A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit Wednesday that would have required the Louisville Metro Police Department in Kentucky to participate in a police reform plan proposed by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). The DOJ withdrew its support of the reforms earlier this year.
Another judge in May 2025 also dismissed a similar plan to bring federal oversight to a Minneapolis-proposed consent decree.
City leaders and the federal agency had signed agreements for the reform plans in the final weeks of President Joe Biden’s administration, but they still needed approval by a judge. The judge’s ruling Wednesday now takes any potential police reforms for the city out of federal hands and gives it back to Louisville.
The Justice Department had announced in May 2025 its intention to cancel proposed police reforms in both Louisville and Minneapolis, which would have called for an overhaul of both cities’ police departments. The agreements came after the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, which sparked destructive nationwide protests and riots in 2020.
Biden’s Justice Department conducted a multi-year investigation into the Louisville Metro Police Department after Taylor’s death in 2020, finding the department discriminated against black people, used excessive force, and served invalid warrants for searches.
The DOJ under Trump said the previous administration used flawed methods to evaluate police departments and create costly, burdensome consent decrees.
The federal judge wrote in his decision Wednesday that it doesn’t stop Louisville “from undertaking the hard work of reform themselves.”
After the DOJ withdrew its support earlier this year, Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg said he would continue pursuing police reform. The city hired an independent law enforcement consultant to oversee the implementation of a new city-created plan.
“We are moving ahead rapidly to continue implementing police reform that ensures constitutional policing,” the Louisville mayor said. “We are embracing this opportunity to make LMPD one of the country’s most respected and transparent police departments.”
As part of the city plan, independent law enforcement monitors will report regularly to a newly formed “Community Safety Commission,” a forum for community input made up of various stakeholders.
The committee includes representatives from Louisville police, the justice system, and community members including faith leaders, crime victims, criminal justice advocates, business owners, immigrants, medical professionals, educators, and homeless service providers.
The federal judge Wednesday made his dismissal with prejudice, meaning the effort to bring Louisville’s police department under federal oversight cannot be revived in the future.
