A search is when an officer or school official looks through your belongings, like your backpack or your pockets, to find evidence of a crime.
Students: If an officer or school official approaches you to search your belongings, remember:
- If you do not want to be searched, you can say, "I do not consent to this search." This may not stop the search, but this is the best way to protect your rights later if you decide to challenge the search.
- To search you or your belongings (like your bag), a school officer must have reasonable suspicion* to believe that you broke a school rule or committed a crime, and the extent of the search must be related to the reason that you are being searched.
- The search must be related to the crime that you're suspected of committing. For example, an officer cannot search your pockets if he or she thinks you stole a laptop from school because you can't hide a laptop in your pocket. Often schools have rules that allow administrators or police to search lockers. They do not have to follow as many rules when searching lockers because lockers are technically the property of the school.
- Schools can only conduct "strip searches" (asking a student to take of their clothes) when they have specific information that the student is hiding drugs, weapons, or other contraband under their clothes.
In Texas, students and parents should be aware there are two different standards that govern the legality of searches of students in schools, depending upon who actually performs the search:
Law enforcement officials, including campus security personnel who are commissioned peace officers, must have **probable cause to believe that a student has violated or is violating a law before conducting a search.
On the other hand, a school official who is not a police officer can search a student's belongings if they believe the search is reasonable.
Parents and students should be mindful that if they want to keep private materials private, it is most safe in the home rather than in a backpack or locker at school. If a parent or student feels that such student was part of an unreasonable search or seizure, the parent should contact a civil rights attorney.