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I was talking to some fellow landmen at lunch today and one of them said that a Texas Ranger and a Park and Wildlife ranger are two peace officers that can enter your home without cause and without a warrant???!!!

How do they get around the illegal search and siezure clause in the Texas state Constitution?

Is this incorrect or is it possible for Walker to storm in my house and get a bullet in his chest?

Doug.38PR wrote:How do they get around the illegal search and siezure clause in the Texas state Constitution?

well, I reckon they'd be duckin' and dodgin', cause there'd be lead just a-flyin' if they entered somebody's domicile without a warrant!

Doug.38PR wrote:I was talking to some fellow landmen at lunch today and one of them said that a Texas Ranger and a Park and Wildlife ranger are two peace officers that can enter your home without cause and without a warrant???!!!

How do they get around the illegal search and siezure clause in the Texas state Constitution?

Is this incorrect or is it possible for Walker to storm in my house and get a bullet in his chest?

The only person I know of that can enter your property or house without a warrant is a Texas Game warden. Now if I am wrong someone will surely put me in my place, but I Know of no other in the state of texas who doesn't need a warrant. There are restrictions and certain conditions must be met.

Game Wardens are pretty powerful in this state and you can find out just how powerful by getting caught with illegal game. They are not to be messed with. You can read the following article.
http://www.countryworldnews.com/Editori ... rites.html

Rural Rites: Texas game wardens’ authority spelled out

By KARI KRAMER | East Texas Edition

Oct. 27, 2005 - With fall firearms white-tail deer season fast approaching, landowners may begin seeing unfamiliar faces in the area, among those will be the Texas game wardens.

Texas game wardens work for the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD throughout the year, but attempt to become more visible during major hunting seasons in order to curb violations in the state.

TPWD employs more than 500 law enforcement specialists throughout the state. These figures carry a great deal of authority and responsibility. They enforce all areas of the TPWD code, regulations, Texas Penal Code and several specific regulations that relate to the environment.

In 2004, Texas game wardens became federally commissioned. According to TPWD, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service agreed to provide training to TPWD game wardens about federal laws and their enforcement. Texas game wardens then had the authority to make arrests and seizures in federal wildlife violations. In return, TPWD offered training to federal agents and provided them with jurisdiction within the state of Texas.

The State of Texas provides a spectrum of authority to the state’s game wardens. Game wardens, for scientific and investigative purposes, can take wildlife into their possession. They may also seize any pelts and living or dead aquatic life they suspect has been taken in violation of TPWD codes.

In addition, if a game warden believes a person has violated any statute, code, or regulation under his or her authority, he or she is authorized to inspect any license, permit, or tag issued by TPWD, any device used to hunt or trap wildlife, and the contents of containers that are capable of storing wildlife and wildlife resources. Furthermore, under Chapter 12 of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Code, game wardens may inspect any wildlife resource that is in plain view of a peace officer. Anyone over the age of 17, engaging in activities under the jurisdiction of TPWD (such as hunting or fishing) should, at all times, have a driver’s license or state issued identification card in their possession for review.

TPWD law enforcement officials may also seize any equipment believed to have been involved in the unlawful taking of fish or wildlife. According to the state code, if a person is found guilty of allegations brought against them, the seized items will be auctioned by TPWD and the funds received will be deposited in an appropriate state account. In addition, seized aquatic equipment can be donated to institutions of learning for the purpose of education.

Game wardens can perform seizures and inspections in a person’s home, temporary residence (such as tents, hotel rooms, and campers), on roadways, and public property.

Property owners should be aware that in most cases, a game warden can enter private property. In Chapter 12 section 103, the code states, “An authorized employee of the department may enter on any land or water where wild game or fish are known to range or stray. No action may be sustained against an employee of the department to prevent his entering on land or water when acting in his official capacity.�

However, the code established, if a game warden enters privately-owned land and obtains information, without the written consent of a landowner, that information must be carefully protected. The information that is not directly relevant to any current investigation or research cannot be utilized for additional purposes or entered into a database accessible or maintained by anyone other than the investigating game warden. If this information is disseminated without the landowner’s written consent, the landowner make seek civil damages of $1,000 from the department in the county of residence or in the county the land is located, should they differ.

