Reading a Search Warrant
RSA 595-A:2 — the place and the things described, and notice before entry but for a no-knock warrant
A search warrant designates or describes the person, building, vessel or vehicle to be searched, and particularly describes the property to be searched for. It commands a search in the daytime, or at night if the warrant says so.
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It may be issued to search for and seize property that was stolen or fraudulently obtained, property used or meant as the means of committing a crime, contraband, or evidence of the crime the probable cause relates to.
Knock and announce. An officer executing a warrant is recognizable as one and, before entering, gives notice of their identity, authority and purpose that the occupants can reasonably be expected to hear. Evidence found in a search that broke this rule is not admitted for the state, except under a no-knock warrant.
A no-knock warrant may be granted where knocking would create an imminent threat of physical injury, with written approval from the chief law enforcement officer first, or in an exceptional case with approval from the county attorney or attorney general as well.
The officer taking property gives the person a copy of the warrant and a receipt, or leaves them where the property was taken, and returns the warrant promptly with a written inventory.
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.
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.
Sources for this section (7)
- RSA 595-A:1 — Issuance of Search Warrants; Purposes
- RSA 595-A:2 — Requisites of Warrant
- RSA 595-A:5 — Receipt, Inventory, and Return
- Wilson v. Arkansas, 514 U.S. 927 (1995) — Knocking and announcing is part of whether an entry is reasonable
- 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 New Hampshire attorney.