TITLE SIX — SUPPLEMENTARY PROCEEDINGS; SPECIAL PROCEEDINGS; SUPPLEMENTARY RULES
Rule 44. Search Warrants
Authority to Issue. A search warrant authorized by law may be issued by any state judge, in a court having jurisdiction where the place, vehicle, or thing to be searched may be, as 6 R. Stat. § 131.009 provides. “State judge” means any supreme court justice, visiting justice, superior court judge, or magistrate judge, as 6 R. Stat. § 111.018 provides. No clerk, and no other officer of the court, may issue a search warrant, and no search warrant issues by operation of the electronic filing system.
Grounds. Upon proper affidavit being made by a law enforcement officer or a prosecutor, a search warrant may be issued upon any of the following grounds, as 6 R. Stat. § 131.010 provides:
When the property shall have been stolen or embezzled in violation of state law;
When any property shall have been used as a means to commit any crime;
When any property constitutes evidence relevant to proving that a felony has been committed; or
When any property is being held or possessed in violation of any fish and game laws, firearms laws, or substance law.
No search warrant shall issue except upon oath or affirmation first made, affording sufficient foundation for it, and describing particularly the place to be searched and the person or thing to be seized, as Const. art. I § 8 requires. A warrant which commands a search of a suspected place, or the seizure of a person or of property, not particularly described, shall not be granted.
Issuance of Process.
How Filed. A prosecutor, criminal investigator, or law enforcement officer seeking a search warrant shall appear before a court or justice authorized to issue search warrants in criminal cases and shall give an affidavit before the court. Such an affidavit shall contain the facts, information, and circumstances upon which such person relies to establish sufficient grounds for the issuance of the warrant. The prosecutor, criminal investigator, or law enforcement officer may complete the appearance requirement through filing their search warrant application through the designated search warrant channels, or through physical appearance before the court.
Sworn and Subscribed. Prior to the issuance of a search warrant the judge must acquire the application of a law enforcement officer or prosecutor for the warrant, having been duly sworn to and subscribed. The application shall be accompanied by an affidavit, supported by oath or affirmation, particularly describing the place to be searched and the person or thing to be seized, as 6 R. Stat. § 131.011 provides.
Contents of the Application. The application and the affidavit supporting it shall state:
The username of the person whose property or person is to be searched, or, if the username is unknown, any name or description by which the person can be identified with reasonable certainty; and where the search is of a place or vehicle not associated with a named person, a description of that place or vehicle sufficient to identify it with reasonable certainty;
The offense or offenses to which the property sought relates, by name;
The ground under subdivision (2) upon which the warrant is sought;
The property or items to be seized, described particularly;
The place, vehicle, person, or thing to be searched, described particularly;
The facts establishing probable cause, the time at which each was observed or learned, and the basis of the affiant’s knowledge;
Where the affiant relies upon information from another person, the basis of that person’s knowledge and the facts from which the affiant concludes that the person is reliable; and
Where the place to be searched is a private dwelling, the ground under subdivision (6) relied upon.
Duty of Candor. An affiant shall disclose every material fact known to the affiant which bears upon the existence of probable cause, including facts tending to negate it. A knowing or reckless false statement, and a knowing or reckless omission of a material fact, is a ground to controvert the warrant under subdivision (14) and is punishable as perjury.
Additional Testimony. The judge may require the applicant, or any other person, to give further sworn testimony in support of the application. Such testimony shall be recorded and shall become part of the application.
Channel; No Clerk Review. An application for a search warrant is made through the warrants workflow of the electronic filing system, by a law enforcement officer or a state attorney, and not through the general filing channel, which is closed to a matter of this type. An application for a search warrant is decided by a judge. The clerk has no authority to accept or reject a filing in a search warrant matter, and no filing in such a matter is subject to clerk review.
Denial; Renewal. The judge may deny an application without prejudice. An application which has been denied shall not be presented to another judge except upon a showing of facts not contained in the application denied, and the renewed application shall disclose the prior application, the judge to whom it was made, and the disposition of it.
No Blank Warrant. No search warrant shall be issued in blank, authorizing law enforcement to search and seize without specification of the place or item to be searched or seized, as 6 R. Stat. § 131.012 provides. A warrant which names an offense but does not particularly describe the place to be searched and the person or thing to be seized is void and confers no authority.
Issuance on Review. An authorized judge, upon review of the application, affidavits, and evidence submitted, if satisfied that probable cause exists for the issuing of the search warrant, shall issue a search warrant signed by him, to any sheriff, sheriff’s deputies, police officers, or other person authorized by law to execute process, commanding the law enforcement officer forthwith to search the property described in the warrant or the person named, for the property specified, and to bring the property and any person arrested in connection therewith before the judge or some other court having jurisdiction of the offense, as 6 R. Stat. § 131.013 provides. The judge shall record the finding of probable cause and the date and time of issuance in Coordinated Universal Time.
