Sheriff outlines enforcement during shelter-in-place order

WAXAHACHIE – Close to 300,000 million people in 29 states, 75-plus counties and over a dozen cities have been told to stay home and stay safe – in other words “shelter-in-place.”

The reason for the order handed down by governors, mayors and county judges across the nation is to stop the spread of COVID-19, a virus that has now taken many lives in the United States. In fact, accurate numbers are hard to come by since it changes daily. The Center for Disease Control reported as of March 30 there were 140,904 cases in the United States with 2,405 deaths. There have also been recoveries, but reports are skewed on the numbers there too.

One thing for sure, in North Texas the numbers as of Monday were 16 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Ellis County with one death: 560 cases, 12 deaths and two recoveries in Dallas County, and 155 confirmed cases in Tarrant County with one death and eight recoveries.

As people are being ordered to shelter-in-place, some are asking what the Texas Constitution says about this order telling me “I can’t leave my home?” And, “how enforceable is it?”

Of course, people can still leave their homes for needed items like groceries, food and several essential reasons, but most people are staying home to help stop the spread.

Locally, Ellis County Sheriff Chuck Edge said on a television broadcast last week with ECP-TV, “The order obviously is an enforceable order. The governor sent out an order and now the county judge and the commissioner’s court have placed an order. The cities within Ellis County are also putting out orders. These orders are enforceable.”

Sheriff Edge said of course the order does have the appropriate language for enforcement, but it also becomes a practical matter of how his department can enforce it.

“We still have this little document here called the Constitution,” Sheriff Edge said. “We have a Constitution for the state of Texas as well. We must have probable cause to stop you. This order in and of itself is not probable cause. If you are driving down the road or walking down the sidewalk, we can’t just come up to you and write you a ticket for being in violation of this order. You have to be violating one of the state laws or we have to have probable cause to approach you.”

Edge also mentioned that on the enforceable side of it you need to be one of the essential personnel or one of the essential locations (listed in the order) to technically be out and about and not sheltering in place.

“If it is obvious that you are not working within the spirit of the law or the spirit of the order and you are placing people at risk, then that is a problem,” Edge said.

Edge said it is difficult for his team and completely impractical to completely enforce a law such as shelterin-place.

“This is not a flippant attitude,” he added, “it is just reality.”

As people wait to see what will happen next, Texas Governor Gregg Abbott did deploy three National Guard Joint Task Force Brigades last week to operate 10 support units across the state. According to the press release from Gov. Abbott’s office, this deployment is to assist drive-through testing sites and keep the state’s health care infrastructure in place.

“We are citizen soldiers and we find our highest calling in serving our fellow citizens, no matter where duty calls us,” said Major General Tracy R. Norris, the adjutant general of Texas and commander of the Texas National Guard. “This will be no easy task, but we have faced difficult times before. With the commitment of our soldiers and support of the community we will show the world that we are Texas strong and Texas proud, and together we will overcome this challenge.”

As for what happens in the future with the National Guard and the orders being issued by state lawmakers, Sheriff Edge concluded “No county has yet lifted the Constitution for the State of Texas or the United States of America.”

To watch the entire ECP-TV interview with Sheriff Edge visit: https://www.elliscountypress.com/ecp-tv/ecp-tv-ellis-county-sheriff-charles-edge-explains-%E2%80%9Cshelter-place%E2%80%9D-enforcement-march-27-2020