Also known as: warrant requirement · probable cause requirement · warrant and probable cause requirement · Fourth Amendment warrant requirement · warrant preference
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A constitutional command requiring that searches and seizures be authorized by a warrant issued upon probable cause and describing the place and items with particularity. Limited exceptions exist when special needs or administrative routines render the warrant process impracticable.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Wesley Wells was arrested for trespass and taken to the stationhouse. Officers followed standard booking procedures and opened his backpack, discovering illegal drugs inside a sealed envelope. The drugs are admissible because the inventory search of an arrestee's belongings is a recognized exception to the warrant requirement.
Warren Wu, owner of Wrightway Engineering, refused entry to an OSHA inspector who arrived without a warrant to check for safety violations. The inspector left and obtained an administrative warrant based on a neutral inspection schedule. The warrant satisfied the probable cause requirement even though it lacked individualized suspicion of wrongdoing.
Wade Watson refused to allow city inspectors into his apartment to check for code violations without a warrant. The inspectors obtained an administrative warrant supported by a general area inspection plan rather than specific evidence of violations. The warrant met the probable cause standard applicable to administrative searches of residences.
Willa Whitman, a train engineer employed by Walker Valley Produce, was required to submit to a drug test after a minor derailment under company policy. The test was conducted without individualized suspicion or a warrant. The special needs of the regulated rail industry justified the warrantless testing as reasonable under the Fourth Amendment.
Wren Wallace was stopped after officers received a tip that stolen tools were in a blue duffel bag in her truck. Officers had probable cause to believe the tools were in the vehicle and searched the duffel along with other compartments without a warrant. The automobile exception permitted the search of the container and the rest of the truck.
Wesley Wong, a public hospital employee, kept personal files in a locked desk drawer. His supervisor searched the drawer without a warrant after receiving complaints about misconduct. The search was reasonable because public employers may conduct work-related searches of employee offices without a warrant when justified by legitimate workplace needs.
Police may open containers found in an arrestee's belongings during a valid inventory search conducted pursuant to standard procedures. The purpose is to protect property and shield officers from claims of loss, not to investigate crime. Opening a sealed envelope during such an inventory is permissible.
Supporting sources
Yes. Business owners enjoy Fourth Amendment protection against warrantless entries by regulatory inspectors. An administrative warrant based on a neutral inspection plan satisfies the probable cause requirement even without individualized suspicion.
…186. Such an approach neither endangers time-honored doctrines applicable to criminal investigations nor makes a nullity of the probable cause requirement in this area. It merely gives full recognition to the competing public and private interests here at stake and, in so doing, best fulfills the historic purpose behind the constitutional…
…the school setting requires some easing of the restrictions to which searches by public authorities are ordinarily subject. The warrant requirement
…laws or breaches of other statutory or regulatory standards. It therefore appears that unless some recognized exception to the warrant requirement
…that “[a]gainst these privacy interests . . . must be balanced the realities of the workplace, which strongly suggest that a
Supporting sources
Administrative warrants for code enforcement require a showing that satisfies a flexible probable cause standard based on the overall inspection program rather than specific evidence of violations in a particular home.
Supporting sources
A public employer may search an employee's office without a warrant when the search is work-related and justified by legitimate employer interests such as investigating misconduct. The reasonableness of the search is evaluated under a balancing test rather than the traditional warrant requirement.
Yes. When officers have probable cause to believe contraband is in a vehicle, the automobile exception permits a warrantless search of the vehicle and any containers that might reasonably contain the object of the search.
Supporting sources