County GOP request mask order rescinded

On November 23, six days after Carbon County Health Officer Wayne Couch announced a county-wide mask mandate, the executive committee of the Carbon County Republican Party issued a letter of concern addressed to the Board of Carbon County Commissioners (BOCCC).

As was reported previously (see “All the dents we can get” on page 1 of the November 25 Saratoga Sun), Couch joined the BOCCC via phone during their November 17 meeting to discuss a mask mandate. What was first believed to be an upcoming state-wide mandate, however, was revealed to be on specifically for Carbon County. It was also one of nine health orders from county health officers throughout Wyoming that was approved by State Health Officer Alexia Harrist on the same day.

The letter from the Carbon County Republican Party Executive Committee, which was dispersed across social media by Chairman Joey Correnit IV, expressed concern over “the questionable use of authority by Dr. Marvin W. Couch in the issuance of the November 18, 2020 county-wide mask mandate” and requested a withdrawal of the health order.

Under Wyoming State Statute 35-1-240, the state health officer is provided the power “to investigate and control the causes of epidemic, endemic, communicable, occupational and other diseases and afflictions, and physical disabilities resulting therefrom, affecting the public health” and “to establish, maintain and enforce isolation and quarantine, and in pursuance thereof, and for such purpose only, to exercise such physical control over property and over the persons of the people within this state as the state health officer may find necessary for the protection of the public health.”

“Dr. Couch, an unelected official not accountable to the people, sought only the permission of the (also unelected and publicly unaccountable) Wyoming public health officer, Dr. Alexia Harrist, in order to administratively force mask-wearing on the free people of Carbon County, without directly and clearly seeking the input or approval of the County Commissioners, local elected officials, nor the public respectively,” continued the letter.

Under Wyoming State Statute Title 35, Chapter 4 it does not appear that county health officers are necessarily required to obtain the input or approval of county or municipal officials in regards to health orders. Under 35-4-101, the statute reads “the state department of health shall have the power to prescribe rules and regulations for the management and control of communicable diseases.”

With the health order from Couch being approved on the same day along with eight other counties, the letter from the Carbon County Republican Party referred to it as a “clearly orchestrated effort by appointed county health officials across the state.”

“This is an end run around properly informing and soliciting the support of our elected officials, from the County Commissioners to our Mayors and Town Councils,” the letter read. “None of these elected entities was informed in a clear or timely manner as to the details and intent of the order, nor were they asked to weigh in or vote on the matter, prior to Dr. Couch submitting the formal request for approval from the state health officer.”

Additionally, the letter from the Carbon County Republican Party cited the resolution passed earlier in November by the Wyoming Republican Party State Central Committee. That resolution, passed on November 14, called upon Governor Mark Gordon to rescind the state of emergency issued by Gordon earlier in the year.

“In light of this overwhelming support by the Wyoming Republican Party the undersigned members of the Carbon County Republican Party Executive Committee call for Dr. Couch to rescind his mandate fully and immediately, until such time as he gives proper consideration to, and receives quantifiable support from, the elected officials and citizens of the county he has been appointed to service,” read the letter.

Ending the letter, the executive committee requested that the BOCCC hold a public forum to discuss the possibility of nullifying the “unconstitutional order”. The committee also appeared to request the voluntary resignation or removal of Couch. 

Last week, the Washakie County Commissioners terminated their contract with Dr. Ed Zimmerman, who had served as the Washakie Health Officer for 10 years. While Zimmerman insisted that his termination was in regards to the mask mandate he issued, the Washakie County Commissioners insisted that was not the case.

Along with requesting the voluntary resignation or removal of Couch, the Carbon County Republican Party Executive Committee also requested the appointment of “a qualified individual who not only has the respectful consideration for, but also lives in the same state and county as, the people they are appointed to serve.”