Conservation officers may soon need warrants to enter private land

Michigan’s conservation police officers should get a warrant before entering private property, according to a new bill in the Michigan Legislature.

House bills 4073 and 4074 would require the police force within the Department of Natural Resources to obtain a search warrant before entering private property. They also would be required to wear body cameras.

Rep. Dave Prestin, R-Cedar River, testified on March 26 before the House Natural Resources and Tourism Committee in favor of the bills.

“Most people who have hunted on private land have a story about COs coming onto their land over minuscule issues, like not wearing enough orange or simply hearing a gunshot,” Prestin said, speaking of conservation officers from the natural resources department. “Conservation officers shouldn’t be permitted to bypass locked gates by driving into fields or walk miles onto private property on nothing more than a hunch.”

Other law enforcement agencies typically can only enter private property with probable cause or a search warrant. Exceptions exist for when officers are in hot pursuit of a suspect, or if they need to act to protect life and property, witness a crime, or seek to preserve evidence. The bill aims to find balance, Prestin said.

“We can and should balance the responsibilities of our COs with the privacy rights of our citizens to prevent abuses of power by bad actors. This is about bringing COs in line with the best practices of law enforcement agencies from around the state.”

Government employees must receive permission to enter a property from the landowner or a warrant from a judge, but often don’t, attorney Philip Ellison from the law firm Outside Legal Counsel in Hemlock told Michigan Capitol Confidential in a phone interview.

“A warrant requires (the agency) to show probable cause that there was a violation,” Ellison said. “Meaning they can’t just go out and do random invasions of people’s property on a whim,” Ellison said. “They actually have to make some kind of threshold showing before a judge can even consider issuing a warrant.”

The attorney has sued two employees of the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy for allegedly trespassing on private property without a warrant, CapConreported in April.

Last month, a federal judge ruled that a lawsuit filed against environmental quality analyst Justin Smith and inspector Brian Marshall, two state employees, could proceed. The lawsuit brought by Ellison accused Smith and Marshall of violating a Michigander’s Fourth Amendment rights in March 2024 by trespassing on a piece of property he owns along M-13 just south of Pinconning.

The natural resource agency opposes both bills, John Pepin, the agency’s deputy public information officer told CapCon in an email.

The first bill would prohibit the agency’s general patrol activities on both private and public property, Pepin wrote, while the body camera bill “selectively regulates conservation officers” without funding the equipment, maintenance, or extra staff needed to manage the changes. The agency has already secured funding and a completed pilot program for a separate body camera program, he told CapCon.

Revenues from hunting and fishing licenses fund wildlife conservation programs, Pepin noted. Fewer licenses could harm fish stocking, species protection and game management.

“The license fees are used for wildlife management and are imperative to protect the revenue supporting Michigan’s $11 billion hunting and fishing industry,” Pepin wrote. “Without the ability to check licenses and methods of take on public and private property, wildlife populations and revenue for wildlife management and restoration would be significantly reduced.”

The bills remain in the House Natural Resources and Tourism Committee.