Jefferson County Sheriff Will Enforce Curfew

BIRMINGHAM, AL — Despite a communication breakdown Tuesday between the Jefferson County Commission and the Jefferson County Sheriff's office surrounding a countywide curfew, Sheriff Mark Pettway says his office will enforce the curfew, in effect until June 9.

With demonstrations and some protests over the death of George Floyd in Minnesota escalating in the county over the last few days, many cities in the county have already put a curfew in place.

The curfew will be in effect each day from 7 p.m. until 6 a.m. Initially, when the ordinance was passed Tuesday, the JCSO was unaware of the curfew and said they would not enforce it without direct communication fro the commission.

"It is necessary that the Sheriff’s Office receive official communication from the commissioner’s office In order to enforce an ordinance," the JCSO said in a statement. "Now that official communication has been received, the Sheriff’s Office will have the capability to implement it’s restrictions."

Individual municipalities in the county are allowed to implement their own curfews, the commission said Tuesday. The county's curfew is for unincorporated areas of Jefferson County.