Walk It Through: The Search Warrant
20 seconds at the door, 10 days to use it, and a copy and a return left behind.
Officers come to a house early one morning with a search warrant.
Two things a person in this spot might do. Picking one shows what the law says about it.
One house and one bag. The drug charge itself, no knock approval, and a search without a warrant are not worked through here.
A practice walkthrough, not a prediction of how any real one will go. Legal information, not legal advice.
Words this turns on
Terms with a legal meaning that is narrower than the everyday one. Each links to the definition and the authority behind it.
- Search warrantA judge's warrant issued on a sworn application establishing probable cause. The search has to be made within 10 calendar days after it is issued.
- No knock warrantA warrant to enter without announcing, which needs written approval from a police supervisor and the State's Attorney and a showing that announcing would endanger lives, executed between 8:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. absent exigent circumstances.