© 2026 ABC News

The Austin Police Department told ABC News Wednesday that it will continue to focus on education, awareness and voluntary compliance of mask mandates, but may begin the criminal trespass notice process if a business or property owner has requested a patron to leave and they do not comply.

\"PHOTO:
Roberto Schmidt/AFP via Getty Images, FILE
PHOTO: Texas Governor Greg Abbott attends a briefing in Orange, Texas, Aug. 29, 2020.
>

Abbott also made clear at a news conference last week that \"if businesses want to limit capacity or implement additional safety protocols, they have the right to do so.\"

Ultimately, businesses can enforce mask mandates from a legal standpoint, Garrett said.

\"How doable is it from a practical standpoint, I think, is an open question,\" he added.

If a significant number of people refuse to abide by private mask requirements, Garrett said it could easily become \"an enforcement nightmare\" and strain resources of already understaffed local police departments.

\"It also can be potentially unfair for your baseline workers, your stock people, your salespeople, the folks that have more direct minute-by-minute contact with the public,\" he noted.

Health officials have implored Americans to wear a mask during the pandemic for months now, citing studies that indicate mask wearing can significantly reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission. The former CDC director even told lawmakers last September that he \"might even go so far as to say that this face mask is more guaranteed to protect me against COVID than when I take a COVID vaccine.\"

President Joe Biden blasted Texas' move to drop its mask mandate as \"Neanderthal thinking,\" saying mask-wearing still matters and \"it’s critical, critical, critical, critical that they follow the science.\"

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