Private Dwelling. No search warrant upon a private dwelling shall issue unless, as 6 R. Stat. § 131.017 provides:
It is being used for the unlawful sale, possession, or manufacture of a prohibited substance;
Stolen or embezzled property is contained therein;
It is being used to perpetrate frauds and swindles;
A weapon, instrumentality, or means by which a felony has been committed, or evidence relevant to proving said felony has been committed, is contained therein; or
It is being used for the unlawful sale, possession, or purchase of animals and objects in violation of fish and game laws.
The application shall state which ground is relied upon, and the judge shall find and record that the ground exists before issuing the warrant. A warrant upon a private dwelling issued without such a finding is void.
Form.
Warrant. A search warrant issued pursuant to this rule shall be signed by the official issuing it and shall contain the username of the defendant or, if his username is unknown, any name or description by which he can be identified with reasonable certainty. The warrant shall command that the specified locations to be searched, authorize the detainment of the defendant for the purpose of the search, state the specified locations and objects to be searched, and note the items to be seized. It shall be affixed with the signature of the authorizing magistrate, judge, or justice.
Additional Contents. The warrant shall in addition state the date and time of issuance in Coordinated Universal Time, the offense or offenses to which the property sought relates, and the period within which the warrant is to be executed.
Place Not Associated with a Named Person. Where the search is of a place or vehicle not associated with a named person, the warrant shall describe that place or vehicle with particularity in place of a username.
Period of Execution. A search warrant commands a search forthwith. It shall be executed within twenty-four (24) hours of issuance, unless the issuing judge fixes a shorter period in the warrant. A warrant not executed within that period is void, and shall be returned unexecuted under subdivision (12).
In-Game Filing. When issuing a search warrant, a justice, judge, or magistrate shall place the warrant within the in-game warrants system. When posting this warrant, the court shall format their in-game search warrant in the following manner: “SEARCH ALL (PERSON/VEHICLES/RESIDENCE); OFFENSE_NAME; OFFENSE_NAME; SEIZE ITEM (FIREARMS / POLICE EQUIPMENT / AMMUNITION / SPECIFIC_ITEM)”
Contemporaneous Entry. The in-game entry shall be made at the time the warrant is signed.
The Written Warrant Governs. The in-game entry is notice to law enforcement of the existence and scope of the warrant. It does not enlarge the authority conferred by the signed written warrant. Where the entry and the warrant differ, the warrant governs and the narrower description controls.
Removal. The entry shall be removed upon execution and return of the warrant, upon the expiry of the period of execution, or upon the cancellation or quashing of the warrant.
Service or Execution.
By Whom. A search warrant may be served by a law enforcement officer actively in service within the Ridgeway County Sheriff’s Office Special Response Team, or a law enforcement officer actively in service within the Ridgeway State Police Tactical Support Unit. A law enforcement officer actively in service within the Palmer Police Department Tactical Response Unit may serve a search warrant when the subject to such warrant may be found within the jurisdiction of such agency, or when such subject of the warrant exits the jurisdiction of such agency while engaged in hot pursuit.
Assignment to Warrant Service. The units named in subdivision (9)(a) are the peace officers assigned to warrant service within the meaning of 6 R. Stat. § 131.014, which requires that a search warrant be in all cases served and executed by a peace officer of the Ridgeway State Police or of a sheriff’s office assigned to warrant service. An officer not so assigned shall not execute a search warrant, and a search conducted by such an officer is not conducted under the authority of the warrant.
Copy and Inventory Left. The peace officers responsible for the execution of the search warrant shall ensure that a copy of the warrant and the inventory is left with the owner of the searched premises, as 6 R. Stat. § 131.014 provides. Where the owner is not present, the copy and inventory shall be left in a conspicuous place at the premises searched, and the fact shall be recorded on the return.
Announcement. Before entering a private dwelling, an officer executing a warrant shall announce the officer’s authority and purpose and afford an opportunity to admit the officer, unless the officer reasonably believes that announcement would endanger any person or would result in the destruction of the property sought. Where announcement is dispensed with, the officer shall state the reason on the return.
Scope of the Search. The search shall be confined to the places, vehicles, persons, and things described in the warrant, and within those, to the places in which the property described may reasonably be found. The search shall cease when the property described has been found and seized, unless the warrant describes further property not yet found.
Seizure. The officer may seize the property described in the warrant, and may seize contraband and instrumentalities or evidence of crime discovered in plain view in the course of a lawful search under the warrant. Property not described in the warrant and not so discovered shall not be seized under the authority of the warrant.
Persons Present. A warrant to search a place does not authorize the search of the person of an individual present who is not named in the warrant. Such a person may be detained as subdivision (10) provides, and may be searched only upon a lawful arrest, as 6 R. Stat. § 131.007 provides, or upon independent lawful grounds.
Detention for Execution of Search. A person subject to a search warrant may be held in detention where law enforcement awaits the execution of a search warrant for up to twenty (20) minutes, and may be held in detention for an indeterminate amount of time while law enforcement executes a search warrant in good faith, as 6 R. Stat. § 131.015 provides.
Termination. Detention under this subdivision shall cease upon the completion of the search or upon the expiration of the period of execution fixed by subdivision (7)(d), whichever is earlier.
Not an Arrest. Detention under this subdivision is not an arrest, does not commence the pre-trial detention period under 6 R. Stat. § 131.203, and does not authorize a search of the person of the detainee.
