ACLU of Kentucky, community groups hold press conference to promote amnesty day

The ACLU of Kentucky held a press conference on Thursday, May 12, in front of the Hall of Justice in downtown Louisville promoting the opportunity of amnesty for individuals with an outstanding bench warrant.

The Jefferson County Attorney is offering the chance to re-docket cases with active bench warrants, with some restrictions. This will allow Kentuckians to reschedule their court appearance and set aside active bench warrants, resulting in fewer Kentuckians being jailed for low-level offenses.

“While we appreciate this movement by the courts, we are disappointed the Chief Judge, without consultation with District Court Judges, decided to restrict who is covered,” said Carla Wallace of Louisville Showing Up for Racial Justice. “We call on the courts to expand the scope of who will get relief from this amnesty to further address who ends up in jail and the deeply inequitable issues related to outstanding bench warrants.”

“This is an opportunity for many individuals to reschedule their court appearance without fear of being jailed for their active bench warrant,” said Kungu Njuguna, policy strategist for the ACLU of Kentucky. “With people dying in alarming numbers in Louisville’s jails, this is a step toward lowering the number of people arrested.”

The deadline to apply to re-docket is Tuesday, May 31, 2022.

The application for a re-docket on Amnesty Day can be found here, and paper forms are available at the Hall of Justice.