KENTUCKY — From dealing with racial justice and law enforcement issues to dealing with a worldwide pandemic and its economic impacts, Lexington Mayor Linda Gorton of Lexington has kept busy.

As COVID-19 numbers continue to climb once again, Lexington's Fayette County Health Department recently reported its most new COVID-19 cases in a single day since January.

"We have been, this whole 18 months of the pandemic, laser focused on the things we need to do to help our people stay healthy. And here in Lexington, in the four months, March through June, we had just over 3,000 confirmed cases. And in the past four weeks, we've already had over 4,000 confirmed cases. I mean, it's just kind of skyrocketing with this delta variant," explained Gorton.

Also back in June, the Lexington-Fayette Urban County council voted 10-5 to ban no-knock warrants after more than three hours of debate.

Gorton signed the ordinance into law on the following day, making it effective immediately.

The new ordinance also sets out requirements for how knock-and-announce warrants are executed.

The final vote on the ban came after a substitute amendment — which would have added more restrictions on how no-knock warrants can be used — was narrowly defeated.

Gorton previously voiced opposition to totally banning no-knock warrants in Lexington, but she signed the ordinance into law after hearing from residents who supported the proposal.

"You know, the moratorium was very effective. We had the moratorium in place for a year, and there were no requests for a no knock warrant. I was not afraid to say 'yes,' and I was not afraid to say 'no,'" Gorton said. "And I felt that the right thing would have been for the council to adopt an amendment that put the moratorium into an ordinance into law. I did realize, of course, that the council had voted 9 to 6 to ban no knock warrants, so yes I had the option to veto it, but it was veto proof. They had the votes to override a veto. So, I went ahead and signed it into law."