DES MOINES – A law passed this year in Iowa designating your trash left outside as abandoned property and not constitutionally protected has been ruled unconstitutional by a judge.
Iowa Code 808.16, enacted by the Iowa Legislature in 2022 and larter signed into law by Governor Kim Reynolds, states:
Section 808.16 – Exception to search warrant requirement – garbage searches
1. It is the public policy of this state that a person has no reasonable expectation of privacy in garbage placed outside of the person’s residence for waste collection in a publicly accessible area.
2. A city or county shall only adopt an ordinance or a regulation concerning waste management and sanitation for the purposes of promoting public health and cleanliness. An ordinance or a regulation adopted by a city or county shall not be construed by a person to create a reasonable expectation of privacy in garbage placed outside of the person’s residence for waste collection in a publicly accessible area.
3. Garbage placed outside of a person’s residence for waste collection in a publicly accessible area shall be deemed abandoned property and shall not be considered to be constitutionally protected papers or effects of the person.
4. A peace officer may conduct a search and may seize garbage placed outside of a person’s residence for waste collection in a publicly accessible area without making an application for a search warrant.
However, a judge in Polk county ruled the law unconstitutional this week. The Iowa Supreme Court may hear the case next.
just another “tie the officers hands” deal. must be a druggy judge
Maybe it is just making sure the police don’t overstep the rules set down in the Constitution.
you must be a doper too
Nope. Just someone who values the rights the Constitution allows us.