When Police Come to the House
17-A M.R.S. § 15 — a domestic call, and an arrest without a warrant on probable cause
On a call to a house, an officer may arrest without a warrant, on probable cause alone, for assault, criminal threatening, terrorizing, stalking, criminal mischief, obstructing the report of a crime or reckless conduct, when the officer reasonably believes the two people are family or household members or dating partners. The same goes for any of the domestic violence crimes by name.
Who handles this in Maine: legal aid programs and the state offices, listed in the Maine directory.
A protection order. An arrest for violating a protection order may be made without a warrant on probable cause, whether or not the officer saw it, and the officer may confirm the order by phone or radio.
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)
- 17-A M.R.S. § 15 — Warrantless arrests by a law enforcement officer
- 19-A M.R.S. § 4113 — Violation
- 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 Maine attorney.