Injunction issued against St. Louis County mask mandate

(AP) The top prosecutor in Missouri has won a preliminary injunction that bars St. Louis County from enforcing a mask mandate while the case is litigated.

Attorney General Schmitt praised the decision Thursday in a news release, saying that he would “not stop in my fight against government overreach.”

After the mandate was issued last month, the St. Louis County Council voted immediately to rescind it. But County Executive Sam Page initially insisted the mask requirement remained in effect.

Circuit Judge Ellen “Nellie” Ribaudo previously issued a temporary restraining order against the mask mandate. But temporary restraining orders are short-term; it was only in effect until a decision was made on the preliminary injunction.

Ribaduo said in her initial ruling that the state was likely to prevail in its argument that current law gives the St. Louis County Council the authority to terminate the mask requirement issued by health officials.

Page said in a tweet that he was confident that people would “continue wearing masks to protect themselves & their community from COVID-19.”

Schmitt also has filed a lawsuit seeking to overturn a recently reinstated mask mandate in Kansas City.