How to Write a Search Warrant Affidavit

Search warrants are essential elements of legal searches of individual property when police in the United States suspect criminal activity. Citizens are protected by the Fourth Amendment of the federal constitution, which protects "against unreasonable searches and seizures" and states that warrants allowing searches require "probable cause."

Instructions

Writing a Search Warrant Affidavit

1. Submit a search warrant affidavit in court to a judge. A law enforcement officer presents a search warrant affidavit to a court magistrate. The police must provide sufficiently specific and reasonable probable cause before a judge will grant a search warrant.

2. Verify law enforcement training and experience at the beginning of the probable cause statement. The Salt Lake City District Attorney's Office explains that the officer who writes a search warrant affidavit swears under oath that the information in the search warrant is true.

3. Finish a search warrant affidavit with a probable cause statement. According to the Salt Lake City District Attorney's Office, this is the most substantive part of the affidavit. The person requesting the warrant gives reasons for believing that a crime has taken place. The officer explains the nature of the evidence, and must establish a link between the location of the intended search and suspected criminal activity. Probable cause does not mean that a warrant will be issued just because a person is suspected of criminal behavior.

4. Write a probable cause statement succinctly, without complicated sentences. When referring to more than one person in a sentence, use proper names rather than pronouns such as "he" or "she." As in all professional writing, use proper spelling and grammar.

References

• Writing a Search Warrant Affidavit: The Basics
• The 'Lectric Law Library's Lexicon

Resources

• Read this Article in Spanish