Mayor G.T. Bynum officially signed the ordinance making face coverings mandated in the city of Tulsa first thing Thursday morning.

The vote was made official on Wednesday night, but Mayor Bynum decided to sign it on Thursday to give police time to properly understand it.

It went into effect immediately upon signing.

“‪The City of Tulsa mask ordinance is signed and in effect,” Mayor Bynum says in a post to Facebook. “We do this at the request of our hospitals, our doctors and nurses, our school leaders, and so many more who want to protect the ability of local health care systems to serve Tulsans in need.”

The order will expire on Nov. 30 or until The Mayor’s civil emergency orders related to COVID-19 have expired.

It can also be changed by repeal, modification or extension by Tulsa City Council.

The new mask mandate in Tulsa is similar to the recent mask order in Stillwater.

Exceptions

There will be some exceptions in which people will not be penalized for being caught without a mask:

• Those who fall into the CDC’s guidance for those who should not wear face coverings due to a medical or mental health condition or developmental disability.
• Children under 18 years of age.
• Those who are eating or drinking.
• Those who are exercising in communal outdoor spaces or persons walking or exercising with other persons from the same household in communal outdoor spaces, as long as physical distancing is maintained - persons congregating in communal outdoor spaces with other persons not in their same household are required to wear face coverings when physical distancing is not maintained.
• Those in settings where it is not practical or feasible to wear a face covering, such as dental services, medical treatments or while swimming.
• Occupants in a personal vehicle, personal office, or similarly private space while other persons outside of the person’s household are not present.
• Those in their private homes.
• Those in offices and workplaces that are not public service areas where physical distancing between employees and other occupants can be consistently maintained during hours of operation.

Those who refuse to wear a mask in one of the spaces where it’s required could face prosecution under criminal trespassing, disturbing the peace, disorderly conduct or similar offenses as circumstances warrant.

Originally the plan was to have a fine system implemented but that idea was scrapped during Wednesday night’s city council meeting.

You can see the revised version of the ordinance here.

Cox Media Group