Osceola County Sheriff Ed Williams said his department will not investigate any business that reopens despite the state lockdown ordered by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.
“I feel business owners should be allowed to open and use precautions necessary to keep themselves, employees and customers as safe as possible while still operating,” Williams said, according to The Herald Review. “We are not going to investigate businesses that are opening. … This is America, and at some level, we should be free. For these small businesses, this could catastrophically affect their way of life.”
Osceola County is about 80 miles south of Traverse City.
Businesses such as gyms, tattoo parlors, bowling alleys, hair salons and barber shops are still not allowed to open in Michigan, according to Whitmer’s latest executive order.
According to the state, Osceola County has had 12 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and no deaths as of June 3.
Michigan Capitol Confidential is the news source produced by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy. Michigan Capitol Confidential reports with a free-market news perspective.