Whether Title II of the ADA applies when law-enforcement officers face exigent circumstances during encounters with individuals with disabilities

Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) prohibits public entities , including local law-enforcement agencies , from discriminating against qualified individuals with disabilities. 42 U.S.C. § 12132. Title II requires all public entities to “make reasonable modifications in policies, practices, or procedures” to accommodate individuals with disabilities. 28 C.F.R. § 35.130(b)(7) (i); see Tennessee v. Lane , 541 U.S. 509, 531-32 (2004) . The courts of appeals have openly split over how Title II’s antidiscrimination rules apply during police officers’ encounters with individuals with disab ilities. The Fourth, Ninth, and Eleventh Circuits hold that Title II applies to all police encounters, and any exigent circumstances that officers face during those encounters simply inform whether a requested accommodation is reasonable under the circumstances. See Seremeth v. Board of County Commissioners , 673 F.3d 333, 336 -37 (4th Cir. 2012); Sheehan v. City & County of San Francisco , 743 F.3d 1211 , 1232 (9th Cir. 2014); Bircoll v. Miami -Dade County , 480 F.3d 1072 , 1086 (11th Cir. 2007). The Fifth Circuit alone , by contrast, holds that Title II categorically does not apply when police face exigent circumstances. Hainze v. Richards , 207 F.3d 795, 80 1 (5th Cir. 2000). The Court previously granted certiorari to resolve this split, but it never reached the issue because the petitioner changed positions at the merits stage. City & County of San Francisco v. Sheehan , 575 U.S. 600, 610 (2015). The question presented is whether Title II of the ADA applies when law -enforcement officers face exigent circumstances during their encounters with individuals with disabilities.