Section 7.19 Search Warrants

• Library: Local Government Deskbook (2017 Ed.)

B. (§7.19) Search Warrants

In Camara v. Municipal Court of City & County of San Francisco, 387 U.S. 523 (1967), and See v. City of Seattle, 387 U.S. 541 (1967), the Supreme Court held that, absent an owner’s or occupant’s consent, code inspections are impermissible under the Fourth Amendment without a judicially authorized search warrant unless an exception to the warrant requirement applies.

Examples of exceptions to the warrant requirement include the following:

· Inspections conducted from a public vantage point do not require a warrant. “What is observable by the public is observable, without a warrant, by the Government inspector as well .” Marshall v. Barlow’s, Inc., 436 U.S. 307, 315 (1978); City of Independence, Mo. v. Cady, 349 S.W.3d 419 (Mo. App. W.D. 2011).

· In

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