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NE: Probation search could be conducted by police officer if PO knows

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

Nebraska holds that a probation search could be conducted by a police officer if the probation officer knew and condoned it. State v. Colby, 16 Neb. App. 644, 2008 Neb. App. LEXIS 88 (April 22, 2008): The fact that Witko was not present during the search does not make the search of Colby unreasonable. We are persuaded by the decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in U.S. v. Richardson, 849 F.2d 439 (9th Cir. 1988), in which the court of appeals found that a probation search that was conducted by police officers, but with the permission of the probationer's probation officers, was reasonable. The court observed that given the large caseloads of most probation officers, requiring the probation officer's physical presence during every probation search or requiring close supervision of all probation searches would unnecessarily interfere with the twin goals of probation: rehabilitation of the probationer and protection of society...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on April 25, 2008 (boomark / email).