Washington County Sheriff Will Not Enforce Colorado's Statewide Mask Mandate

WASHINGTON COUNTY, Colo. (CBS4) - The Sheriff of Washington County has announced he will not direct his deputies to enforce the mask mandate, enacted by Gov. Jared Polis on Thursday. The announcement comes via a letter posted to the Sheriff's Offce Facebook page on Friday.

In it, Sheriff Jon Stivers says the mandate is not a law, but business can ask those who do not comply to leave.

"First, this is NOT a law. There is not a criminal component to the mask mandate, which means violation of the order does NOT come with a fine or possible jail time," Stivers says in the letter.

"Because it is NOT a criminal matter, and the sheriff's office low staffing numbers, we will not be actively seeking to enforce the mandate," Stivers says.

The sheriff does reinforce that businesses have the right to refuse service to anyone not wearing a mask or risk losing their state-issued license.

RELATED: Gov. Jared Polis Issues New Mask Mandate For The Entire State Of Colorado

The order for wearing a face mask applies to everyone in the state who is age 11 and older whenever they're anywhere in public and indoors. People who have medical conditions or disabilities that prevent them from wearing face masks are exempt.