Kentucky attorney general hopes Search Warrant Task Force can be national example

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron said he wants Kentucky to be a national model in the way it handles search warrants.

The Kentucky legislature already passed a law restricting the use of no-knock warrants, but Cameron told WDRB News he expects his Search Warrant Task Force to examine the entire search warrant process from police to prosecutors to judges.

"I am hopeful that we will have a set of recommendations, not necessarily that everything would have to be a legislative fix," he said. "For instance, there could be things that could change as it relates to the Administrative Office of the Courts and how they instruct judges about what they do."

Some, however, have questioned why Cameron took so long to appoint people to the task force.

The attorney general filed an executive order to create the group in January after a no-knock search warrant led to Louisville Metro Police officers killing Breonna Taylor. The 18 appointees — members of the community picked by Cameron, lawmakers, state and local officials, prosecutors, law enforcement, and members representing the NAACP — weren't announced until May 6.

Cameron said he was waiting to get the ball rolling with the task force until after the General Assembly took action. The task force will hold its first meeting within 30 days, according to the attorney general.

Some voiced skepticism of the task force when Cameron announced its creation in January. Ted Shouse, a criminal defense attorney, told WDRB News that it seemed like "window dressing."

"Kentucky has a long history of blue ribbon panels and appointed commissions, and those are frequently places where ideas go to die," Shouse said. "This feels like one of those."

Shouse recommended task force members consider key reforms to the search warrant process: randomly assigning judges to the officers seeking search warrants to prevent shopping, recording officers' conversations with the approving judges and being transparent with the info showing how a warrant was obtained.

Related Stories: