Legal Question in Criminal Law in Iowa

police obtained a search warrant for my residence the judge signed the warrant on july 14th, the police searched me on july 24th, i read that search warrants are valid for ten days, so if you count the 14th then the 24th would be the 11th day, is this search warrant still valid?


Asked on 7/24/09, 6:15 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys

Robert Luedeman solo practitioner

You're correct about the 10 day requirement, but I think that your method of counting is wrong. Assuming that the warrant was signed on July 14, the first calendar day would be complete on July 15, and the 24th would be the 10th calendar day, not the 11th.

Here's the code section.

808.8 RETURN.

A search warrant shall be executed within ten days from its date;

failure to execute within that period shall void the warrant.

Property seized and its containers, if any, shall be safely kept by

the officer, and incident thereto:

1. Upon such seizure the officer shall furnish an itemized

receipt for such property to the person from whom taken or in whose

possession it was found, if such person can be located, or a copy of

the inventory may be left on the premises searched.

2. The officer must file, with the officer's return, a complete

inventory of the property taken, and state under oath that it is

accurate to the best of the officer's knowledge. The magistrate must,

if requested, deliver a copy of the inventory of seized property to

the person from whose possession it was taken and to the applicant

for the warrant.

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Answered on 7/25/09, 12:03 am


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