Record. The time at which the detention began, the time at which it ended, and the times at which the execution of the search began and ended, all in Coordinated Universal Time, shall be recorded on the return.
Clearing Warrant. An executed search warrant can be marked as complete by an authorized law enforcement officer through the use of the “SEARCH WARRANT EXECUTED ON” command in the Dispatch radio channel. The clearing of a warrant does not discharge the duty to make a return under subdivision (12), and the time of clearing shall be recorded on the return.
Return and Inventory.
Return. The law enforcement officer responsible for the execution of the search warrant shall return the search warrant to the court within a timely manner, providing the court with information on seized contraband. The return shall be made not later than twenty-four (24) hours after the execution of the warrant or after the warrant became void, whichever is earlier, and shall be filed through the warrants workflow.
Inventory. Upon the return of a search warrant, the officer shall attach a true inventory of the property taken under the warrant, and shall swear the same by affidavit taken before another officer authorized to administer oaths, or before the issuing officer, as 6 R. Stat. § 131.016 provides. The affidavit shall state: “I, [Law Enforcement Officer], the officer by whom the warrant was executed, do swear that the above inventory contains a true and detailed account of all the property taken by me on said warrant.”
Contents of the Return. The return shall in addition state the date and time of execution in Coordinated Universal Time, the officer’s username and unit, the persons detained and the periods of their detention, whether announcement was made and if not the reason, and whether and where a copy of the warrant and the inventory were left.
Warrant Unexecuted. A warrant which was not executed shall be returned unexecuted, with a statement of the efforts made to execute it. At the request of a prosecutor, or upon the court’s own motion, an unexecuted warrant may be cancelled by the issuing court, and the in-game entry shall be removed.
Property Seized.
Custody. Property seized under a warrant is held subject to the order of the court. The agency holding it shall preserve it and shall maintain a record of its custody as Rid. R. Evid. 1109 provides.
Return of Property. A person aggrieved by the seizure of property which is not subject to forfeiture and is not required as evidence may move for its return. Where a criminal case is pending, the motion shall be filed in that case. Where no criminal case is pending, the general filing channel being closed to a search warrant matter, the person aggrieved may seek relief by civil action under the Ridgeway Rules of Civil Procedure.
Disposition. The court may order property returned, retained, or otherwise disposed of as law provides, and shall state the terms upon which it is returned.
Motion to Controvert.
Grounds. A defendant aggrieved by a search conducted under a warrant, or by the seizure of property under a warrant, may move to controvert the warrant upon any of the following grounds:
The warrant was issued by a person without authority under subdivision (1);
The warrant was issued without probable cause, or upon a ground not authorized by subdivision (2);
The application was not sworn to and subscribed as subdivision (3)(b) requires;
The warrant was issued in blank, or fails to describe with particularity the place to be searched or the person or thing to be seized;
The warrant was upon a private dwelling and no ground under subdivision (6) existed or was found;
The affidavit contains a statement which the affiant made knowing it to be false or in reckless disregard of its truth, or omits a material fact known to the affiant, and probable cause fails when the false statement is set aside or the omitted fact supplied;
The warrant was executed by a person not authorized by subdivision (9);
The warrant was executed after it became void; or
The execution exceeded the scope of the warrant.
How Made. The motion shall be made as Rule 13 provides for a pretrial motion, shall be filed within the time prescribed by Rule 13(d), shall state the grounds with particularity, shall be supported by an affidavit as Rule 13(a)(2) requires, and shall be accompanied by a memorandum of law as Rule 13(a)(4) requires, the search not having been warrantless.
Disclosure. Upon the filing of a motion to controvert, the prosecution shall furnish to the defendant the warrant, the application, every affidavit and record of sworn testimony supporting it, the inventory, and the return. The court may excise from the material furnished the identity of a confidential informant and may examine the unexcised material in camera to determine the sufficiency of the excision.
Determination. The sufficiency of the warrant and of the showing of probable cause is determined upon the application, the affidavits, and the sworn testimony before the issuing judge. The court shall hold an evidentiary hearing where the motion is made upon subdivision (14)(a)(vi) and the supporting affidavit makes a substantial preliminary showing of a knowing or reckless falsehood or omission material to probable cause, or where the motion is made upon subdivision (14)(a)(vii), (viii), or (ix).
Burden. Where the search was conducted under a facially valid warrant, the defendant bears the burden of establishing the ground asserted. Where the search was warrantless, the State bears the burden of establishing its lawfulness.
Partial Invalidity. Where a warrant is invalid only as to a portion of the property described or the places to be searched, the court may sustain the warrant as to the remainder and suppress only the fruits of the invalid portion.
Confidentiality. A search warrant matter is a sealed matter. Its existence, its documents, and the identity of its subject are withheld from the public docket and from the event feed of the electronic filing system. The public record of such a matter is the register of executed warrants. The warrant, application, affidavits, inventory, and return are disclosed to a defendant through discovery in the criminal case under Rule 14 and subdivision (14)(c) of this rule, and not by inspection of the public docket. Disclosure by a participant otherwise than as these rules permit is punishable as contempt under Rule 43.