Kentucky's highest court strikes down a city's ban on no-knock warrants

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FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — A Kentucky city's ban on no-knock warrants was struck down Thursday by the state's highest court, which said it conflicted with a state law that limits but doesn't prohibit such warrants during police raids.

The Kentucky Supreme Court ruling against the ordinance in Lexington raised questions about another local ban on no-knock warrants enacted in Louisville following Breonna Taylor 's death. No-knock warrants permit officers to serve a warrant without knocking or announcing themselves, and are typically used in drug raids so contraband can't be hidden.

Taylor was shot by Louisville officers who burst into her home in March 2020 using a drug warrant. Taylor's boyfriend shot at the officers as they burst in, and officers returned fire, striking Taylor several times in her hallway. No drugs were found in the apartment.

Her killing along with George Floyd's death by police in Minneapolis sparked protests against racial injustice in 2020, and prompted Louisville officials to pass a ban on no-knock warrants that year.

Louisville Metro Police Department will continue to follow the city's ban on no-knock warrants despite the court ruling, city officials said Thursday.

“Louisville’s ordinance has not been struck down,” said Matt Mudd, a spokesperson for Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg. “Lexington and Louisville have different ordinances, so LMPD will continue following our ban on no-knock warrants.”

In its 4-2 ruling Thursday, the state Supreme Court said Lexington's ban on no-knock warrants conflicted with a state law passed by the GOP-led Legislature and signed by Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear.

Beshear spokesperson Scottie Ellis said Thursday that the state law was the result of bipartisan work and that the governor signed the legislation “with support from, and at a ceremony with, Breonna Taylor’s mom, Tamika Palmer.” The legislation created “significant and strict restrictions about how and when such a warrant can be secured,” Ellis said in a statement. Beshear, in his second term as governor, is widely seen as a potential candidate for president in 2028.

Under the state law, no-knock warrants are limited to cases with “clear and convincing evidence” that a person in a residence has committed or is suspected of a violent crime. It also prohibits such warrants from being served between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m., except in certain circumstances. Louisville officers burst into Taylor's apartment after midnight.

Meanwhile, the Lexington ordinance prohibited its police from ever seeking a no-knock warrant, Deputy Chief Justice Robert B. Conley said Thursday in writing for the state Supreme Court's majority. He said the state law and ordinance are in “conflict, pure and simple.” He said the state law “prevails and the ordinance is null, void, and of no effect.”

“The General Assembly, through this legislation, has made a policy decision that while no-knock warrants should be sparingly used and generally reserved for violent and dangerous persons, they should not be forbidden,” Conley wrote. “There are appropriate circumstances where such warrants are necessary, and those circumstances are still subject to judicial approval under a clear and convincing standard.”

In a dissenting opinion, Justice Michelle Keller concluded that Lexington’s ordinance did not run afoul of the state law and argued the court’s majority opinion is “effectively stripping local governments across the Commonwealth of their constitutionally vested authority.”

Keller questioned why the Legislature, which passed the law less than a year after Louisville’s ban was enacted, didn’t attempt to nullify Louisville’s no-knock ordinance.

“Despite its awareness of Louisville Metro’s ban, the General Assembly nevertheless deliberately omitted any specific language invalidating the Louisville Metro ban on no-knock warrants,” Keller wrote.

Lexington’s no-knock warrant ban was challenged by the local police union. It claimed the ordinance conflicted with state law and ran afoul of the union’s collective bargaining agreement.