Septemer 25, 2020
Various counties across the state of Wyoming have begun adopting resolutions to encourage personal responsibility and less involvement by the government in the wake of COVID-19.
Find the resolutions below:
GOSHEN:
RESOLUTION #2020-10
A non-binding Resolution expressing the intent of the Goshen County Board of County Commissioners regarding the propriety and efficacy of County-level orders concerning the SARS-Cov-2 virus.
WHEREAS, After considering, at the County level, the effects of government policies across the nation concerning the SARS-Cov-2 virus pandemic (hereinafter the "virus") which virus policies themselves have arguably resulted in social ills including: increased unemployment, business closures, suicides, poverty, domestic abuse, homelessness, and alcohol and drug abuse; and
WHEREAS, As the Constitution of the State of Wyoming, Article I, Declaration of Rights, Section 38(a) provides that: "Each competent adult shall have the right to make his or her own health care decisions ... ", and
WHEREAS, The County Commissioners in and For Goshen County Wyoming, upon their election to office, having sworn allegiance to the Constitutions of the United States of America and the State of Wyoming; and
WHEREAS; this Board agrees that competent adults in Goshen County, Wyoming can and will make virus related health care decisions for themselves and their families; and
NOW THEREFORE, having duly met at a regular meeting and considered the matter, for the aforesaid reasons, and in order to notify the public of its intent to refrain from any county-level virus-related mandate concerning individual health care decisions, including but not limited to mandatory mask requirements, mandatory contact tracing and mandatory social distancing, it is:
RESOLVED, unanimously, that the Goshen County Board of County Commissioners hereby expresses that it is the intent of this Board to both encourage the public to make appropriate virus-related health care decisions for themselves and their families pursuant to the Wyoming Constitution; and to refrain from any county-level virus-related mandates concerning individual health care decisions.
UINTA:
RESOLUTION NO. 2020-
A NON-BINDING RESOLUTION EXPRESSING THE INTENT OF THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS IN AND FOR UINTA COUNTY, WYOMING, REGARDING THE PROPRIETY AND EFFICACY OF COUNTY-LEVEL ORDERS CONCERNING COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2) VIRUS
WHEREAS, after considering, at the County level, the effects of governmental policies across the nation concerning COVID-19 (SARS-Co V-2) virus pandemic (the "virus") which virus policies themselves have arguably resulted in social ills including: increased unemployment, business closures, increased rate of suicide, poverty, increased incidents of domestic violence, homelessness and increased substance abuse; and
WHEREAS, the Constitution of the State of Wyoming, Article 1, Declaration of Rights, §38(a) provides, "Each competent adult shall have the right to make his or her own health care decisions. The parent, guardian or legal representative of any other natural person shall have the right to make health care decisions for that person;" and
WHEREAS, the Constitution of the State of Wyoming, Article 1, Declaration of Rights, §38(d) provides, "The state of Wyoming shall act to preserve these rights from undue governmental infringement;" and
WHEREAS, the Constitution of the United States of America, Declaration of Rights, Amendment 5, in part, "No person shall ... be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law;" and
WHEREAS, the Board of County Commissioners in and for Uinta County, Wyoming, upon their election to office, have sworn allegiance to the Constitutions of the United States of America and the State of Wyoming; and
WHEREAS, this Board asserts and agrees that the competent adults residing in Uinta County, Wyoming, are best suited and able to make virus-related health care decisions for themselves and their children or wards; and
WHEREAS, this Board understands and agrees that the statewide health orders have been issued by Dr. Alexia Harrist upon the behest and cooperation of Governor Gordon; and
WHEREAS, this Board recognizes and notes its appreciation for County Nurse Manager Kim Proffit and its appointed Uinta County Health Officer Michael Adams, M.D., for their service and dedication to Uinta County during this pandemic; and
WHEREAS, this Board recognizes the right of each individual business owner to mandate any form of dress or behavior within the confines of their business, including, but not limited to, a facial covering; and
WHEREAS, having duly met at a regular meeting and considered the matter, for the aforesaid reasons, and in order to notify the public of its intent to refrain from any county-level virus-related mandate concerning individual health care decisions, including, but not limited to, mandatory mask requirements, mandatory contact tracing and mandatory social distancing, it is:
RESOLVED, unanimously, that the Board of County Commissioners in and for Uinta County, Wyoming, hereby encourages each competent adult in the general public to make appropriate virus-related health care decisions for themselves and their children/wards pursuant to the Constitution for the State of Wyoming and, further, notes no intent to issue any county-level virus-related mandates related to those individual health care rights.
