit Court decision was made, barring local health officials from making health orders to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. The decision came down from Cole County Circuit Judge Daniel Green, who ruled that the local health orders were unconstitutional. It also prohibited health departments from making new rules.

Sander filed the same bill last session, but it never made it out of the House. The fiscal note for last year’s bill stated that if the legislation passed, it could have a negative fiscal impact on Kansas City, but no exact amount of money was listed.

The fiscal note for the version of the bill filed this year states that there would be no expected fiscal impact on Kansas City, and presumed a negative impact on Jackson County, but stated the amount of money is unknown because the county did not respond to requests for input.

Rep. Maggie Nurrenbern, a Kansas City Democrat, said she wasn’t surprised to see Sander filed the legislation because he is known to be against COVID-19 regulations.

“He certainly made it known during the budget process last year that he has a personal vendetta against organizations and groups that were really working hard to mitigate the effects of COVID, whether that was through mask mandates or other provisions,” Nurrenbern said.

Nurrenbern said Sander advocated heavily for an amendment last year that would prohibit funds going to any general admission event that required attendees to be tested for COVID-19 or have their COVID-19 vaccination.

“I just find it frustrating that here, in the year 2023, we continue to waste our time in the general assembly going after entities that were trying to keep people alive in 2020,” Nurrenbern said.

This story has been updated to include information from the hearing and the amount of money collected from fines issued by Independence.