What exactly is a Search Warrant?

Law enforcement officers must satisfy a number of legal points before they can enter a private or business property and conduct a search, and in most cases a valid search warrant will be required, without which any evidence recovered during the search would not be admissible in court. Search warrants can be obtained from a judge, and the law enforcement officers must be able to provide 'probable cause' for the search and also specify what items they intend to look for and what areas of the property they wish to search. The police may not exceed the limits of the warrant, so for example if officers have probable cause to expect the suspect has a stolen vehicle hidden on their property, then they would ask for a warrant to search areas where a car may be hidden such as garages, outhouses, barns etc. However the car may have been stripped down and taken to pieces, so unless they also specified they wanted to search the interior rooms of the property, such as cupboards, attics, cellars etc. they would not be able to do so when they arrived at the property legally under the terms of the warrant.

It is possible to obtain 'Authority to Consent' after a warrant has been issued so that an officer can request permission to extend the scope of the warrant based on new evidence and information, in order to search for particular items, and also to search around areas not specified on the original warrant. This can only be granted legally by an individual who has the authority to provide consent, and any further searches will be limited to the terms of this consent.

If law enforcement officers do discover any contraband or objects related to a crime during the execution of the search that are not mentioned on the original warrant, then they are legally obliged to seize these items as well.