Editor鈥檚 note: This story was originally published in the , a news partner of 漏 2024 外网天堂.
When the St. Clair County Health Department shut down Reifschneider鈥檚 Grill & Grape in Freeburg last week for violating a statewide ban on indoor dining, its other location less than 20 miles away in Monroe County remained open.
The reason? The two counties 鈥� one controlled by Democrats and the other by Republicans 鈥� have different approaches to enforcing COVID-19 restrictions.
In a crackdown last week, Democratic-led St. Clair County yanked liquor and food licenses for seven bars and restaurants that still welcomed customers indoors. Monroe County, under GOP control, relies solely on education. It has not closed or suspended any businesses.
鈥淚 think everybody鈥檚 in the same boat,鈥� said John Wagner, administrator of the Monroe County Health Department. 鈥�(Health departments) are just trying to get what compliance we can by education.鈥�
Gov. J.B. Pritzker has put the onus on local officials to carry out his executive orders. But just as COVID-19 is politically polarizing at the national level, questions about enforcement are enmeshed in local politics.
As hospitals fill up and public health officials worry about fallout from Thanksgiving gatherings, compliance has become ever more important to prevent severe illness and death, health officials say. But the warnings are often ignored by businesses.
Continued indoor dining and crowded bars will likely only worsen an expected holiday surge in cases. In the Metro East, doctors were spending hours calling hospitals as far as Chicago to find room for extremely sick patients.
鈥淭here are no ICU beds left,鈥� said Clinton County Health Department spokeswoman Louise McMinn. 鈥淚t鈥檚 just overall very concerning especially moving into the holiday season. We鈥檙e not sure what it鈥檚 going to look like.鈥�
But Tom DeVore, a Bond County attorney who represents restaurants that want to remain open, said punitive action, including tickets from Illinois State Police, has 鈥渘o merit.鈥�
鈥淭o prohibit indoor dining is tantamount to an order of closure of that building premises, making it off limits to the public. Section 2 of the Illinois Department of Public Health Act specifically requires a court order, or the agreement of the owner, to make that happen. So, these citations that are issued are completely without any support of the law and they have no merit and they shouldn鈥檛 have been issued.鈥�
But the governor鈥檚 executive orders didn鈥檛 actually require restaurants to close to the public. Because they can still offer outdoor service, takeout and delivery, DeVore鈥檚 argument doesn鈥檛 apply, the Sangamon County state鈥檚 attorney successfully argued in a case involving a central Illinois restaurant, Capitol Fax reported.
Despite possibly contributing to spreading the virus, restaurants know state鈥檚 attorneys will likely decline to prosecute tickets from state police for violating the indoor dining ban. Health departments hesitate to go beyond education, and local police feel it鈥檚 difficult to enforce an executive order that isn鈥檛 enshrined in state statute.
The breakdown of local authority threatens to render the governor鈥檚 orders moot in Republican-led counties as health experts make desperate pleas with the public to stay at home.
鈥淲e don鈥檛 really have anyone backing us on the health department level,鈥� McMinn said.
Police and COVID-19 rules
Convincing businesses to comply with statewide COVID-19 restrictions was easier before owners figured out there are few financial or legal consequences for flouting them, depending on the political leanings of local authority.
Before state police began ticketing restaurants for violating a ban on indoor dining, there was at least some uncertainty about enforcement.
鈥淏efore, we had some compliance because they were scared,鈥� Wagner said.
The Monroe County state鈥檚 attorney declined to prosecute when Illinois State Police ticketed Washy鈥檚 Saloon in Waterloo. The same went for the Madison County state鈥檚 attorney with Fast Eddie鈥檚 Bon-Air in Alton and with The Fainting Goat locations in Pocahontas in Bond County and Breese in Clinton County.
On his last day on the job, former Madison County State鈥檚 Attorney Tom Gibbons, a Democrat, filed to dismiss the Fast Eddie鈥檚 citation. His successor, Republican Tom Haine, declined to say whether he will prosecute six other pending COVID-related cases before he completes a review of the citations.
Gibbons did not return a phone call seeking comment, but the Monroe County public health administrator said state鈥檚 attorneys feel they don鈥檛 have enough legal standing, nor do health department leaders.
