Last week, the Denton City Council extended the city’s largely-ignored mask requirements through March 31.
The masking requirements were first implemented in August 2021, defying Gov. Greg Abbott’s ban of such mandates, and few businesses followed them. At the time, Denton Councilman Jesse Davis said he believed masks help prevent the spread of disease, but he did not support the mandate because city mask mandates are “almost entirely political theater.”
“Not one additional person is going to wear a mask because the City of Denton tells them to,” Davis said.
Despite Davis’ opposition, the Denton City Council has extended the mask mandate a few times since August. It was going to expire at the end of January, but on Jan. 25, the council extended the requirements through the end of March.
The city’s mandate strongly urges people to wear a face mask in public and requires face coverings in all city buildings, and it says that all childcare centers, schools and commercial entities that provide goods or services directly to the public in Denton must develop and implement a health and safety policy that must require, at a minimum, universal indoor masking for all employees, customers, teachers, staff, students and visitors.
Denton ISD and most businesses in the city did not enforce the rule.
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