OMAHA - Three Omaha City Council members have joined a lawsuit launched by the Nebraska Attorney General in an attempt to stop the enforcement of the city’s mask mandate.

Council members Brinker Harding, Aimee Melton, and Don Rowe announced their participation in the legal action against Douglas County Health Director Lindsay Huse in a press release Friday.

Nebraska's Attorney General, Doug Peterson, filed a lawsuit against Huse earlier in the week in response to the indoor mask mandate in Omaha.

The council members stated that "By unilaterally decreeing a mask mandate, Dr. Huse has levied a substantial and invasive burden on the citizens of Omaha without the consideration and approval of their democratically-accountable representatives on the Council and in the Mayor’s office.”

In addition, the council members allege that Huse "has assumed for herself a legislative function and usurped the City Council's legislative power."

Douglas County District Judge Shelly Stratman has scheduled a hearing on the lawsuit for 10 a.m. Jan. 24.

The mandate will remain in place until either Huse deems it no longer necessary or the judge overrules it.

Huse said that, in anticipation of push back, she conferred with the county attorney and city attorney; both of which said she was on solid legal ground.

Douglas County Attorney Don Kleine said the city’s Law Department will take the lead in defending the order because Huse issued the mandate in her role as the city’s health director.

Peterson is seeking a temporary and permanent injunction declaring the mandate “void and unlawful.” He argues that Huse did not have “jurisdiction or authority” to issue the mandate.

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