Attorneys: Lexington had right to ban no-knock warrants without bargaining with FOP
Lexington city attorneys have asked a Fayette Circuit judge to throw out a lawsuit filed by the police union to derail a ban on no-knock warrants.
The Fraternal Order of Police Bluegrass Lodge No. 4, which represents Lexington police officers, said the ban violates the FOP’s contract with the city and filed its lawsuit in late June. The union alleged that the city was required to bargain with the union over no-knock warrants because the ban affects the “health and safety” of officers. The union said the city refused to bargain over the issue.
The city argues the no-knock warrant ban didn’t have to be negotiated before the urban county council voted on the ordinance and it was enacted into law by Mayor Linda Gorton on June 25, according to court records. The no-knock warrant ban was a matter of public policy, and Lexington must keep its ability to enact local laws, the city’s attorneys said.
“Matters of public policy, such as a ban on no-knock warrants, do not constitute ‘terms and conditions of employment’ subject to bargaining,” city attorneys said in court records. “To find otherwise would give the union effective control over the” Lexington-Fayette Urban County Council, creating a “clear conflict of interest and prohibiting the passage of meaningful reforms.
“LFUCG must have the discretion to determine matters of public policy.”
The city’s new policy banning no-knock warrants came more than one year after Breonna Taylor was shot and killed by Louisville police officers. Those officers were attempting to raid her apartment with a no-knock warrant. Louisville enacted its own no-knock warrant ban in June 2020 after an outcry from the public over the safety of using the warrants.
Lexington’s attorneys have referenced the Taylor case in some of their court responses to the police union.
The union also alleged that the city’s law banning no-knock warrants violated a state law previously passed by the Kentucky legislature. The state law heavily restricted the use of no-knock warrants but did not ban them. Lexington’s attorneys have said in court records the city was within its right to enact its own additional legislation.
City attorneys: Lexington can set performance standards
The city also has the right to set “standards of performance and service,” and the new ordinance banning the warrants falls into that category, attorneys said in court records.
The union had asked Fayette Circuit Judge Kimberly Bunnell to allow it to amend its lawsuit to add the allegation that the city government violated the “grievance procedure” in the contract.
The union said in court records that it filed a grievance over the warrant ordinance. The local government is required to “participate in good faith at each step of the grievance procedure,” the FOP’s attorneys said in the amended lawsuit.
After filing a grievance and requesting arbitration in the case, the union said it was told the city “will not participate in the arbitration.” The union alleged the city violated the grievance process when it refused to participate.
“Lodge #4 exhausted all contractual remedies” allowed in the agreement with the city, attorneys wrote in the union’s amended complaint.
Ruling on dismissal will come later, judge says
Bunnell agreed Friday to let the union amend its lawsuit over the city’s objections since new arguments could be relevant to the case.
The city unsuccessfully asserted the changes were “futile.”
Bunnell said Friday she wanted to hold an additional hearing to speak with both sides before she ruled on the city’s motion to dismiss the case.
“I want to get everything in front of me,” she said in court Friday.
This story was originally published September 10, 2021 at 1:15 PM.