PARK CITY, Utah— One Utah sheriff is ready to enforce mask wearing, if necessary.
Summit County Sheriff Justin Martinez is taking the stance that if a business requires a mask and a customer refuses to wear one, his deputies can charge that person with trespassing.
Now that the statewide mask mandate is gone, it’s up to businesses to decide to require masks or not.
Signs inside Red Rock Brewing in Park City remind customers masks are required.
“It’s going to get harder, because everyone has an opinion — which they’re entitled to,” said general manager Pam Stanek.
Stanek says for the most part customers wear a mask, no problem.
“We’re going to err on the side of caution and just continue doing what we’re doing,” Stanek said.
Sheriff Martinez says a trespassing charge would be a last resort and says his deputies would rather enforce through education.
“You know, it’s a no-brainer, because it’s the law,” Martinez said.
Martinez says his deputies have not had to issue a trespassing charge since the statewide mandate was lifted on Saturday.
Summit County deputies will have to wear masks on private property if asked to do so.
And Martinez has an ask of his own: he would like to see government leaders at all levels join what he’s calling a “tolerance campaign” to take the politics out of mask wearing.
