When Police Are Called To A House
Idaho Code § 19-603 and Idaho Code § 19-611 — an arrest on a report of domestic violence, and a door opened after demand
On a report of domestic violence. Responding immediately to a report of a crime, an officer may arrest without a warrant on probable cause of assault, battery, domestic violence, stalking, or violating a protection order or no contact order.
To make an arrest, a peace officer may break open the door or window of a house where the person is, or is reasonably believed to be, after demanding admittance and explaining why it is wanted.
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.
Protection orders and no contact orders run under their own sections. Whether a particular entry was lawful is a question for a licensed Idaho attorney.
Sources for this section (5)
- Idaho Code § 19-603 — When peace officer may arrest
- Idaho Code § 19-611 — Breaking doors and windows
- 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
Legal information, not legal advice. Verified as of October 2026. Applying it to a particular situation is the work of a licensed Idaho attorney.