Police department budget preemption conflicts between state and local governments

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Conflict emerged in 2020 between several states and municipalities over police department budgets. In particular, as municipalities considered reductions to their police department budgets (often as a part of a policy response to the May 2020 killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer), states like Florida, Georgia, and Texas passed laws intended to prevent these budget reductions. This page summarizes police department budget preemption conflicts between state and local governments beginning in 2021. Florida was the first state to pass a police department budget reduction preemption law in April 2021.

Ballotpedia covers preemption conflicts between state and local governments in several policy areas. Preemption occurs when law at a higher level of government is used to overrule authority at a lower level. To learn more about other preemption conflicts, click here.

Police department budget preemption conflicts overview
Year	State	Summary
2021	Missouri	After the city council in Kansas City voted to approve ordinances reallocating a portion of the city's police budget to other public safety measures, the Kansas City Board of Police Commissioners, a state-level board with authority over Kansas City's police department, voted to sue the city government.
2021	Texas	Austin increased its police department funding after Governor Greg Abbott (R) signed a law establishing penalties for cities that reduce their police department budgets.
2021	Georgia	Governor Brian Kemp (R) signed a bill into law preempting local police department budget reductions after proposals to do so failed in Athens-Clarke County and Atlanta.
2021	Florida	Governor Ron DeSantis (R) signed a law preempting local police department budget reductions.

2021

Texas: Austin increases police department funding after Gov. Abbott signs police department budget reduction preemption law

On June 1, 2021, Gov. Greg Abbott (R) signed HB1900 into law, which imposes penalties on local governments of more than 250,000 residents that reduce police department budgets. The law took effect on September 1, 2021. The city of Austin, which has over 250,000 residents, voted to reduce its police department budget in 2020. On Aug. 12, 2021, the Austin City Council approved a budget for fiscal year 2021-22 that would increase the police department budget to about $443 million. In fiscal year 2019-20, the police department budget in Austin was $432 million, and was reduced to $306 million in fiscal year 2020-21.

Abbott called for the passage of a bill like HB1900 in 2020 after Austin's police department budget reduction in 2020, saying: “Some cities are more focused on political agendas than public safety. Public safety is job one, and Austin has abandoned that duty. The legislature will take this issue up next session, but in the meantime, the Texas Department of Public Safety will stand in the gap to protect our capital city."

Under the law, a city that reduces its police department budget is barred from annexing new areas for 10 years. The law also requires those cities to hold elections in areas annexed within the previous 30 years to decide whether residents wish to void the earlier annexation. Additionally, the city would be prohibited from increasing property taxes and increasing city-owned utility rates. Cities would also be required to provide the Texas Department of Public Safety with sales tax revenue equal to the amount of money removed from the police department budget.

In response to the passage of HB1900 in 2021, Austin City Councilmember Greg Casar said: “In Austin, we will continue to work to address violence, including violence committed by police. We will work to make sure our budget conforms with the new law, and also conforms with the values of this community. We will continue our march toward racial justice, police accountability, and comprehensive safety no matter what.”

On May 28, 2021, the Austin American-Statesman's Philip Jankowski reported: “Questions are already swirling about whether HB 1900's reliance on police budgets written nearly two years ago amounts to a retroactive law not permissible under the Texas Constitution. Under the bill, a city is determined to be defunding the police if it adopts a budget that reduces police funding from either the previous year's budget or the year before that, whichever amount is greater.”

Austin's initial police budget reduction reallocated about $21 million from filling police officer vacancies to hire more paramedics, mental health first responders, and other social service workers. About $80 million was reallocated to continue funding certain departments that, before the budget, fell under the police department’s jurisdiction and, over time, would be placed under the authority of different agencies. About $49 million was allocated to the Reimagine Safety Fund, which would be spent on other public safety measures.

Jankowski said: “Uncertainty also has arisen on what amounts to a budget cut. Taken together, it has left some speculating that a door has been left open for a court challenge.”

Missouri: Kansas City Police Commissioner Board sues Kansas City government over proposed police department budget reallocation

On Oct. 5, Jackson County Circuit Court Judge Patrick W. Campbell ruled in favor of the Kansas City Board of Police Commissioners, saying the police department funding changes made by the Kansas City Council and Mayor Quinton Lucas violated state law. Lucas responded to the ruling, saying: "The decision announced by the Court today has provided a pathway forward for the City to require the Kansas City Police Department to engage in discussions related to crime prevention throughout future budget cycles, should the Department seek to receive funds in excess of 20 percent of the City’s General Fund Revenue." The Kansas City Police Department released a statement, saying: "The police department puts a great deal of effort into this process as does the city. This budget process directly affects not only the police department and the city, but the members in our community. We appreciate the court recognized the validity of the 2020-2021 budget process."

