Kentucky GOP Gov. Beshear signs partial ban on 'no-knock' warrants, following Breonna Taylor death

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear has signed into law a partial ban on so-called "no-knock" warrants, following the fatal police shooting of Breonna Taylor in which the measure was a central issue. 

The Republican governor signed the measure Friday amid strong public pressure to bans such warrants, which essentially allow police officers to enter a residence without warning during an investigation.

The measure signed by Beshear – which had bipartisan support in the state’s Republican-controlled legislature – now permits such warrants only if there is “clear and convincing evidence” that the crime being investigated “would qualify a person, if convicted, as a violent offender,” according to the Associated Press. 

However, it is not the total ban many protesters and some Democratic lawmakers had sought under proposed legislation known as "Breonna’s Law." 

Taylor, a 26-year-old emergency medical technician, was fatally shot in her apartment by Louisville police in March 2020 during a narcotics investigation.

A no-knock warrant was approved as part of the investigation. Police officers said they nevertheless knocked and announced their presence before entering Taylor’s apartment, though some witnesses have disputed that account.

The newly passed law states no-knock warrants can be executed only from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. and officers are required to take additional steps to obtain warrants. Judges are also required to sign legibly when approving them and an EMT must now be nearby during execution of the warrant, the wire service also reports.