LINCOLN, NE — Mask or no mask? That could be confusing in Lincoln. The city has a mandate but it doesn’t cover county offices like those in the Hall of Justice. Why? One reason is a threat from Gov. Pete Ricketts made in May to withhold CARES Act funds from counties with a courthouse mask requirement. The Lancaster County Board didn’t want to lose its funding, so no mandate. The Governor backed up his stance in June.

(June 15) “It’s their option, if they don’t want to follow the guidelines, they won’t be eligible for the CARES Act money," Ricketts said. "But that’s certainly their prerogative if they want to do that.”

Jefferson and Thayer counties in southeast Nebraska eventually took on the risk of losing the funds and enacted courthouse mask mandates. After those decisions, the Governor stood by his stance.

(Nov. 12) “The policy as is still stands but we will certainly reconsider that if there’s compelling reason to do so,” Ricketts said.

On Tuesday, the Governor’s Office confirmed a statement from the Nebraska Emergency Management Agency saying the no-mandate requirement covered the reimbursement period ending May 31. The state would not withhold funds because of mandates issued after that date.

This morning, the Governor said that decision was made months ago.

“That was something that again was an evolving issue," Ricketts said. "We made that decision, I think it was sometime in July with regard to the May 31 numbers and the presumed payroll.”

Ricketts says he didn’t tell counties of his decision from July. Why not?

“Because, again, my policy still is don’t deny any citizen of Nebraska services," Ricketts said. "With regard to our state services, we wanted counties to continue to make sure they were providing our services.”

This is where Lancaster County comes back in. The board was ready to put in a county building mandate but stopped in May when the CARES Act dollars were at risk. Commissioner Christa Yoakum says the board would have followed through in July if they had known about the decision not to withhold funds.

“Board members were very frustrated that this was a tool that we knew could be helpful and we couldn’t use it,” Yoakum said.

Now, what if the federal government gives more stimulus money to the states? Does the May 31 end date still apply? Maybe not.

“If any citizen is denied services because of a county mask mandate, that could be something that, for future CARES Act money, could create a problem,” Ricketts said.

Yoakum says the uncertainty has frustrated the Lancaster County Commissioners.

“Right now, as our numbers are going up consistently and our death rates are higher right now in Lancaster County, I’m really sorry we didn’t already have this in place,” Yoakum said.

Yoakum says she believes the board will revisit a mask mandate for county buildings now that this information is out. In fact, she says she’s already had conversations about making it happen.

Earlier this year, Ricketts set aside $180 million of CARES Act money to reimburse state and local governments. Counties have applied for access to that money but haven't received the reimbursements yet.