Kentucky legislators (generic - March 2021)

Members of the Kentucky General Assembly convene in the state Capitol in Frankfort, Ky. (WDRB file photo) 
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LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A bill that would limit the type of warrant used in the raid that killed Breonna Taylor could see significant changes.

Two proposed amendments to Senate Bill 4 would widen the circumstances under which a police officer could request a no-knock warrant. 

Republican Senate President Robert Stivers' bill would limit no-knock warrants to potentially violent cases, such as suspected terrorism. It also spells out the process for obtaining a no-knock warrant and would limit those warrants to being served only between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. Additionally, the bill requires officers on a raid to wear body cameras.

An amendment proposed by Rep. John Blanton, R-Salyersville, would lengthen the time a no-knock warrant could be served to midnight while requiring officers to be equipped with some type of recording device. It would also allow officers who aren't specifically trained to execute a no-knock warrant to still be on the raid. 

The amendments have met strong resistance from groups that had previously praised Stivers' version of the bill. 

LMPD battering ram outside Breonna Taylor's apartment

A photo taken by Louisville Metro Police investigators after the early-morning March 13 raid on Breonna Taylor's apartment. 

"My first thought was that this is push back from the police," said Marcus Jackson with the American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky. "What's so troubling about that is I don't know how anyone who knows the facts of the Breonna Taylor case could ever justify what happened. And these amendments are justifications."

Rep. Chris Fugate, R-Chavies, also proposed an amendment to the bill that would allow the approval of warrants for drug-related crimes, the same justification used to raid Taylor's apartment near Pleasure Ridge Park in March 2020.

Neither Blanton or Fugate responded to a request for comment. 

If changes are made and passed in the House of Representatives, Senate Bill 4 would have to be sent back to the Senate for approval. 

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