When a lawful arrest is made, a law enforcement officer may reasonably search the person arrested and an area within such person’s immediate presence for the purpose of:

Terms Used In Wisconsin Statutes 968.11

  • 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: includes all partnerships, associations and bodies politic or corporate. See Wisconsin Statutes 990.01
  • State: when applied to states of the United States, includes the District of Columbia, the commonwealth of Puerto Rico and the several territories organized by Congress. See Wisconsin Statutes 990.01
   (1)   Protecting the officer from attack;
   (2)   Preventing the person from escaping;
   (3)   Discovering and seizing the fruits of the crime; or
   (4)   Discovering and seizing any instruments, articles or things which may have been used in the commission of, or which may constitute evidence of, the offense.
968.11 Annotation The holding of Arizona v. Gant, 556 U.S. 332, that Belton does not authorize a vehicle search incident to a recent occupant’s arrest after the arrestee has been secured and cannot access the interior of the vehicle is adopted as the proper interpretation of the Wisconsin Constitution’s protection against unreasonable searches and seizures. State v. Dearborn, 2010 WI 84, 327 Wis. 2d 252, 786 N.W.2d 97, 07-1894.
968.11 Note NOTE: See also the notes to article I, section 11, of the Wisconsin Constitution.