Reading a Search Warrant
11 Del. C. § 2308 — sworn facts, things described particularly, a receipt, and no night search of a home without express authority
The application for a search warrant is in writing, signed and sworn. It designates the place, conveyance or person to be searched, describes what is sought as particularly as may be, and recites the facts on which the suspicion is founded.
If the judge or magistrate finds those facts are probable cause, the warrant issues, designating the place to be searched and describing the things sought as particularly as possible.
Not at night, in a home. A warrant does not authorize searching a dwelling house between 10:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. unless the judge is satisfied it is necessary to prevent escape or removal, and then the authority is expressly given in the warrant.
The officer taking property gives the person a copy of the warrant and a receipt, or leaves them at the place. The written inventory is made in the person's presence if the person is there, or otherwise before at least 1 witness.
A warrant can reach instruments or evidence of a crime, property obtained in one, things unlawful to possess, and persons named in an arrest warrant.
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.
Whether a particular search met the law is a question for a licensed Delaware attorney.
Sources for this section (5)
- 11 Del. C. § 2306 — Application or complaint for search warrant
- 11 Del. C. § 2307 — Issuance; contents; execution and return of search warrants
- 11 Del. C. § 2308 — Search at nighttime
- 11 Del. C. § 2305 — Objects of search warrant
- 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 Delaware attorney.