WESTON:
WHEREAS the Weston County Board of County Commissioners (the “Board”) has read Resolution #2020-10 adopted unanimously on the 4th day of August, 2020 by the Goshen County Board of County Commissioners; and further,
WHEREAS the Board wishes to acknowledge and credit the authorship of the Goshen County Board of County Commissioners and recognizes the language from their above referenced Resolution #2020-10 has, in important ways, informed the content of this instant Resolution; and further,
WHEREAS the Constitution of the State of Wyoming, Article 1, Section 38(a) provides that “Each competent adult shall have the right to make his or her own health care decisions…”; and further,
WHEREAS beginning on or about March 13, 2020, the State of Wyoming, through its various agencies and agents, imposed many restrictions on the constitutional liberties of Weston County citizens in order to “help preserve critical and limited healthcare capacity in Weston County” deemed necessary to fight the Covid 19 SARS-Cov-2 virus outbreak (the “virus”). This order was temporally related to a national campaign to promote similar orders emanating from a variety of jurisdictions. Billed as “15 days to slow the spread”, citizens were told their sacrifice was small and limited in scope as their liberties would be restored in little over two week's time. Yet, some 186 days later the state and regional health care capacity that serves Weston County and Wyoming has never been approached and still, constitutional liberties remain impaired; and further,
WHEREAS, since the time the State of Wyoming took actions detailed herein, citizens of the state have had precious little objective information made available to them that would allow them to evaluate their own health care decisions regarding management of the virus. With the exception of the original “flatten the curve” narrative, long since made irrelevant, the State has failed to articulate any metric by which citizens might expect the government to call an end to constitutional infringements; and,
WHEREAS, while the citizens of Weston County have patiently and obediently abided by the orders imposed by state officials, the Board has considered the county-level impacts of State, National and Global policies regarding the virus and notes the policies themselves have caused widespread social ills and collateral damage, including negative impacts to the economy, increased unemployment, consumption of family savings, business closures, poverty, domestic abuse, homelessness, drug and alcohol abuse and importantly, a loss of credibility of State and Local public health officers which should be jealously guarded against the event of a genuine need to invoke their powers; and further,
WHEREAS, the County Commission in and for Weston County, Wyoming, upon their election to office, having sworn allegiance to the Constitutions of the United States of America and the State of Wyoming; and; further,
WHEREAS this Board agrees that competent adults in Weston County, Wyoming can and will make virus-related health care decisions for themselves and their families; and,
NOW THEREFORE, having duly met at a regular meeting and considered the matter, for the aforesaid reasons, and in order to notify the public of its intent to refrain from any county-level virus-related mandate concerning individual health care decisions, including but not limited to mandatory mask requirements, mandatory contact tracing, mandatory social distancing or mandatory vaccine administration, it is:
RESOLVED, (BY A MAJORITY/UNANIMOUSLY), that the Weston County Board of County Commissioners hereby expresses that it is the intent of this Board to encourage the State of Wyoming, by and through its various agencies and agents, to 1) make available as much information and in as much detail as possible to the citizens of Wyoming and Weston County, regarding the circumstance of each and every virus case recorded in its counts and also to 2) articulate specific standards and metrics by which citizens can expect an end to the constitutional restrictions imposed upon them; and further,
RESOLVED, (BY A MAJORITY/UNANIMOUSLY), that the Weston County Board of County Commissioners hereby expresses that it is the intent of this Board to encourage the public to make appropriate, virus-related health care decisions for themselves and their families pursuant to the Wyoming Constitution; and further,
RESOLVED, (BY A MAJORITY/UNANIMOUSLY), that the Weston County Board of County Commissioners hereby expresses that it is the intent of this Board to refrain from any county-level virus-related mandates concerning individual health care decisions.