This is both political, and legal... so I am posting on the same topic in both places.
Be aware that you have no rights of privacy in the world of Conservation Officers.
It varies from state to state, and I am compiling a complete list of states in which Game Wardens can:
"34.
Examine, without a warrant as provided by law, any vehicle, creel, land or water conveyance, fish box, cooler, game bag
or any other place where evidence of a crime may be hidden or transported whenever there is reason to believe that a violation of state law has been committed."
They have the "right" to be on your private property, without warrant on suspicion of ANY crime. They have the right to inspect ANY container, regardless of it's location (for instance a freezer in your basement, whether or not that freezer exists).
This is not conspiracy theory. This is fact.
"
Search with or without Warrant
The laws in many U.S. states allow game wardens to conduct certain types of searches with or without search warrants. The law in
Louisiana for instance states in part "...any commissioned wildlife agent may visit, inspect, and examine, with or
without [a] search warrant, records, any cold storage plant, warehouse, boat, store, car, conveyance, automobile or other vehicle, airplane or other aircraft, basket or other receptacle, or any place of deposit for wild birds, wild quadrupeds, fish or other aquatic life or any parts thereof whenever there is probable cause to believe that a violation has occurred. Commissioned wildlife agents are authorized to visit or inspect at frequent intervals
without the need of search warrants, records, cold storage plants, bait stands, warehouses, public restaurants, public and private markets, stores, and places where wild birds, game quadrupeds, fish, or other aquatic life or any parts therof may be kept and offered for sale, for the purpose of ascertaining whether any laws or regulations under the jurisdiction of the department have been violated...."
[4] The laws in other states may grant more or less search and seizure authority. These exceptions granted to game wardens are still considered to fall within the constitutional limits of search and seizure as outlined in the
U.S. Constitution."
Game warden makes $600,000 bust
http://www.myfox8.com/wghp-wildlife-officer-cleared-090702,0,7614799.story
Wildlife Officer Who Killed Hunter Won't Face Prosecution
The States I have researched so far (and I will get to all 50) where Game Wardens (Conservation Officer is the new title they like) can conduct warrantless searches on any private property, OR ISSUE WARRANTS are as follows:
California
Texas, yes Texas
Louisiana
Florida
Georgia
North Carolina
Virginia
Wyoming
They have the power and authority of State troopers typically, except for the fact that they are somehow still able to commit unlawful search and seizure.
Please help me and look up your own states game wardens, and link me to their statutes so I can add to this list.
