BENTONVILLE -- Benton County Sheriff Shawn Holloway announced Tuesday that he would not enforce any vaccine mandate in the county.
"I feel this decision is the individual's choice and constitutional right to decide," Holloway said in a news release. He said he will not force employees of the Sheriff's Office or county citizens to be vaccinated because of "unconstitutional vaccine mandates."
The sheriff opposed mask mandates in the county last year and similarly declined to enforce them at the time, the release states.
[Click here to read the sheriff's statement: nwaonline.com/913statement]
Holloway did not identify which vaccine mandates he was referencing in the release, saying "we are now facing a new mandate in our community with vaccine mandates being announced recently."
"I do not have an issue with someone getting a vaccine or choosing not to get a vaccine," the release states.