Baca County Sheriff’s Office won’t respond to calls for violating mask mandate

BACA COUNTY, Colo. (KRDO) — Baca County Sheriff Aaron Shiplett is one of the latest Colorado sheriffs to announce his office will not respond to calls about violations of the mask order by businesses or customers.

In a Facebook post, the sheriff told county residents it is not a crime to not wear a face mask, but refusing to leave a business when asked by an owner or employee could result in criminal trespass charges. 

Shiplett wrote that his office doesn’t have the staff to enforce the mandate. He said he and four officers patrol an area of about 2,600 square miles with approximately 3,700 residents.

“What this means is that if all five law enforcement officers were on duty 24 hours a day, each officer would still have 520 square miles to patrol while helping to handle the 25,000+ administrative calls and 1,800+ 911 calls that occur in Baca County each year (2019 statistics),” Shiplett said.

Baca County has also been largely unaffected by the pandemic. The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment reports there have been no deaths and only 14 cases. 

Shiplett asked people to treat each other with dignity and respect regardless of their opinion on the governor’s mask mandate.  

“Meaning, that if I am asked to wear a mask by a friend, neighbor, or LOCAL business owner then I will try my best to comply or leave the business,” Shiplett wrote.  “I will do it for them and for Baca County, NOT for the Governor and not because of the Governor’s Order!”

He asked customers to be patient with businesses that are working to comply with the mandate as a way to keep their customers safe and their doors open. 

Several other county sheriff’s offices, including El Paso, Teller, Elbert and Washington, have announced they will not issue citations for breaking the mask ordinance. You can read about those counties’ stances on the ordinance by clicking here.