New Hampshire Revised Statutes 644:21 – Searches of Portable Electronic Devices
Current as of: 2023 | Check for updates
|
Other versions
I. Definitions. In this section:
(a) “Government entity” means a federal, state, county, or local government agency, including but not limited to a law enforcement agency or any other investigative entity, agency, department, division, bureau, board, or commission, or an individual acting or purporting to act for, or on behalf of, a federal, state, county, or local government agency. “Government entity” shall not apply to a federal government agency to the extent that federal statute preempts state statute.
(b) “Information” includes any information concerning the substance or meaning or purported substance or meaning of a communication, including without limitation the name and address of the sender and receiver and the time, date, location, and duration of the communication.
(c) “Portable electronic device” means any portable device that is capable of creating, receiving, accessing, or storing electronic data or communications, including but not limited to cellular telephones.
II. No information contained in a portable electronic device shall be subject to search by a government entity, including a search incident to a lawful arrest or for inventory purposes, except pursuant to a warrant signed by a judge and based on probable cause, or pursuant to a legally-recognized exception to the warrant requirement. A portable electronic device searched pursuant to this paragraph shall be returned to its owner as expeditiously as possible.
III. Evidence obtained in violation of this section shall not be admissible in a criminal, civil, administrative, or other proceeding, except as proof of a violation of this section.
IV. A person injured by a government entity as a result of a violation of this section may file civil suit against the government entity.
(a) “Government entity” means a federal, state, county, or local government agency, including but not limited to a law enforcement agency or any other investigative entity, agency, department, division, bureau, board, or commission, or an individual acting or purporting to act for, or on behalf of, a federal, state, county, or local government agency. “Government entity” shall not apply to a federal government agency to the extent that federal statute preempts state statute.
Terms Used In New Hampshire Revised Statutes 644:21
- Arrest: Taking physical custody of a person by lawful authority.
- Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
- person: may extend and be applied to bodies corporate and politic as well as to individuals. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 21:9
- Probable cause: A reasonable ground for belief that the offender violated a specific law.
- state: when applied to different parts of the United States, may extend to and include the District of Columbia and the several territories, so called; and the words "United States" shall include said district and territories. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 21:4
- Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
(b) “Information” includes any information concerning the substance or meaning or purported substance or meaning of a communication, including without limitation the name and address of the sender and receiver and the time, date, location, and duration of the communication.
(c) “Portable electronic device” means any portable device that is capable of creating, receiving, accessing, or storing electronic data or communications, including but not limited to cellular telephones.
II. No information contained in a portable electronic device shall be subject to search by a government entity, including a search incident to a lawful arrest or for inventory purposes, except pursuant to a warrant signed by a judge and based on probable cause, or pursuant to a legally-recognized exception to the warrant requirement. A portable electronic device searched pursuant to this paragraph shall be returned to its owner as expeditiously as possible.
III. Evidence obtained in violation of this section shall not be admissible in a criminal, civil, administrative, or other proceeding, except as proof of a violation of this section.
IV. A person injured by a government entity as a result of a violation of this section may file civil suit against the government entity.