Washington State Ruling Requires Police to Inform Resident of Right to Deny Entry

Police must inform residents of their rights before entering their home if they are invited in after requesting permission, preventing the circumvention a warrant requirement.

State v. Budd, 2016 BL 159792, Wash., No. 91529-6, 5/19/16.

    The Supreme Court of Washington reaffirms an earlier state decision that police conducting a “knock and talk” must give residents a warning of their rights to refuse entry or the scope of searches conducted by police before, not after, entering the home to establish the consent for entry. The court emphasized the necessity of the warnings because police knocking on your door is “inherently coercive,” even without a warrant. The ruling extended the requirement to not only the immediate area around the doorstep of a home, but also to the yard as well.

    Washington is one of the few jurisdictions in the country that require this type of warning. Utah, however, does not have similar requirements to provide a warning to establish consent when performing a “knock and talk” search. To the contrary, the lack of knowledge of the ability to refuse entry into a home by an officer does not establish involuntary entry. See State v. Fretheim, 358 P.3d 336 (2015 UT App 197). 

http://www.bloomberglaw.com/public/document/State_v_Budd_No_915296_2016_BL_159792_Wash_May_19_2016_Court_Opin