On May 28, the Kansas City Board of Police Commissioners voted 4-1 to sue the Kansas City government to prevent the implementation of two police department budget ordinances approved by the city council, with Lucas being the sole dissenting vote. Under Missouri state law, the Kansas City police department is under the authority of the Kansas City Board of Police Commissioners, a five-member board comprised of four gubernatorial appointees and the mayor of Kansas City. A hearing in the case before Judge Patrick W. Campbell of Missouri's 16th Circuit Court was scheduled for Sept. 1.

In a statement following the Board's vote to sue, the president of the Board, Mark Tolbert, said: "In March 2021, the City appropriated funds for the Kansas City, Missouri Police Department’s operating expenses for the year. An unexpected $42 million change to our budget risks a disruption in services to our citizens. I ask that the Mayor and the City Council withdraw the two ordinances at issue. Otherwise, the Board of Police Commissioners will be forced to continue pursuing injunctive relief in order to fulfill our duties as outlined by the Missouri Legislature."

Lucas responded to the lawsuit, saying: "Kansas City reluctantly embraces this litigation to shed light on and strike down a system that for generations has been unfair, unconstitutional, and sadly unsuccessful. [...] This [budget proposal] increases funding to the police. This increases neighborhood involvement in public safety. And this increases my accountability, elected officials' accountability, and talking to the victims of the neighborhoods that are plagued by violent crime. The only thing it decreases is the power of Jefferson City."

The police budget ordinances at issue were passed on May 20, 2021, by the Kansas City Council in a 9-4 vote. The proposal would remove $42.3 million from the department's $240 million budget, then provide $45.3 million to the police department to be used for a community services and prevention fund. About $3 million would be allocated to the police department for a new police academy class.

Georgia: Gov. Kemp signs law preempting police department budget reductions

On May 7, 2021, Gov. Brian Kemp (R) signed HB286 into law, which “restrict[s] the ability of county governing authorities to reduce funding for county police departments.” Specifically, the law prohibits municipalities from reducing police department budgets more than 5% in a year, or cumulatively over five years, with an exception for budget reductions caused by financial hardship.

Prior to HB286's passage, State Rep. Houston Gaines (R-Athens) said; “I believe in local control, but if you have local governments that get out of control, that’s where the state has to step in to make sure people are safe.”

In 2020, Athens-Clarke County and Atlanta considered reductions to their police department budgets. Neither locality passed a budget reducing law enforcement spending.

Before the bill became law Athens Mayor Kelly Girtz criticized it, saying: “There hasn’t been a point where [the state government] said, you know, we’ve got to spend a specific amount of funds on our water supply, or we can’t modify our paving budget by X percent a year. I mean, this is totally outside the framework of what state governments tend to suggest to local governments.”

Florida: Gov. DeSantis signs law preempting police department budget reductions

On April 19, 2021, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) signed HB1 into law, which creates a mechanism for the state to preempt local government police department budget reductions. Under the law, a citizen or government official can challenge a police department budget reduction with the Administration Commission. The governor chairs the commission, whose other members are cabinet officials. A hearing would then be held on the proposed budget change, and the Administration Commission would have the power to approve the budget or amend it. The Commission’s approval or modification of the budget would be final.

At a signing ceremony for the bill, DeSantis said: “This bill actually prevents against local government defunding law enforcement. We’ll be able to stop it at the state level. It’s an insane theory. It’s not going to be allowed to ever carry the day in the state of Florida.”

West Palm Beach Mayor Keith James opposed the bill before its passage, saying: “This is the evisceration of home rule on steroids. What concerns me is there may be very legitimate reasons for cutting a police budget, as in we don’t have the revenues.”

See also

Local Politics	2021 Election Analysis	Preemption conflicts
Municipal government Local courts School boards Local ballot measures Local recalls	Municipal elections, 2021 Local court elections, 2021 School board elections, 2021 Local ballot measure elections, 2021 Political recall efforts, 2021	Coronavirus • Energy infrastructure Firearms • GMOs • Labor LGBT • Marijuana Plastic bags Police department budgets Ridesharing Sanctuary jurisdictions • Soda taxes