To view the chapters and contents of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Code, visit:

http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/statutes/pw.toc.htm. To locate your local game warden office and phone number visit:

http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/warden/find ... ndex.phtml. TPWD’s general phone number is 1-800-792-1112.

If a property owner suspects illegal taking of game on their property, they should contact Operation Game Thief, a division of TPWD. Their number is 1-800-792-GAME (4263).

Good post! Thank you for the article.

I guess this is a good reminder that we should identify our targets!

It might be a bad plan to start shooting at a Game Warden legally entering your home. I am sure that most if not all Texas Game Wardens will knock and be civil with their demand for search. I live on the coast and find that they are pretty good folks for the most part and enjoy their job. I have been interviewed by MANY of them and never had any problem. YMMV
Jason

don't figure those of us that live in the city have to worry too much about Game Wardens
it did say where Game and Wildlife range and roam and what-have-ya. and they have to believe you're doing illegal stuff.
only wild stuff 'roun hurr, is mah two "bengal tigers" that have a tendency to scratch at mah shoe laces!!

Yes, but if the GW enters your domicile, he has to walk right past the drugs, explosives, and guns as his authority only extended to the Freezer and the Fridge. Woe be to the homeowner that has meat in there that can't be legally explained. Outside of that, he is not allowed to mention what else he has observed. (would never want to test this though)

Also, the GW is the only authority that has ever given the President a citation. Some brave (Stupid?) GW pulled over Teddy Roosevelt's motorcade, and gave the Prez a ticket for shooting a doe illegally.
Yeah, and he had a good job after that incident. HA!

~Bill (fount of Useless Obscure Trivia)

I hope that TexasInvestigator weighs in on this. But the way I read that section of the law, a Game Warden can enter your property, such as open fields, lakes, etc. , not your home. It says they can perform seizures and inspections in ones home, but I dare say if you don't grant them permission they would have to get a search warrant. There is no law enforcement officer that is above the US Constitution and Bill of Rights.

The problem here is old rumors, combined with a conflict in laws.

Texas Rangers, as part of DPS, have no more or less search authority than any other peace officer in the state (as already discussed in another thread).

There is no specific authority for a game warden over any other peace officer to enter on your property without permission or a warrant. There is a law, Parks and Wildlife Code Section 12.103, that allows TPWD personnel to enter onto your land, but not in your home, for game research reasons, but they cannot use any information for any other reason (such as criminal procedures).

Section 12.104 gives Game wardens authority to enter a vehicle, vessel, game bag, or other receptacle to search for evidence of poaching. It does not allow them to enter on private property to do so. They must also have reasonable, articulable suspicion for this action.

There are many rumors and old wives tales based on these two laws that allow game wardens super search powers. This is not true, as can be seen from reading the laws.

http://tlo2.tlc.state.tx.us/statutes/do ... #12.103.00

Scroll down for the next section.

But, even more important, is the fact that these laws are state laws. As Texas is part of the United States, it must also obey the US Constitution. The 14th Amendment has been interpreted to include the state as restricted by the 4th Amendment (can't wait to see the 2nd included that way). The 4th Amendment says that no person can be searched without a warrant based on probable cause. There have been some exceptions made for exigent circumstances (emergencies where there is no time to get a warrant), but there is still a requirement for probable cause to do anything.

On the scale used by police and the courts, probable cause is more than reasonable suspicion. So, the Texas law would be immediately overturned if someone tried to rely on it and the case was fought up to the federal court level. I have no idea why it has not been fought, or if it has, why it is still written that way (I note that we still have a law against homosexuality even though the SCOTUS has declared it specifically unconstitutional).

As a side note on this issue, there was a drug case fought in the 80's that would apply to this issue. In this case, two narcotics officers entered onto a farm with woodland. (In federal law, there is an exception to the warrant law known as the open fields exception. This says that a warrant is not needed if you are in an open field since there is no reasonable expectation of privacy in an open field.) While in the field, they approached an old barn on the property. They could smell the odor of a meth lab in the barn. They left the area, used the presence of the odor as probable cause, and got a search warrant for the barn for drugs. The search was positive and they arrested the land owner who was in the barn cooking up the meth.

