MOUNT WASHINGTON, Ky. (AP) — In the 1970s, when Bullitt County was still a hotbed of Ku Klux Klan activity, Chester Porter's attempts to prosecute Klansmen were met with threats and a cross-burning outside his home.

"It was a time to be cautious and be aware of your surroundings," said the former county attorney.

A generation later, Porter said he knows of no Klan activity in the county. And Porter, who is white, has mixed feelings about the legal tactic that officials are now using to keep it that way: local ordinances that forbid demonstrators from wearing masks or hoods.

Porter said government should not set up obstacles for groups wanting to peacefully express their views, no matter how extreme.

Besides, he said, "as a kid growing up, I learned early on that it's not good to be spanking copperheads. It's better to be staying away from them. If they are silent, you be silent. That's my philosophy."

He is not the only one troubled. The ACLU says the laws, while well-intended, may infringe on the Klan's free-speech rights.

The City Council in Shepherdsville, a focal point of Klan activity in the 1970s, recently approved such an ordinance. The Mount Washington City Council was expected to adopt a similar one this week.

In all, nearly 30 Kentucky cities or counties have such ordinances, some dating to the 1920s, according to the Kentucky Commission on Human Rights.

"You can't stop them from marching, but you might be able to stop them if they have to uncover their faces," said Barry Armstrong, a banker and white Mount Washington councilman who suggested his town's proposed ordinance, which would carry a $100 fine, or up to 50 days in jail, or both.