Beaufort Co. Sheriff’s deputies give information, warnings after week of mask enforcement
A little over a week since mask requirements went into effect in Beaufort County, the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office has received 31 calls to enforce requirements to wear a mask but has not fined or filed charges against anyone, according to data from a Freedom of Information Request.
Twenty-six of the calls were strictly informational, where callers asked what the mask rules entailed, according to Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office Capt. Mark Mattox.
In five cases, callers complained about others not wearing masks, and deputies went to a location to warn people, he said.
One of those five involved a deputy being sent July 1 to Jersey Mike’s on Hilton Head next to U.S. 278, the data shows. The deputy wrote down the names of three people so that if they broke mask rules again, they would be charged with a misdemeanor, Mattox said.
Beaufort County, Hilton Head Island, Beaufort, Bluffton and Port Royal each passed its own mask ordinance ahead of July 4 weekend, attempting to stem the rising cases of COVID-19 in South Carolina.
Hilton Head’s ordinance, however, had the most severe penalty. Those found to have violated the face mask rule would be guilty of a misdemeanor, the ordinance says. A misdemeanor is punishable by a fine of up to $500 or 30 days in jail, according to the town code.
No one on Hilton Head has received a misdemeanor for not wearing a mask, according to the Sheriff’s Office.
Over half of the calls to the Sheriff’s Office were from Hilton Head, the data shows.
This story was originally published July 10, 2020 at 2:48 PM.
