FRANKFORT, Ky. (ABC36 NEWS NOW) – The Kentucky Supreme Court has ruled that Lexington’s ordinance banning no-knock warrants is unconstitutional because it conflicts with state law.

In its decision published Thursday, the Court said Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government’s 2021 ordinance prohibiting police from ever seeking a no-knock warrant “conflicts, pure and simple” with Senate Bill 4, the state law that allows such warrants under strict limits. According to the ruling, the ordinance is “null, void, and of no effect” because it forbids what state law expressly permits.

The justices noted that SB 4, passed in 2021, created significant guardrails: no-knock warrants may only be issued when there is clear and convincing evidence involving violent offenders or threats to life or eviden

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