Anthony Bandiero
Attorney and Senior Legal Instructor, Blue to Gold Law Enforcement Training
A sergeant in Rhode Island has a camper sitting on somebody’s property. They are going to write a warrant for it, and the question that came up in the office was whether the camper can have curtilage of its own.
Got a quick question. Can campers have curtilage?
My name is Anthony Bandiero, attorney and senior legal instructor for Blue to Gold Law Enforcement Training, bringing you another roadside chat.
This question comes from an officer, a sergeant, in Rhode Island. He says, we have a camper that’s on somebody’s property. They’re going to write a warrant for it, but they’re talking about curtilage. The question is, can that camper have curtilage?
Okay. The answer is probably.
What is curtilage, and what are the four factors?
What is curtilage? Let’s do some baseline stuff here. Some foundational issues.
Curtilage is that area around a home that is treated like the home itself. There are four factors for curtilage.
Number one is the proximity to the home. The closer you are to the home, the more likely you’re standing on a piece of land known legally as curtilage.
Number two is enclosure. Does it have a fence enclosing it? Do you need a fence? No. Does it help? Yes.
Number three is use. What is that particular piece of land being used for? Domestic activities, barbecues, cornhole, jacuzzi, lawn furniture. Why are we protecting a piece of land like the home? Because it’s being used for domestic purposes.
And finally, sight screening. Has the person done something to keep prying eyes out? Meaning, if you can’t see into the backyard from the street, the person’s going to have a higher level expectation of privacy when it comes to pole cameras and drones and stuff like that.
Which curtilage factors actually matter most?
So going back to the question at hand, can this camper have curtilage? Certainly, but you’re going to have to look at those four factors.
The two most important factors are proximity and use. Enclosure and sight screening are optional. They’re not mandatory.
There are plenty of driveways in America that have no fence around them, that can be seen from the street, but they’re curtilage in a legal sense. So just kind of keep that in mind, but look at it.
Does a search warrant for a residence automatically cover the curtilage?
Now the other thing is, the officer was talking about, well, if it has curtilage, can it be included in the warrant?
Well, if you have curtilage, curtilage is included in the warrant naturally. When you get a search warrant to search a residence, the case law says that the curtilage is automatically included with that warrant. Property which is non-curtilage could be an issue.
So if you have a 100 acre piece of land and you ask to search just the house, you might have an open fields issue, but you don’t necessarily get all the buildings on that land.
So there’s that. But curtilage is part of the home, so typically you get it. But if you want to actually include it in there, the camper and any curtilage, that will definitely help.
Okay. So, easy question, easy answer, but a good question regardless.
The short version
- “Can this camper have curtilage? Certainly, but you’re going to have to look at those four factors.”
- Proximity to the home. “The closer you are to the home, the more likely you’re standing on a piece of land known legally as curtilage.”
- Enclosure. “Do you need a fence? No. Does it help? Yes.”
- Use. “Domestic activities, barbecues, cornhole, jacuzzi, lawn furniture.”
- Sight screening, which matters most for pole cameras and drones.
- “The two most important factors are proximity and use. Enclosure and sight screening are optional.”
- A residence warrant naturally carries the curtilage with it. Non-curtilage property is the problem: “you might have an open fields issue, but you don’t necessarily get all the buildings on that land.”
- Naming the camper in the warrant “will definitely help.”
Related from Blue to Gold
This article is an edited transcript of Roadside Chat EP#920. It is legal training, not legal advice. Check your state law and your agency policy, because both can be more restrictive than the Fourth Amendment.
