FORT SMITH, Ark. — At least three of Fort Smith’s seven City Directors would support a city ordinance requiring face mask use in public places. The possibility of a Fort Smith ordinance emerged Friday (July 3) when Gov. Asa Hutchinson signed an executive order allowing cities to do so.
The “model ordinance” requiring mask use was drafted in coordination with the Arkansas Municipal League (AML), and “requires the usage of facial coverings as recommended by the Department of Health.” (Link here for a PDF of the Executive Order.)
“Let me emphasize that this is a local option. No one is mandated to do it. It is an option for cities to give them more flexibility if they have a community in which they might have a surge in cases,” Gov. Hutchinson said Friday in announcing the ordinance.
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