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Ex. MET-AUS-047 Order Primary source read

Resolution and Renewal of Order of the Travis County Commissioners Court Mandating Continued Compliance with Local Health Authority Orders and Adopting Criteria for Declaring a Public Health Nuisance, Authorizing Enforcement (March 9, 2021)

Commissioners Court order adopting the Health Authority's Emergency Rules for unincorporated Travis County (March 4 to April 15, 2021) as Minimum Standards; non-compliant sites declared public health nuisances; $500 citations and civil suits authorized

Travis County Commissioners Court · Travis County, Texas (unincorporated areas) (County)

Open exhibit (PDF, 400 KB)
The COVID Project

The record

Jurisdiction
Travis County, Texas (unincorporated areas) · Austin · Texas
Level
County
Authority
Tex. Health & Safety Code §§ 121.003 (county authority to enforce public-health law), 81.082, 81.084, 81.086 and 121.024 (health authority control measures), 341.011-.012 (public health nuisance); Tex. Local Gov't Code § 81.027; Tex. Gov't Code § 418.054 and chs. 418 and 791; the Interlocal Cooperation Agreement for Public Health Services with the City of Austin
Issued
2021-03-09 Mar. 9, 2021
Effective
2021-03-09 (immediately upon approval) (read as 2021-03-09)
End
2021-04-15 by the term of the adopted rules; renewed May 18, 2021 (recited in Ex. MET-AUS-049) and 'no longer in effect' from May 21, 2021 (Ex. MET-AUS-049) (read as 2021-04-15)
In force
Mar. 9, 2021 to Apr. 15, 2021
Quarters
2021 Q12021 Q2
Limitation types
Gathering capFace-covering requirementWorkplace rulesQuarantine and isolation
Addressees
  • persons in control of sites with 10 or more individuals present in unincorporated Travis County
  • workers
  • the public
Functions reached
  • EMP every site with 10 or more present: face coverings, disinfection, groups of 10, six feet, daily worker pre-screening, handwashing, signage
  • WF workers screened daily; infected workers excluded
  • CB customers masked
  • SF/DR/SL/PF site rules in the unincorporated county
Collection
Austin MET-AUS

Operative words

SECTION 3.... C. The Local Health Authority for Travis County issued Emergency Rules and Orders for the unincorporated areas of Travis County on March 4, 2021, and effective through April 15, 2021. A copy of the Emergency Rules and Order for Travis County is attached as Exhibit A.... SECTION 4. DECLARATION OF NUISANCE. By this Order and pursuant to its authority under the aforementioned provisions of the Texas Health and Safety Code, the Commissioners Court declares a Site that does not follow the Minimum Standards established in this Order as a public health nuisance because it is a place or condition that is a possible and probable medium of COVID-19 transmission in or between humans. SECTION 5. APPLICABILITY. This Order applies to a Site with 10 or more individuals present at any one time. SECTION 6. PUBLIC HEALTH NUISANCE. A person who Maintains a Site that does not comply with Minimum Health Standards described in this Order maintains a public health nuisance that is subject to abatement. SECTION 7. MINIMUM STANDARDS: A. A Person In Control of a Site shall: 1. require each individual to wear a Face Covering except as provided in Subsection (B)...; 2. clean and disinfect High Touch Items at least twice per day; 3. limit the number of individuals who gather or stand together to 10 or less; 4. require at least six feet of distance between groups of individuals...; 5. conduct a general health pre-screening of each worker every day before the worker begins his or her shift;... 8. mandate workers wash their hands...; 9. for workers confirmed to have contracted COVID-19, follow all directions from Austin Public Health...

Enforcement

SECTION 8. ENFORCEMENT AND PENALTY: the Travis County Fire Marshal's Office, the Sheriff's Office, other peace officers and designated county employees 'may issue a citation in the unincorporated area of the county to enforce any law and this Order of the Commissioners Court that is reasonably necessary to protect the public health. A violation of the Local Health Authority Rules and Order, Sections 3 and 5 (Rules Applicable to Sites), in the unincorporated areas of Travis County is punishable by citation not to exceed $500.00'; B. civil suit in district court for civil penalties and injunctive relief to abate the nuisance; C. County Attorney authorized to sue

Notes

Adopted March 9, 2021, the day before GA-34 took effect: the County's answer to the State's preemption of local mask mandates, resting on the Health and Safety Code's nuisance and health-authority provisions rather than on ch. 418 disaster powers. Recites the prior Commissioners Court orders of August 4 and November 10, 2020 and the Health Authority's notice of November 6, 2020 (Travis County rules effective November 12, 2020 to February 18, 2021) and rules of December 15, 2020 for the City (to April 15, 2021).

Retrieval note

Recording no. 2021050198, March 9, 2021, 5:46 p.m.).

A record of The COVID Project. The instrument's text is the source's; the summary fields are The COVID Project's reading of it. Not legal advice.