Cheyenne, WY Administrative Warrants Nastygram

Cheyenne City Council proposed an ordinance that would allow the city to seek administrative warrants whenever property owners deny them access. The Institute for Justice sent a letter to the City Council asking it to reject the ordinance as it would violate the Wyoming Constitution.

Under the proposed ordinance, city officials could obtain warrants to force their way into Cheyenne homes and businesses. But unlike standard warrants, where a government official must justify the warrant with a specific reasons for the search, these are issued without any evidence or suspicion that a house or business contains evidence of crime or a code violation.

The Wyoming Constitution requires more: a warrant may issue only upon probable cause supported by a sworn affidavit setting out concrete facts showing that a particular property contains an existing code violation.

So-called “administrative” warrants are permission slips signed by judges that allow government officers to search private homes or businesses without first proving that there is reason to believe the property contains evidence of a crime or some other legal violation. Wyoming’s state constitution requires a fact-based, written “affidavit” before a judge can issue a warrant. This means that before Wyoming officials get a search warrant, they have to submit a written statement to a judge showing actual reason to believe there’s a violation of law at a home or business. Cheyenne’s proposed ordinance would sidestep this important constitutional requirement.