“[I] just appreciate everyone being so willing to come together and try to reach a consensus. Again, we understand that there are different perspectives for everything, but frankly that’s what we want. We wanted folks from different walks of life and different parts of the search warrant process to be involved, so thank you guys so much for doing this.”Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron
That's how Attorney General Daniel Cameron closed the Search Warrant Task Force’s December meeting. The 18-member task force has reviewed Kentucky's search warrant process since May and issued a final report on Tuesday with 8 recommendations. They include using a digital platform for processing search warrants, making the general location of warrants served publically available, requiring prosecutorial approval before judicial approval in non-emergencies, notifying child protective services if a minor could be impacted, and requiring regularly updated search warrant-related training for police officers.
Other recommendations call for regular updates to search warrant policies and developing a “toolkit” for those serving warrants in all law enforcement bodies. While some on the task force wanted to limit the time of day that search warrants can be carried out, the final recommendation is that officers should consider the time of day most appropriate for serving a warrant on a case-by-case basis.
In a November meeting, task force member Damon Preston voiced concern that the recommendations were “vanilla,” but Representative Ed Massey said he sees the work as ongoing.
"So I think we have to take some of the stuff that we're recommending, and apply it, implement it, and then see several months down the road: 'is it working?'"C. Ed Massey, State Representative, District 66
Cameron said he’s proud of the work, which was intended to establish Kentucky as a national model for how search warrants should be pursued and served.
