Kentucky attorney general establishes search warrant task force

FRANKFORT, Ky. (WAVE) – A task force to review how search warrants are executed and if any improvements should be made is in the works.

Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron announced plans for the search warrant task force on Thursday.

An Executive Order filed by Cameron’s office references the Fourth Amendment and states “the framers sought to protect the safety and liberty of citizens by ensuring that searches and seizures would be justified by probable cause, limited in scope and subject to independent judicial review.”

It continues by referencing the Kentucky Constitution and stating Section 10 assures people “they will be free from all unreasonable search and seizure.”

The Executive Order says the death of Breonna Taylor, and other recent events, have brought up questions concerning the way search warrants are secured, reviewed and executed. Taylor was shot and killed by Louisville Metro Police Department officers who were serving a warrant at her home on March 13, 2020.

The task force will review and examine how search warrants are secured, reviewed and executed in addition to training needs.

The task force will consist of the attorney general or his designee; two representatives of the Kentucky Court of Justice; the chairs of the judiciary committee of the Kentucky House of Representatives and the Kentucky Senate; a person appointed by the Fraternal Order of Police; a person appointed nu the Kentucky Sheriff’s Association; a person appointed by the Kentucky Association of Chiefs of Police; the commissioner of the Kentucky State Police of his designee; a person appointed by the Kentucky Commonwealth’s Attorneys’ Association; a person appointed by the Kentucky County Attorneys’ Association; the public advocate or his designee; one person from the Kentucky League of Cities; one from the Kentucky Association of Counties, one appointed by the Kentucky Conference of the NAACP; the commission of the Kentucky Department of Criminal Justice Training or his designee and three citizens appointed by Cameron.

The 18 member task force is expected to make recommendations for improvements and is set to conclude its work no later than Dec. 31.

Members of the Attorney General’s Task Force are:

Denise Bentley, Former Democrat Louisville Metro Councilwoman, Legislative Assistant to Metro Council District 5, representing citizens at-large
Lieutenant Bryan Bogard, Covington Police Department, representing the Kentucky Fraternal Order of Police
Colonel Phillip Burnett, Jr., Commissioner, Kentucky State Police
Judge Foster Cotthoff, District Court Judge, 3rd Judicial District, Christian County, representing the Kentucky Court of Justice
Judge Charles Cunningham, Circuit Court Judge, 30th Judicial Circuit, Jefferson County, representing the Kentucky Court of Justice
Jeff Gregory, Mayor, City of Elizabethtown, representing the Kentucky League of Cities
Nicolai Jilek, Commissioner, Kentucky Department of Criminal Justice Training
Representative Ed Massey, Chair, House Judiciary Committee
Ramon McGee, Attorney, The Law Office of Ramon McGee, representing the Kentucky Conference of the NAACP
Chief Joe Monroe, University of Kentucky Police Department, representing the Kentucky Association of Chiefs of Police
David L. Nicholson, Circuit Court Clerk, Jefferson County, representing the Kentucky Association of Counties
Damon Preston, Public Advocate
Joseph Ross, County Attorney, Logan County, representing the Kentucky County Attorneys Association
Rob Sanders, Commonwealth’s Attorney, 16th Judicial Circuit, representing the Kentucky Commonwealth’s Attorneys’ Association
Sheriff Walt Sholar, Bullitt County Sheriff’s Office, representing the Kentucky Sheriffs’ Association
Detective Elizabeth Thomas, Lexington Police Department, representing the Kentucky Narcotics Officers Association
Senator Whitney Westerfield, Chair, Senate Judiciary Committee
George Wright, Professor, Senior Advisor to the President, and Vice President for Institutional Diversity, University of Kentucky, representing citizens at-large