KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A Jackson County, Missouri, Circuit Court judge issued a stay order Tuesday morning in the lawsuit over police funding reform between the Board of Police Commissioners and Kansas City, Missouri.
Parties were originally set for a hearing Tuesday afternoon to consider a request by the BOPC for a temporary restraining order to block recently adopted plans to reform police funding.
The judge’s ruling Tuesday morning cancels that hearing and gives the city 14 days to respond to the claims made by the BOPC.
The ruling also postpones any consideration of the BOPC’s request for a temporary restraining order for 30 days.
Kansas City, Missouri, Mayor Quinton Lucas said in a statement that the city will "fight vigorously" against the lawsuit, which he called an "effort to keep our hands tied" in solving one of the city's greatest challenges.
"Kansas City will fight to shine light on best practices and community collaboration with our police officers, rather than stay in the dark about where taxpayer money goes, what we’re doing, and how the hell we can once and for all get out of this situation," Lucas said. "We have a murder problem, and it's getting worse. I’m committed to solving it, even if it takes us going all the way to the United States Supreme Court.
“Our lawyers worked hard through the holiday weekend to review the filings and to provide the city a vigorous defense. We look forward to having our arguments on behalf of Kansas City’s taxpayers, neighborhoods, and survivors of violent crime heard in court.”
Last month, the Kansas City, Missouri, City Council adopted two measures that would switch allocation of a portion of the Kansas City, Missouri, Police Department’s budget to a community fund that would be overseen by local leaders.
Last Friday, police commissioners voted to file a lawsuit against the city over the measures.
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