How a Kansas City Council effort to exert control over police led to a loss in court
The Kansas City City Council overstepped when it approved measures to reallocate more than $40 million in funding for the police department, a Jackson County judge ruled Tuesday.
The Board of Police Commissioners filed a lawsuit in May in Jackson County Circuit Court after the city council approved ordinances cutting the police budget back to 20% of the city’s general fund, the minimum required by state law.
Local civil rights groups applauded the council’s action, saying it would make the police department more accountable and more responsive to community concerns.
Police board members and other opponents criticized the measure and said it was an effort at “defunding” the police.
Here’s a timeline of the events in the case:
March 26, 2021: Kansas City City Council approves budget, totaling $1.74 billion for the 2021-2022 fiscal year. Of that amount, the police department receives $239 million to help cover operating expenses.
May 20, 2021: Mayor Quinton Lucas and several council members approve two ordinances that reallocates $42.5 million of KCPD’s budget.
May 25, 2021: The Board of Police Commissioners holds a closed meeting and votes 3-1 to initiate litigation, moving one step closer to filing a lawsuit. The board’s action was held over the objection of Lucas, who is a member of the police board but also led the effort to pass the budget measure in the City Council.
May 28, 2021: BOPC files the lawsuit against Lucas and the City Council. The petition says Missouri law gives police commissioners exclusive management of the KCPD and that Kansas City has to spend at least 20% of its revenue on policing.
June 14, 2021: Gwen Grant, president and CEO of Urban League of Greater Kansas City seeks a court order to intervene in the BOPC lawsuit against the City Council, alleging that the current policing structure fails to give city taxpayers a voice in how the department spends its money.
July 8, 2021: Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt files a brief in support of the BOPC’s lawsuit against Lucas and the City Council. Schmitt argues that state law gives the Board of Police Commissioners control over the police department and its budget.
Sept. 1, 2021: Attorneys for the police board and the city present appear before Circuit Court Judge Patrick W. Campbell. During the hearing, KCPD budget manager testifies that if the ordinances are allowed to go into effect, the police department will run out of money by the end of the year, forcing the layoffs of 1,000 officers and civilian workers. Lucas strongly disagrees with the claim, saying the city would cover expenses.
Sept. 13, 2021: Grant, with the Urban League, files a petition in Jackson County Circuit Court seeking to prevent the BOPC from compelling Kansas City to provide them $42.3 million of the police department’s budget. Grant said the current police board structure “disproportionately deprives” African Americans of control over the officers who serve their communities.
Oct. 5, 2021: Judge Campbell rules the ordinances passed by the City Council interfere with the BOPC’s “exclusive management and control” of the police department.
