Updated 3:29 p.m. on April 7: This includes comments from commissioners about the decision to limit the judge’s powers.

Dallas County commissioners voted Tuesday to limit some of the top elected official’s emergency powers, arguing they were kept out of the loop on important decisions.

Commissioners voted to require County Judge Clay Jenkins to notify all four of them and allow them to meet before placing any more restrictions on essential businesses. They also required him to get a majority vote before extending his shelter-in-place order past April 30.

Since March 19, when commissioners voted to extend the county’s disaster declaration to curb the spread of the coronavirus, granting Jenkins extended power, Jenkins has issued various orders. Those included limits on group gatherings and a shelter-in-place order that forced non-essential businesses and services to shut down two weeks ago.

On Friday, commissioners voted to extend the disaster declaration until May 20, and Jenkins announced on Twitter that he would prolong stay-at-home orders until April 30.

The unanimous vote on Tuesday came after several tense exchanges between Jenkins and three commissioners. Jenkins abstained from supporting a part of the amendment that required him to get approval from commissioners to extend the shelter-in-place order.

The restrictions were watered down over the course of a four-hour meeting. Jenkins suggested before the vote that the restrictions as originally proposed were “dangerous” and would prevent him from acting quickly during the public health crisis caused by the coronavirus.

“We’re just not going to be able to get things done if we stop and have a two- or three-hour meeting every day on things like whether or not people should solicit at your home or not,” Jenkins said before the vote.

Commissioner John Wiley Price, who represents large parts of southern Dallas, said there’s been a “throat choke” on his community the past few weeks and that he was “incensed” by decisions Jenkins has made unilaterally.

“If you can confer with 250 people every day, or every other day, then you can confer with us,” Price said to Jenkins.

Price has pushed for pawn shops and check-cashing businesses to reopen, saying people in the communities he represents would benefit from being able to obtain loans or to cash checks.

Jenkins ordered Monday that those businesses could reopen as long as they follow certain social distancing measures and adhere to consumer protection measures outlined in his amended order. He said he initially feared interest rates at those businesses might harm some Dallas residents.

“I’m getting my butt kicked on decisions you make on the fly,” Price told Jenkins during the meeting. “I get no input at all. I hear about it from other individuals that you made a decision.”

Commissioner J.J. Koch, who introduced the amendment to limit Jenkins’ power, said he believed it was “prudent” for commissioners to make decisions collaboratively. The option to meet by telephone, he said, allows them to make quick decisions together.

“It’s a little bit concerning that there are still pieces that have to be addressed this late in the game at such a rapid pace,” Koch said. “We shouldn’t be in this place.”

Commissioner Theresa Daniel said her peers need to be included in making decisions because of the resources they can bring to the table. Also, she said, they’re learning about decisions that Jenkins makes from constituents.

“What I see in this is not that we are putting barricades or barriers to progress or addressing issues that must be addressed,” Daniels said. “We agree with you and appreciate all those efforts, but we are a part of this county, we are a part of these decisions, and we have not been kept in the loop.”