What are Your Rights if Police Want to Search Your Hotel Room in Myrtle Beach, SC?

What are your rights if police want to search your motel or hotel room in Horry County, SC?

In far too many cases, police officers will enter a person’s hotel room with the consent of the hotel manager but not the tenant. Or they might toss a person’s tent at a campground without a search warrant.

Can they do that?

In this article, we will cover how the Fourth Amendment applies to temporary lodgings, including:

• When police need a warrant to search your motel or hotel room,
• Whether a hotel manager can consent to a police search of your room, and
• Exceptions to the Fourth Amendment warrant requirement that apply in a motel room.

Can Police Search Your Hotel Room Without a Warrant?

Police cannot enter and search your hotel room without a search warrant based on probable cause or a valid exception to the Fourth Amendment.

For the brief time you occupy that space, it is no different than a tenant’s Fourth Amendment rights in their home.

It’s your space, and you have a reasonable expectation of privacy there; therefore, the Fourth Amendment and Article One, Section Ten of the SC Constitution apply.

Fourth Amendment (US) and Article One, Section Ten (SC)

The Fourth Amendment protects us against unreasonable searches and seizures by the government. In the context of privacy rights, it is “unreasonable” for the government to intrude on a space where a person has a reasonable expectation of privacy (see, US v. Katz).

Article One Section 10 of the SC Constitution contains the same language, but adds the phrase, “unreasonable invasions of privacy shall not be violated:”

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects against unreasonable searches and seizures and unreasonable invasions of privacy shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, the person or thing to be seized, and the information to be obtained.

Can a Hotel/ Motel Employee Consent to Search Your Room?

The US and SC Supreme Courts have held that guests in hotel or motel rooms have Fourth Amendment protections, and a motel employee cannot consent to waive your constitutional rights.

As the US Supreme Court said in Stoner v. California, 376 U.S. 483 (1964), “a guest in a hotel room is entitled to constitutional protection against unreasonable searches and seizures. That protection would disappear if it were left to the unfettered discretion of an employee of the hotel.” See also, United States v. Jeffers, 342 U.S. 48 (1951).

Can the Hotel Owner or Manager Consent to Search Your Room?

For some reason, some local police think that a hotel’s manager has valid authority to consent to search tenant’s rooms – this is incorrect.

A hotel manager cannot waive a tenant’s constitutional rights any more than another hotel employee can. Just as “a landlord may not validly consent to a search of a tenant’s room,” “a hotel manager may not effectively consent to a search of a guest’s room.” State v. Moultrie, 271 S.C. 526 (1978).

When Can Police Search Your Motel/ Hotel Room?

Police arrest people at Myrtle Beach hotels/ motels every day. In many cases, the arrest or search is invalid. In many other cases, the search or arrest is perfectly legal.

When can the police search your lodgings legally?

It’s legal if they get a warrant based on probable cause first. But when can the police search your hotel room without a warrant?

When it’s not your hotel room anymore….

If you are legally evicted from the hotel pursuant to your agreement with the establishment, the police can then search the room because you no longer have a right to privacy in the room.

There are other circumstances where police may legally search your motel room, including the many exceptions to the Fourth Amendment’s warrant requirement.

Arrest Warrants and Searches Incident to Arrest

Law enforcement can enter your hotel room and arrest you if they have an arrest warrant, even if there is no search warrant. State v. Sims, 304 S.C. 409 (1991).

If you are arrested in your hotel room, the police can then search your room “incident to arrest,” without a search warrant, provided the search is “substantially contemporaneous with the arrest and is confined to the immediate vicinity of the arrest.” See, State v. Freiburger, 366 S.C. 125 (2005), and Arizona v. Gant, 556 U.S. 332 (2009).

Other exceptions to the search warrant requirement that may apply in hotel rooms include:

• Plain view – if police see evidence of crime in plain view they can seize it,
• Hot pursuit – if police chase someone into a hotel room, they might not need a warrant to enter the room and continue their pursuit,
• Exigent circumstances – when there is an emergency that makes it impractical or dangerous to get a warrant, or
• Protective sweep – if police make an arrest in a hotel room, they can make a “protective sweep” of the room or suite to ensure officer safety.

Can a Security Guard Search Your Hotel Room Without a Warrant?

In most cases, a security guard (or hotel employee or manager) is not a government actor.

They can, therefore, search your hotel room and hand over any evidence to law enforcement. If the evidence shows that they are acting in concert with law enforcement at the direction of law enforcement, however, the Fourth Amendment may apply.

If hotel employees are acting in concert with law enforcement to violate your civil rights, you may also have a §1983 civil rights claim against the hotel and police department when your criminal case is resolved.

Got Axelrod?

If you have been charged with a crime based on an illegal search and seizure at a Myrtle Beach area hotel, get an experienced criminal defense attorney on your case immediately. We will investigate your case, get your case dismissed, negotiate an outcome that is acceptable to you, or try your case to a jury.

Call Axelrod & Associates now at 843-258-4254 or email us online to speak with a Myrtle Beach criminal defense lawyer on the Axelrod team today.