鈥淭he problem is the executive branch, the governor鈥檚 branch, does not make laws,鈥� Wagner said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 much easier to enforce if the legislators get involved.鈥�
If the General Assembly had passed a law early in the pandemic to back up the governor鈥檚 executive orders 鈥� which have been so far unsuccessfully challenged in courts 鈥� it could have made it easier for police to enforce, said Edwardsville Police Chief Jay Keeven.
鈥淥ur state of Illinois House and Senate could have solved this problem months ago by doing exactly what my city council did,鈥� Keeven said.
Edwardsville is one of few cities statewide where city council passed its own ordinance to empower its police department. The ordinance allows police to ticket violators of a city mask mandate. Without it, police had little recourse aside from education.
鈥淓ven if we were to follow suit with state police and (enforce) some of those health department rules, if the state鈥檚 attorney is not going to prosecute them, it makes no sense,鈥� Keeven said.
It鈥檚 a different story in St. Clair County.
The health department had support from the county board, sheriff and state鈥檚 attorney in their crackdown last week. Still, ordering a business to shutter is the last resort after education and verbal and written warnings, said health department Executive Director Barb Hohlt.
鈥淲e don鈥檛 want to be punitive, but we want to protect the public鈥檚 health,鈥� Hohlt said Sunday during a news briefing.
The Alton Police Department has also enforced the governor鈥檚 restrictions. It issued a citation to Hiram鈥檚 Tavern in April for remaining open during a stay-at-home order. The owner plead guilty, paid a fine and the bar will be under supervision for a year.
But there鈥檚 not much appetite among local Republican-led governments to pass their own resolutions or ordinances that could help back up police, as Edwardsville did.
Few other counties and municipalities statewide have done so. Sangamon County passed its own orders. Relying on county rules, not the governor鈥檚 executive orders, the county Health Department recently ticketed four restaurants for offering indoor dining and ordered them to stop.
When the restaurants still refused to comply, the county state鈥檚 attorney filed a complaint with a Sangamon County court. The court sided with the county and ordered the restaurants to close temporarily, Capitol News Illinois reported.
Local health department powers
Health department leaders are leery of cracking down on businesses without the support of state law, the county board or the state鈥檚 attorney.
鈥淲e need something solid to stand on,鈥� said Wagner, the Monroe County health administrator. 鈥淭he law is too vague for us to do anything. All we鈥檙e going to do is end up putting ourselves into lawsuits. ... You鈥檒l find most health departments are doing what we can to gain voluntary compliance.鈥�
Not everyone believes counties can鈥檛 enforce executive orders.
鈥淭he law gives us the power to enforce those things if the businesses owners don鈥檛 want to comply, and that鈥檚 what鈥檚 going to happen,鈥� St. Clair County Chairman Mark Kern, a Democrat, said at a news briefing last week.
The 鈥渧ast majority鈥� of bars and restaurants are complying, Kern added, but the county decided to take action against bars and restaurants that refused because of limited capacity at hospitals in the St. Louis metropolitan region.
鈥淏ut when people just decide they鈥檙e going to defy the executive order, they鈥檙e going to defy the law, they鈥檙e going to say they just don鈥檛 care about the general public and the welfare of the public,鈥� Kern said, 鈥渢hen action does take place.鈥�
Cases from bars and restaurants eventually contribute to overcrowding at hospitals, Hohlt said. Unlike in retail stores, the virus spreads faster in places where people take off their masks, eat, drink, talk and linger.
In the Metro East, 9.6% of outbreaks can be traced back to bars and restaurants, according to Illinois Department of Public Health data. Retailers only account for 1.4% of outbreaks.
Nursing homes, prisons and churches also provide ripe conditions for COVID-19, but local health departments have little or no control over those settings. Limiting gatherings at bars and restaurants remains one of their only options for stemming the spread of coronavirus.
But the job of enforcing restrictions will likely remain up to local authorities, in accordance with their political leanings. The governor said the process for removing a liquor license at the state level involves a 鈥渓ong series of appeals.鈥�
鈥淚t is possible have those removed, but it is a much longer period of time than I think any of us would like,鈥� Pritzker said Monday during a news conference in Chicago. 鈥淚t can be done and should be done at the local level.鈥�
Kelsey Landis and Mike Koziatek are reporters with the , a news partner of 漏 2024 外网天堂.
