When Gov. Brian Kemp and his top lawyer, Attorney General Chris Carr, go to court with their face mask lawsuit against Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms and the Atlanta City Council, they're going to have to … wear a mask.

Kemp's lawsuit has been assigned to Fulton County Superior Court Judge Kelly Lee Ellerbe. As of Friday afternoon, the judge had not yet scheduled a hearing on the case, according to her senior staff attorney, Jennifer Ventry.  An email from chambers included this reminder: "Face masks or facial coverings are required for entry into the Fulton County Courthouse and Justice Center Complex."

The note linked to further court instructions.

"Effective immediately, all persons visiting the Lewis R. Slaton Courthouse and the justice center complex, including vendors, contractors, litigants, attorneys, and other members of the public are required to wear face masks or facial coverings for their nose and mouth during their visit to common or public areas of the courthouse and justice center complex.

"We are taking this temporary action in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and to further safeguard the health and safety of everyone visiting and working in the courthouse and the justice center complex. This entry requirement will remain in place until further order of the courts."

Kemp sued Bottoms to stop her from enforcing a mask requirement in the city on Thursday—the day after she said President Donald Trump broke that law when he stepped barefaced off Air Force One at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.

The mayor started her Friday accusing the governor of putting politics over safety, saying Kemp was obviously reacting to her accusing Trump of violating city law. She was speaking on NBC's Today show from her home, where she is currently quarantined because she has the coronavirus—as does her husband and her son. She said the family is starting to feel better now.

She noted on Twitter that more than 3,100 Georgians have died of the coronavirus disease and said she and her family are among the 106,000 "who have tested positive for COVID-19."

"Meanwhile, I have been sued by @GovKemp for a mask mandate," Bottoms tweeted. "A better use of taxpayer money would be to expand testing and contact tracing."

The mayor went on to CBS "This Morning," where she called Kemp "a Trump loyalist." The governor, she said, "seems to work very hard to please the president of the United States, and that is often at the expense of the people in our state."

Asked whether she thinks Trump encouraged Kemp to file the lawsuit, she said she couldn't speak about whatever conversations they had. But she added that Trump "was violating the rules of our city in just a blatant disregard for the science."

Unlike Trump, who hasn't been a fan of masks, Kemp has worn them often and even made a "wear a mask" tour of the state to promote the idea. He has said repeatedly that wearing face coverings in public should be "strongly encouraged," just not required.

In a photograph widely distributed on social media Friday, Kemp had his mask dangling off one ear while talking with the unmasked Trump.

The bottom line in the lawsuit is that Kemp's executive orders specifically say no city can preempt his directions by having rules that are more or less strict than his.

The mask lawsuit isn't really about masks, according to the lawyer charged with representing the governor, Attorney General Chris Carr.

"The State of Georgia continues to urge citizens to wear masks," Carr said in a statement posted on Twitter. "This lawsuit is about the rule of law."

For Kemp, the issue is bigger than masks. At a news conference at the Capitol Friday, he talked about his concern for small businesses affected by the mayor's attempt to return to the stricter lock down of earlier days of the pandemic. He said another total shutdown could push struggling restaurants into bankruptcy.

"The lawsuit is on behalf of the Atlanta business owners and their hardworking employees who are struggling to survive during these difficult times," Kemp said. "These men and women are doing their very best to put food on the table for their families while local elected officials shutter businesses and undermine economic growth."

Kemp referred to another recent tiff with Bottoms, when he ordered military troops to guard the city without running it by her first.

"Just like sending in the @GeorgiaGuard to protect those living in our capital city from crime and violence, I refuse to sit back and watch as disastrous policies threaten the lives and livelihoods of our citizens," Kemp said in a tweet. "We will fight to stop these reckless actions and put people over pandemic politics."

The lawsuit recounted Kemp's 45 executive orders concerning COVID-19 and said he "leads the state of Georgia in its fight against the worldwide novel coronavirus/COVID-19 pandemic."

The complaint said local governments "do not have the ability or authority to regulate and control the State of Georgia," and that "Mayor Bottoms is charged with implementing the terms of Governor Kemp's COVID-19 Executive Orders within the City."

"Mayor Bottoms does not have the legal authority to modify, change or ignore Governor Kemp's executive orders," the complaint said.

The complaint references the mayor's numerous statements in the media saying she is requiring face coverings, even though the governor is not.

Kemp is asking the court to "declare that Mayor Bottoms exceeded her authority by issuing executive orders which were more restrictive than his Executive Orders related to the Public Health Emergency." Kemp is also asking the court to suspend any mandates that are more restrictive than his.

That would include the Fulton County judges' requirement to wear a mask to come to court.