A Polk County district court judge ruled Monday a law allowing Iowans’ garbage cans to be searched by police without a warrant is unconstitutional.
The Iowa Supreme Court in 2021 banned police from searching trash left outside people’s homes without a warrant, ruling that the practice violated the Iowa Constitution’s protections against improper search and seizure.
In 2022, the Iowa Legislature passed a law seeking to overturn that ruling. The law says police officers may search garbage that is put outside for collection in a publicly accessible area without getting a search warrant.
In a ruling issued Monday, Polk County Judge Michael Huppert wrote state lawmakers “overstepped” their authority by going against the Iowa Supreme Court’s interpretation of the Iowa Constitution. He wrote the law allowing warrantless garbage searches is void.
Huppert’s ruling came as part of a criminal case in which two defendants were charged with possession of marijuana with intent to deliver.
A police officer used evidence found in their garbage to obtain a search warrant for the house, where law enforcement officers said they found marijuana and drug paraphernalia.
Huppert ruled evidence found in the garbage and in the defendants’ home cannot be used in a trial.
Polk County Attorney’s Office spokesperson Lynn Hicks said they are reviewing the ruling and will discuss the possibility of an appeal with the Iowa attorney general’s office.
The Iowa Association for Justice, which represents trial lawyers, opposed the law’s passage in 2022.
“Judge Huppert’s ruling was inevitable, it is not the legislature’s job to interpret the Constitution,” IAJ Executive Director Andrew Mertens said in a statement. “What’s ironic is that the proponents of warrantless searches of our private property actually hurt their cause by passing this unconstitutional bill in 2022.”
Mertens said the Iowa Supreme Court, with one new justice appointed since 2021, would have likely had a chance to revisit the issue without action from the legislature.
“Now, the Supreme Court will be considering their own precedent in the Wright ruling against the backdrop of an overstepping legislature who brazenly attempted to override the constitution with a statute,” he said.
The leader of the Iowa Police Chiefs Association, which supported the law, did not immediately return a request for comment Tuesday.
