A Pulaski County justice of the peace who was prevented from entering a county meeting on Tuesday filed a lawsuit Friday in Pulaski County Circuit Court against County Judge Barry Hyde, claiming he was unlawfully kept out of the meeting.
Doug Reed, who lives in Roland and represents District 1 in western Pulaski County, tried to enter the County Administration Building in Little Rock on Tuesday evening for the Quorum Court's agenda meeting, in preparation for the Feb. 22 regular meeting.
A security guard said Reed could not enter the building without a face covering, as decreed by an executive order from Hyde.
In January, Reed, who had taught at Pulaski Academy for 27 years, was fired from his job after the school declined his request for a religious exemption to wearing a mask at school.
That is according to a crowdfunding page Reed set up for legal fees for a civil lawsuit he wants to file against the school. As of Friday, Reed had received $13,307 from 113 donors toward a goal of $75,000, according to the page.
Earlier this week, Reed set up a second crowdfunding appeal with a goal of $75,000. By Friday, Reed had received two donations totaling $135.
On that site, Reed said, "I am being denied the ability to function in my duties because I have a religious exemption to mask wearing. I have a lawyer and need funding. The insanity of forced masks and jabs needs to end and this is one way."
In the complaint filed Friday, Reed, who has been on the Quorum Court since 2007, said that he was prevented from performing his legislative function at Tuesday's committee meeting because he was "unlawfully and illegally ordered to vacate the venue," by order of Hyde.
In the complaint, Reed said he was turned away because he had failed to wear a mask or to wear a blue wristband issued by the county to signify a person has been vaccinated and boosted.
Reed also claimed he had suffered damages by not being allowed to represent his constituents and, that by being kept out of the meeting, was prevented from collecting a $506.17 per diem payment plus payment of his medical insurance.
Reached by phone on Friday, Hyde confirmed that Reed was turned away from the meeting for not wearing a mask, which he said is currently required to enter county buildings due to the current rate of covid-19 infections.
Hyde said county employees and others whose business takes them to the county courthouse on a regular basis may show proof of vaccination and a booster shot and receive a blue wristband to wear in lieu of a mask, but Hyde said that is the only exception to mask-wearing.
As for a religious exemption, Hyde said he has not received such a request from Reed.
"I've heard him say that a couple of times but we have never had any request," Hyde said. "Any written request, any email request, just heard it on social media ... at this point he's not requested anything of me, at the county attorney's office, or the [human resources] department. So I don't know what the heck he's doing."
Reed said despite wearing a mask during most of the pandemic, he believes masks are ineffective and cause harm.
"I decided I can't do this anymore, conscience-wise, after reading the Scriptures," he said. "I just feel like I'm lying to people. People are looking to me as a leader, as a teacher, and I'm wearing a mask. So I wrote a letter to get a religious exemption from the school."
That exemption was denied and led to Reed's dismissal.
Reed said he also wrote and texted Hyde asking for an exemption, "but I heard he didn't get it."
Reed's attorney, Chris Corbitt, said that deeply held belief is the basis of the lawsuit filed Friday.
"If you have a deeply held belief that your religion says you can or cannot do it, then the government can't discriminate based on a religion, so that's where the Civil Rights Act cause of action comes into play," Corbitt said. "Barry Hyde chose not to acknowledge that."
Corbitt said the issue is that Reed was excluded from the meeting altogether rather than being offered an accommodation to attend by telephone or videoconference.
"What he decided to do was a violation of his rights," Corbitt said. "When Doug called me I said I think you've got a case. The only way to find out is to put it in front of a judge."
Hyde said Friday, however, that he believes he is on solid legal footing.
He pointed to a recent lawsuit that resulted in Act 1002 of 2021, a statewide ban on government mask mandates passed by the state Legislature, being struck down by a Pulaski County circuit judge, who concluded the law violated both the separation of powers and the equal protection clauses of the Arkansas Constitution as well as the Amendment 14 prohibition of "local and special" legislation.
Hyde said, until he is told otherwise or until the current health emergency is over, he intends to keep the mask requirement in place.
"I don't consider myself to be a medical expert," he said. "I confer with the Arkansas Department of Health each month as I set the orders for the upcoming month. They're telling me the numbers are way too high. ... I can tell you honestly, there is no one more eager to drop the mask mandate than Judge Hyde."
Information for this article was contributed by Tess Vrbin of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.