Public raises concerns over isolation, quarantine and forced-treatment language; board declines to bring October 2024 plan back for vote

Residents at Tuesday's Park County Board of Health meeting urged the board to remove isolation, quarantine and "forced treatment" language from county plans and to increase transparency after several different versions of local plans drew public attention.

Linda Mar, a Livingston resident, read an extended statement criticizing a plan she said was proposed on Oct. 8, 2024, and asked the board to place that document on a future agenda with the intent to "vote it down and discard it permanently." Mar asked for clear public notification and raised objections to language she said would allow health officers to order evaluation and treatment when people "do not voluntarily medicate and vaccinate."

Other residents echoed distrust of how pandemic-era policies were handled. Sabina Strauss of Gardner said the board and health department should "work very hard to regain our trust," and urged the department to acknowledge mistakes. A resident who identified himself as David Lewis said he preferred "natural" and preventive approaches to health care and expressed concern about mandatory measures.

The board chair clarified the status of older documents. Chair Stephanie Lang said the 2014 plan "had been tabled at that meeting, which means it is not active. It is not doing anything." Board staff later explained that a 2019 document exists as an internal operational emergency plan created to satisfy state grant and statutory requirements; staff said it was approved by the board chair and the health officer at the time and posted online.

Board members debated procedure for removing a tabled document. A motion to place the October 2024 document back on a future agenda for discussion and decision failed on a voice vote. The chair called for voices in favor; two members said "nay," and the chair announced, "Motion fails." One board member noted that, procedurally, a tabled document is not active and that reinstating it for the purpose of defeating it could require reintroducing and then rescinding other plans.

Board members also discussed House Bill 888, a proposed state law referenced during public comments that would bar requiring medication or vaccination as a condition of release from isolation or quarantine; board members said changes at the state level could require future local updates to the existing 2019 plan. A board member asked that when any board member speaks publicly they should make clear whether they are speaking for themselves or on behalf of the board.