When Police Come to the House
AS 12.25.100 — an officer refused entry after announcing authority and purpose may break in to arrest
A peace officer may break into a building or a vessel where the person to be arrested is, or is believed to be, if the officer is refused entry after announcing the authority and the purpose of the entry.
Who handles this in Alaska: Alaska Bar Association Lawyer Referral Service; and legal aid programs and the state offices, listed in the Alaska directory.
- The property was stolen or embezzled.
- It was used to commit a crime.
- Someone holds it intending to use it in a crime, or is hiding it for someone who does.
- It is evidence of a particular crime, or tends to show a certain person committed one.
A search warrant may be issued if the judicial officer reasonably believes one of those things about the property it names.
The Fourth Amendment draws its firmest line at the entrance to a home, and the Supreme Court of the United States has held where it falls in situations police meet at a door. Absent consent or exigent circumstances, officers may not enter a home without a warrant to make a routine felony arrest. Where one occupant consents to a search of a shared home and another who is physically present expressly refuses, the search is unreasonable as to the one who refused. And officers may enter without a warrant when they have an objectively reasonable basis for believing someone inside is seriously injured or imminently threatened with such injury. Those holdings are a floor: a state's own constitution and statutes can give more protection than they do, never less.
How a warrant is served is also measured by the Fourth Amendment. The Supreme Court of the United States has held that whether officers knocked and announced their presence before entering is part of whether the entry was reasonable, and that the knock and announce principle forms part of that analysis rather than being a rigid rule without exceptions. Those holdings are a floor: a state's own constitution and statutes can give more protection than they do, never less.
Sources for this section (6)
- AS 12.25.100 — Breaking into building or vessel to effect arrest
- AS 12.35.020 — Grounds for issuance
- Payton v. New York, 445 U.S. 573 (1980) — Warrantless entry into a home to make a routine arrest is barred
- Georgia v. Randolph, 547 U.S. 103 (2006) — A present occupant's refusal defeats another occupant's consent
- Brigham City v. Stuart, 547 U.S. 398 (2006) — Police may enter to render emergency aid
- Wilson v. Arkansas, 514 U.S. 927 (1995) — Knocking and announcing is part of whether an entry is reasonable
Legal information, not legal advice. Verified as of October 2026. Applying it to a particular situation is the work of a licensed Alaska attorney.