The problem they had was that the land had a fence around it. Texas law specifically says that crossing a fence line is criminal trespass, a crime. The fence does not have to be big or marked in any way. It merely has to be designed to keep animals in or people out (which could make for an interesting case if you are using one of the buried electric fences to keep a dog in by shock collar.) The case was thrown out by the Court of Criminal Appeals (Texas' highest court for criminal cases) because the officers had broken the law. The ruling specifically noted that there is no exception in the criminal trespass law for police officers.

Based on this ruling, I would think it is pretty clear that there could be no Texas law on Game Wardens entering property for searches. As a matter of fact, given the updates in the trespass law, they may not even be able to enter your vehicle or vessel anymore.

I do not recommend, and am not, recommending being a test case on this law, especially based on my interpretation. I do not currently have access to a good law library to research the case law and I am not an expert on the Parks and Wildlife Code, meaning I may have missed something in it.

I am sorry for the long read, but I do believe in letting people know what their rights are and search and seizure law is a field I really try to keep up in. Speaking of which, look at the case in front of SCOTUS now on chases. That is a 4th Amendment search and seizure case, believe it or not. Going to get interesting I think.

srothstein is right. (as always!)

A game warden or any other LEO must have either a warrant to enter a residence or a valid exception to the search warrant requirement.

Being a "game warden" is not an exception to the 4th ammendment.

The folklore that "Texas Game Wardens can search anything, anyone, anywhere" is widespread and ingrained. Not just among sportsmen, but also in the ranks of LEOs, even TP&WD. I'd be interested in the outcome of any court cases that have arisen from challenges to Game Warden searches.

For anyone encountering a pushy Warden, remember the key phase: "I do not give consent to a search. Am I free to go, or am I under arrest?"

Kevin

Quote: "The problem here is old rumors, ... "

Hunter ed. instructor here. Glad to see some of the same things here that some game warden guest speakers and I have been dispelling for the past decade - to a few people at a time. Yes, over the years, there may have been some who overstepped their bounds, but in today's environment, the myths do need to go.

Checking a stringer or live well on a boat, looking over licenses, verifying a deer tag, etc., are areas in which game wardens have a lot of power.

But when someone claims that a public official can simply invade your home without warrant, without close pursuit, without probable cause (e.g., something like a crime in progress visible through an open window) to check your freezer or something, I challenge them to either cite the law or provide an example.

Usually the best they can come up with is "My shooting buddy's former gunsmith's girlfriend's third cousin talked to a guy whose brother in law's next door neighbor's co-workers wife's best friend's niece said she heard from her teacher that . . . "

jbirds1210 wrote:Good post! Thank you for the article.

I guess this is a good reminder that we should identify our targets!

It might be a bad plan to start shooting at a Game Warden legally entering your home. I am sure that most if not all Texas Game Wardens will knock and be civil with their demand for search. I live on the coast and find that they are pretty good folks for the most part and enjoy their job. I have been interviewed by MANY of them and never had any problem. YMMV
Jason

I agree...Local Game Wardens are usually fairly well known, and don't make a habit of hacking off their nieghbors...

I've only run into the one up near our property a couple of times, and he's usually been a plethra of information about "stuff"...

He's there to protect our land, and anyone outside our circle that he doesn't know would probably get a friendly visit, and we'd hear about it from him later...

As for the other issue...I am at a loss...The odds are slim to none I'll ever have to experience something like that...

They can just shoot ya if they think you needed killin' too

I have met a lot of game wardens (I duck hunt) and I can't ever remember one that wasn't professional and (gasp) friendly.

I haven't ever had one show up at the house, go to my freezer, take out some meat, and do a CSI instant field DNA and time of death test to determine if I killed a canvasback out of season.

http://www.usdoj.gov/osg/briefs/1982/sg820050.txt

I found this but since I am not a lawyer I was wondering what the outcome was. It is very interesting reading but I have no knowledge of the legal speak. Any thoughts or opinions on this?