On Tuesday, a county judge in Missouri ruled against a plan by the city council of Kansas City to defund its own police department, according to The Hill.
After Mayor Quinton Lucas (D-Mo.) led an initiative to defund the Kansas City Police Department (KCPD), the city council ultimately passed a resolution to reallocate approximately $42.3 million from the KCPD’s budget and instead spend the money on “community outreach programs.” Following the passage of the resolution in May, the Kansas City police board sued the city council to prevent the new policy from taking effect.
Jackson County Judge Patrick Campbell ultimately sided with the KCPD, determining that the proposed reallocation of funds was a violation of state law. Judge Campbell ordered the full $42.3 million to be restored to the police.After the judge’s ruling, Lucas said that the KCPD should be “required…to engage in discussions related to crime prevention throughout future budget cycles, should the Department seek to receive funds in excess of 20 percent of the City’s General Fund Revenue.”
The KCPD released a statement celebrating the ruling, noting that the department “puts a great deal of effort into this process, as does the city. This budget process directly affects not only the police department and the city, but the members in our community.”
Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.), who sided with the KCPD in the lawsuit, described the lawsuit as “a huge win for the people of Kansas City and law enforcement officers who work every single day to keep their communities safe.”