Reading A Search Warrant
Penal Code 1525 — probable cause, 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., and 10 days
In California a search warrant is a written order, in the name of the people and signed by a magistrate, directing a peace officer to search for a person, a thing or property. It issues only on probable cause, supported by affidavit, naming or describing the person to be searched and particularly describing the property and the place to be searched.
| What to look at | What the Penal Code says |
|---|---|
| What to look atWho signed it | What the Penal Code saysA magistrate, whose name and court appear at the foot of the form |
| What to look atWhat it describes | What the Penal Code saysThe person or place to be searched and the property sought, each with reasonable particularity |
| What to look atWhen it may be served | What the Penal Code saysOnly between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m., unless the magistrate wrote in that it may be served at any time of day or night |
| What to look atHow old it is | What the Penal Code saysIt must be executed within 10 days after it issues; after that, unless executed, it is void |
Officers give notice of their authority and purpose before breaking in. An officer may break open an outer or inner door or window of a house to execute the warrant if, after giving notice of the officer's authority and purpose, the officer is refused admittance.
An officer who takes property under a warrant gives a detailed receipt for it to the person it was taken from or in whose possession it was found, or, if no one is there, leaves the receipt where the property was found.
Getting into a phone takes a warrant, a wiretap order, or the owner's specific consent. Under the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, a government entity may access information on an electronic device by physical interaction or electronic communication with it only in the ways the section lists, among them a warrant, a wiretap order, or the specific consent of the device's authorized possessor.
A magistrate may authorize night service for good cause, and may consider the safety of officers and the public in doing so. Once a warrant is executed and returned, or 10 days pass, the court's records about it are open to the public. Tracking device warrants run on their own time limits.
Sources for this section (8)
- Penal Code 1525 — Probable cause and the supporting affidavit
- Penal Code 1533 — Serving a warrant at night
- Penal Code 1534 — The time within which a warrant is executed
- Penal Code 1523 — What a search warrant is
- Penal Code 1529 — The form of a search warrant
- Penal Code 1531 — Breaking in to execute a warrant after notice of authority and purpose
- Penal Code 1535 — The receipt for property taken
- Penal Code 1546.1 — Government access to electronic device and communication information
Legal information, not legal advice. Verified as of September 2026. Applying it to a particular situation is the work of a licensed California attorney.