Silver State Times

Lyon County is one of several Nevada counties that is defying COVID-19 closure orders from the governor.

White Pine, Elko and Eureka counties have also defied the business closure orders.

“It's very important the rural counties of our great state to be united with one message going forward,” Lyon County Commissioner Ken Gray, who spearheaded the effort, said to The Nevada Independent. “We must stand together as one to face the abuses of our civil liberties which have taken place and stop them from going any further. Instead of working with the local government of Nevada as he should, the governor has chosen to ignore them and their residents.”

Though a resolution was passed Thursday morning allowing businesses to determine how they operate and whether to implement certain practices, businesses are not allowed to defy coronavirus regulations.

Attorney General Aaron Ford and Gov. Steve Sisolak have condemned such resolutions, in a joint statement.

"Resolutions like this are mere statements and nothing more. They have no force of law and cannot override the Governor's Emergency Directives, which have been issued under state law and upheld in courts several times," they said, The Nevada Independent reported. "The Attorney General has spoken with counsel of various municipalities regarding actions such as these, and each counsel has acknowledged that these resolutions have no legal effect."

In his defense, Lyon County Commissioner Vida Keller said the resolution does not promote defiance 

“I just want to point out that nowhere in this resolution are we asking anybody to throw their mask away, throw their hand sanitizer away, just open up their doors and act like COVID went away overnight… We're asking you to self govern, take responsibility for yourself,” Keller said at the meeting, The Nevada Independent reports. “Nowhere in this resolution are we asking anybody not to take this serious. What we are asking is that we can allow our businesses to get back to some normalcy and we can live our lives.”

White County commissioner approved a resolution in December. Elko and Eureka County commissioners passed their own resolutions in January and these have caused confusion. 

The Nevada State Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) statistics show that more businesses and employees were logged for violating mask mandates and allowing employees to continue working immediately after testing positive. The penalties for willful violations range from $9,639 to $136,532.

Meghin Delaney, the governor's spokesperson, had to email a statement Friday, reminding people that “local jurisdictions cannot override the Governor's Emergency Directives." Following the governor's directives was advised.