AUSTIN (KXAN) – For the next two weeks, if you’re anywhere around a group of people, you might want to take a head count. Austin Mayor Steve Adler’s ban on gatherings of 10 or more people is in effect through May 1.

This would make funerals and weddings illegal—if 10 or more people are present in a “confined indoor or outdoor space,” according to the mayor’s order.

Churches are banned from opening their doors if 10 or more people are inside at one time “in a single room or space.”

Mayor Steve Adler authorized the city’s law enforcement, code inspectors and the city’s fire marshal to charge people in groups of 10 or more with misdemeanors.

The order authorizes the city’s police, fire marshal and code enforcement officers to enforce the order. Only Austin Police can arrest people who find themselves in groups of 10 or more people. The criminal penalty for a violation is a “fine not to exceed $1,000” or up to six months in jail.

Grocery stores, hardware stores, big box stores, gas stations are some of the places exempt from the “community gathering” ban.

The ban also does not apply to critical infrastructure, airports, transit facilities, government buildings “providing essential services,” schools, colleges and universities, pharmacies, hospitals, medical offices and medical “facilities,” according to the order Adler signed on March 17.

The move was necessary to help combat the spread of COVID-19, according to the mayor.

KXAN’s investigative team has fielded multiple complaints from workers who share office space with dozens of other people, worried their workplace might be violating the law. One such place is the Maximus Call Center off Ed Bluestein Boulevard.

The company enrolls Texans into Medicaid and also provides enrollment services for the Children’s Health Insurance Program, known as CHIP.

“They have a lunch room with people sitting elbow to elbow, hundreds of call agents in one enclosed office work space, training classes sitting elbow to elbow in training rooms and limited narrow walkways,” one tipster who asked not to be identified wrote to KXAN.

“The call center is still open and functioning with people working in close quarters. We are also required to attend training in small rooms with poor ventilation where many people will sit less than arms [sic] length away from each other. Please help us!,” another tip stated.

A Maximus employee told KXAN the room where that worker spends the workday has 60 people working within arm’s reach and, “There’s also people mentoring sitting right next to each other,” the worker said. The worker also claimed the company made no changes to seating arrangements to separate workers after the mayor’s March 17 order.

“We are following the CDC’s specific guidance for businesses and employers,” Maximus Spokeswoman Lisa Miles wrote in an email to KXAN when initially asked about the allegations contained in the tips on Tuesday. KXAN also provided Miles with a copy of the city’s order.

The Maximus call center is directly across the street from the Austin Fire Department headquarters. The parking lot is visible from the entrance to multiple city offices, which also include the police department, EMS and the Medical Director. (KXAN Photo: Jody Barr)

The Austin gathering ban goes beyond the Centers for Disease Control recommendations.

In an emailed statement to KXAN sent Wednesday evening, Miles said the company made a new effort to comply with the city’s gathering ban.

“Immediately following the City of Austin’s order, we took action to modify areas of our office to help ensure compliance. We modified break rooms, removed tables to provide ample space among staff, and we’ve posted signage to remind employees to limit the number of people allowed in one room at any one time,” Miles wrote.

We’ve fielded dozens of similar complaints from viewers regarding their workplace’s compliance with the gathering orders handed down by Austin and Travis County in the last several days—spanning technology offices to DMV waiting rooms. Another business viewers have asked about is childcare centers.

Under Austin’s gathering ban, each person at a childcare center would be subject to being charged under the ban if more than 10 people gathered in “any single space.”

“For example, a facility may be able to accommodate placing people in multiple, separate enclosed spaces in a single building such as school classrooms or different floors of a multi-level building, with no more than 10 people in each separate/single space,” the city wrote in a Frequently Asked Questions section concerning daycare centers.

After Austin issued its order, Travis County and the City of San Marcos followed Austin and issued essentially identical orders.

Williamson County’s community gathering ban, which went into effect at 6 p.m. March 18, also limits crowds to 10 people, but exempts daycare centers, construction sites, all “private business facilities.” Williamson County’s gathering ban also carries fines up to $1,000 or up to six months in jail.

CAN AUSTIN ENFORCE THE CROWD BAN ORDER?

Mayor Steve Adler’s order directed the city’s code enforcement, police and fire marshal officers to enforce the order across the city — to include violations on private property.

The enforcement went into effect March 17 at 12 p.m.

The city’s code department told KXAN in a phone call Tuesday evening, the department was working to figure out how to enforce the order. The department was sorting out the legalities surrounding the order and it was “all hands on deck,” a spokeswoman said.

Adler’s office also would not schedule an interview with KXAN to provide the mayor an opportunity to explain whether the city was prepared to efficiently and effectively enforce the order and whether the mayor knew those answers when he signed it Tuesday.

The Maximus call center sits across the street from the Austin Fire Department’s administrative offices, Austin Police Department offices and the Austin-Travis County Office of the Medical Director. When KXAN visited the site Wednesday, dozens of cars filled the parking lot.

Multiple city departments did not respond to questions asking about the number of city code inspectors, how enforcement would work and whether the city will use any sort of zero tolerance approach to enforcement of the order.

“Regarding your questions about enforcement of the new Control Order, for now we only have the following statement. We hope to have some more information for you in the next couple of days and thank you for your patience,” Andy Tate, a city spokesman wrote to KXAN late Wednesday.

“The City of Austin is working closely with our service industry businesses such as entertainment venues, restaurants and bars and will inform them about the order. We understand the quickness of the mandate in efforts to mitigate a possible community spread. We are prepared to fully enforce this order but will focus on educating our community with warnings to ensure the health and public safety of our community beforehand. We understand each organization is unique to how they will need to conduct its business in accordance with the law.” Andy Tate, City of Austin Spokesman

The city tells KXAN it has an enforcement plan ready, but said the city is first focusing on educating the public about the order before enforcing any violations.

“Plans to educate and inform the community ahead of enforcement apply to any premises or business impacted by the Order, public or private,” Tate wrote to KXAN.

The city also never answered under what authority or detailed how the city planned to enter private property such as manufacturing facilities and call centers to investigate violations or compliance.

KXAN will continue requesting an interview with the mayor to discuss the city’s enforcement plans, the authority to enforce the order and whether the city has the resources to enforce the order while maintaining adequate levels of fire and police services.