Do you have to open your door for police in NC? It depends. Law experts explain
Whether you live in an apartment, condo or a home, you don’t have to answer for anyone who knocks on your door.
But what about the police? If law enforcement officers come to your home, are you required to go to the door or to let them in?
There are a number of reasons why an officer may visit someone’s home, so officials say it depends on many factors, reasons and contexts.
Do you have to open your door to police in North Carolina?
It depends.
“The Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution guarantees the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects against unreasonable searches and seizures,” Joseph Hyde, an assistant professor of public law and government at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill told The Charlotte Observer. “Historically, and consistent with the Fourth Amendment, the law has afforded a person’s home special protection.”
According to Hyde, homeowners are not legally obligated to open their doors for anyone. When it comes to law enforcement, he says police generally may not enter a home unless they have a search warrant.
“There are well-recognized exceptions to that doctrine, as when police obtain consent to enter or when there are exigent circumstances… But absent a warrant or an exception to the warrant requirement, police entry of a person’s home is a violation of the person’s constitutional rights,” Hyde says. “If police have a search warrant, they could lawfully effectuate a forced entry. But the homeowner is under no obligation to open his door to police.”
What about for search warrants?
By law, a search warrant allows North Carolina law enforcement officers to search designated premises, vehicles, or persons for the purpose of seizing specific items that are believed to be stolen, embezzled, contraband, or has been used or constitutes evidence of an offense.
When executing search warrants, officers must “give appropriate notice of his identity and purpose to the person to be searched, or the person in apparent control of the premises to be searched” before entering someone’s home, state law says.
But even if an officer does have a warrant, the ACLU of North Carolina says you have the right to remain silent.
[RELATED: Do you know what to do when interacting with police? These are your rights in NC]
Could you be charged for refusing to open the door for a search warrant?
Questions have also been raised about whether or not someone could be charged for not opening the door to police, particularly if they have a search warrant.
“A majority of courts hold that refusing to unlock and open the door constitutes obstruction,” Jeff Wetly, a public law and government professor at UNC School of Government, said in a blog post. “As to simply refusing to unlock and open the door in the face of a search warrant, a majority of the cases that I found concluded that doing so amounts to obstruction.”
Wetly explained that it seems clear for someone who actively tries to stop law enforcement from executing a search warrant, for instance by pushing or blocking a door, could properly be charged with resisting, delaying, or obstructing a public officer. But it really depends on the circumstances.
“Obviously there is a split of authority on this issue,” Welt said. “In any event, on close questions like this one, details matter…An RDO (resisting, delaying, obstructing) charge seems more likely to stick if officers say ‘police, search warrant, open the door’ instead of simply ‘police, search warrant,’ which doesn’t expressly direct anyone to do anything.”
Reporter Mary Ramsey contributed to this report.
