S-0357.2                   _______________________________________________

 

                                                     SENATE BILL 5497

                              _______________________________________________

 

State of Washington                              53rd Legislature                             1993 Regular Session

 

By Senators Hargrove, Owen, Anderson, Loveland and Deccio

 

Read first time 02/01/93.  Referred to Committee on Law & Justice.

 

Limiting administrative searches.


          AN ACT Relating to administrative searches; and adding a new section to Title 4 RCW.

 

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

 

          NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1.  A new section is added to Title 4 RCW to read as follows:

          The person or agency applying for an administrative search warrant shall give notice of an application for a warrant to the owner and occupant of a residence or other place to be inspected at least twenty days before the warrant is issued.  The owner or occupant is entitled to a hearing before issuance of the warrant, if a hearing is requested.  The warrant must be limited in scope to that necessary to perform the inspection.  The warrant should be served during regular business hours if possible, but in no case may the warrant be served after 7:00 p.m.

          Without a warrant, an administrative search may only be conducted with the fully informed consent of the occupant.  The consent must be in writing to be valid.  As used in this section, "administrative search warrant" means a noncriminal warrant issued to do administrative inspections.

 


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