Kenneally: We Won't Enforce Indoor Dining Ban

MCHENRY COUNTY, IL — McHenry County State's Attorney Patrick Kenneally will not enforce Gov. J.B. Pritzker's orders to ban indoor dining and drinking at restaurants and bars. The announcement by Kenneally Wednesday comes on the heels of appeals from local health officials looking for ways to hold businesses breaking rules accountable.

The McHenry County Health Department referred 11 complaints regarding indoor dining to the state's attorney's office, health officials said during the Nov. 23 Board of Health meeting. Since Tier 3 restrictions took effect on Nov. 20, the health department received 55 complaints having to do with the indoor dining ban or people not masking properly.

In his statement Wednesday, Kenneally questioned the legitimacy of the executive orders and if they are authorized under Illinois law or otherwise constitutional. He also noted there is no provision in the executive orders or Illinois Emergency Management Act requiring or authorizing the state's attorney's office to enforce the orders.

"As such, we cannot in good conscience enforce the ban on indoor dining, which may result in hundreds of McHenry County businesses permanently being shuttered, without some definitive validation by the Legislature or courts of the Governor’s continued use of 'emergency powers,'" Kenneally said in his statement last week.

The McHenry County State's Attorney's Office will enforce rules that establish limits on business occupancy and requires business employees and customers to wear masks and stay six feet away from each other, Kenneally said.

Other agencies, including the Illinois State Police, Illinois Attorney General, Illinois Liquor Control Commission and Illinois Gaming Board, are able to punish violators or the executive orders, Kenneally said.