{"id":7555,"date":"2023-10-27T15:42:14","date_gmt":"2023-10-27T15:42:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/portal.bluetogold.com\/?p=7555"},"modified":"2026-09-17T06:13:44","modified_gmt":"2026-09-17T13:13:44","slug":"drug-sniffing-dog-in-motel-or-apartment-hallway","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/portal.bluetogold.com\/?p=7555","title":{"rendered":"Drug Sniffing Dog in Motel or Apartment Hallway"},"content":{"rendered":"

Anthony Bandiero<\/a><\/strong>
\nAttorney and Senior Legal Instructor, Blue to Gold Law Enforcement Training<\/p>\n

Recorded outside Cleveland, Ohio. The question is whether you can run a drug dog down the hallway of a motel or an apartment building and sniff along the doors. The answer splits, and the reason it splits is worth understanding.<\/em><\/p>\n

Hey guys, it’s Anthony Bandiero here with Blue to Gold Law Enforcement Training, and I’m outside of Cleveland, Ohio. Today’s question is, may officers run a drug dog in apartment or motel hallways?<\/p>\n

And the answer is yes and no. Officers can run a drug canine in a motel or hotel hallway, but they cannot run the same dog in an apartment hallway. Usually. This is the best approach here, and let me explain to you why.<\/p>\n

What are the three categories of area outside a front door?<\/h2>\n

First of all, when we are talking about areas outside the front door, around a home, motel, apartment and so forth, those areas are classified under one of three categories.<\/p>\n

First, curtilage<\/a>. Curtilage is protected like the home itself, and these are areas intimately associated with domestic life. Playing with the kids, barbecues, hanging out on lawn chairs and so forth.<\/p>\n

The second are areas where there’s a reasonable expectation of privacy.<\/p>\n

And finally, open fields.<\/p>\n

Do motel hallways have curtilage?<\/h2>\n

Now let’s start with motels. Motels don’t have curtilage. Most motels do not. Curtilage is more associated with a non-traditional home, like a tent, but there are areas where the occupants have an exclusive right of control over it.<\/p>\n

If you think about most motels, they cannot exclude anybody from the hallways. That is why it is not curtilage.<\/p>\n

Is there a reasonable expectation of privacy in a motel hallway?<\/h2>\n

Let’s go on to reasonable expectation of privacy. Hallways in a motel also are not protected under a reasonable expectation of privacy test.<\/p>\n

The main reason is that society does not think it’s reasonable for a motel occupant to have such a high expectation of privacy that it would be unreasonable for officers, the public and canines to be in those hallways. It’s just not that type of environment.<\/p>\n

And if you think about it, it makes sense. Motels are certainly like a home inside the motel room when the person is lawfully occupying it. But there’s real-world consequences and limitations. For example, people can be immediately evicted if they violate a rule, like smoking and fighting and partying and breaking stuff. That’s not true with a home. And it’s a commercial establishment.<\/p>\n

So really, hallways are the third category. Open fields.<\/p>\n

What about apartment hallways?<\/h2>\n

Let’s move on to apartments. Apartment hallways are not curtilage, generally speaking. There is no right of exclusive control or occupancy over that hallway. Other people can access it, they can invite the public. So it’s not curtilage.<\/p>\n

There may be an area in an apartment that is exclusive to one resident, but generally speaking hallways are not.<\/p>\n

But they are often considered areas where a person has a reasonable expectation of privacy. The reason is that most courts find that the apartment dweller, this is a traditional home, clearly, and they want to uphold a higher level of privacy in these areas.<\/p>\n

Why do apartments get more protection than motels?<\/h2>\n

In some ways I think courts feel it’s unfair for the traditional home with the white picket fence, where the cops can’t bring the drug sniffing dog onto that property, up to the front door. Why should the apartment dweller have a lesser expectation of privacy?<\/p>\n

Well, they do, because again, hallways are not exclusive. They’re not like the front door with the white picket fence. But this is a proper balance. It’s not the fact that the officers are there, it’s that bringing in the drug dog tips the scales to where the court finds it intrusive.<\/p>\n

So that’s your answer. And that would not be an area that would be considered an open field.<\/p>\n

I hope this helps. It’s actually a kind of complicated legal issue, but it’s a great question and I’m hoping I answered it for you.<\/p>\n

The short version<\/h2>\n