On December 17, 2015, the Kentucky Supreme Court ruled that the Kentucky State Police conducted an illegal DUI checkpoint that violated a motorist’s state and federal constitutional rights against unreasonable searches and seizures in Commonwealth v. Cox, 2013-SC-000618-DG.

The court reiterated that, “We must err on the side of caution when dealing with the most fundamental of those rights granted to our citizens to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures…In circumstances where the practices and procedures employed by law enforcement are constitutionally ambiguous, it is our duty to protect individuals against the risk of potentially unreasonable seizure without any suspicion of wrongdoing.  Though we do not require rigid compliance with the Buchanon guidelines, we cannot continue to soften the edges of what is constitutionally reasonable”.

Police in Kentucky cannot set-up a roadblock without jumping through a lot of hoops. The site for a roadblock has to be approved, a police supervisor has to be present, and the location, time and how long police will be stopping cars has to be advertised.