Civil rights complaint filed over social distancing citations at a KY Dollar General

A former federal prosecutor filed a civil rights complaint with the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky on Wednesday, arguing that an Eastern Kentucky police chief exceeded his authority by citing residents for not following COVID-19 social distancing rules.

The complaint stems from two citations, issued by Elkhorn City Police Chief Bobby Sexton, to two individuals who reportedly failed to comply with social distancing rules at a Dollar General in Pike County on Monday.

Gabrielle Dudgeon, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Kentucky, said in a statement that the office has received the complaint and is reviewing it.

Dudgeon declined to provide additional comment on the specific complaint, but added that U.S. Attorney General William Barr has directed offices “to be on the lookout for instances where actions of state and local authorities cross the line between an appropriate exercise of authority to combat the spread of the virus to an overbearing infringement of constitutional or statutory rights.”

“Consistent with that directive, our office, in consultation with other Department of Justice components, will review allegations of alleged overreach brought to our attention, and if necessary, will take action in appropriate cases,” she said.

Mark Wohlander, the former federal prosecutor who filed the complaint, said he believes the police chief enforced “his own version of the law” and that the citations were not backed up by any legal statute.

Sexton did not responded to a request for comment for this story.

In early April, Pike County Judge-Executive Ray Jones passed an executive order that, among other things, limited the number of shoppers in a store to one person per household and ordered businesses to ensure that customers followed social distancing guidelines aimed at slowing the spread of the coronavirus. Gov. Andy Beshear later issued a similar order covering the entire state.

Jones’ order stipulates that it is enforceable by the Pike County Health Department and “if necessary the appropriate law enforcement agency.”

Wohlander said he does not believe Sexton has the legal authority to enforce executive orders. To comply with the law, Sexton had an obligation to first consult the health department or county attorney and ask them to get a court order, Wohlander said.

“What he’s done is just a violation,” he said.

During an interview earlier this week, Sexton said two customers were standing close together and not following the social distancing guidelines. A store employee “became irate” with him when he tried to enforce the executive order.

Sexton said he gave the store the option to stay open if they put an employee outside to make sure that people were following social distancing orders, but the store refused.

On Tuesday, the store had an employee outside the entrance to monitor people as they came inside.

Sexton said he cited the two individuals on Monday, and that they will be scheduled to appear in Pike County District Court. The Herald-Leader has not yet been able to review copies of the citations.

Elkhorn City Mayor Mike Taylor, who was not at the store at the time, said he believed Sexton had the authority to issue citations, but said he asked local police to refer any further social distancing disputes to the health department until the U.S. Attorney’s office makes a decision.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office did not provide any timeline on its review.

“While in the scheme of all that is happening regarding the COVID-19 pandemic, this matter might seem insignificant,” Wohlander said in his complaint. “However, what is abundantly clear is that Chief Sexton believes he has the legal authority to arbitrarily enforce his own version of the law and intends to continue to enforce his version of social distancing in a matter not consistent with either the Constitution or Kentucky law.”

This story was originally published April 30, 2020 at 2:02 PM.