The Fourth Amendment: Emergency Exceptions to the Warrant Requirement

The Fourth Amendment: Emergency Exceptions to the Warrant Requirement

The Fourth Amendment: Emergency Exceptions to the Warrant Requirement

July 14, 2026 (IG10098)

Summary

Information as of July 14, 2026. Prepared by Dave S. Sidhu, Legislative Attorney, Cassandra J. Barnum, Legislative Attorney and

Jamie Bush, Visual Information Specialist.

1 U.S. CONST. amend. IV.

2 Skinner v. Railway Labor Executives' Ass'n, 489 U.S. 602, 619 (1989).

3 Katz v. United States, 389 U.S. 347, 357 (1967).

4 United States v. Jones, 565 U.S. 400, 405–406 (2012).

5 United States v. Jacobsen, 466 U.S. 109, 113 (1984).

6 Illinois v. Gates, 462 U.S. 213, 238 (1983).

7 Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 29-30 (1968).

8 Illinois v. McArthur, 531 U.S. 326, 328 (2001).

9 CRS Legal Sidebar LSB10499, "No-Knock" Warrants and Other Law

Enforcement Identication Considerations, by Peter G. Berris and

Michael A. Foster (2020), at *3.

10 Kirk v. Louisiana, 536 U.S. 635, 638 (2002).

11Caniglia v. Strom, 593 U.S. 194, 197–98 (2021).

12 Mincey v. Arizona, 437 U.S. 385, 392 (1978).

13 See Case v. Montana, 607 U.S. 107, 117 (2026) ("[W]e note that an

emergency-aid entry provides no basis to search the premises beyond what

is reasonably needed to deal with the emergency while maintaining the

ocers' safety.").

14 Id. at 116.

Emergency Exceptions

to the Warrant Requirement

The Fourth Amendment protects the "right of the people" against unreasonable searches and seizures.1 The Supreme

Court has held that a search or seizure without a warrant is generally not reasonable.2 The Court has recognized,

however, certain "well-delineated" exceptions to the warrant requirement.3 This infographic clari-es the dierences

between a few of these emergency-related exceptions: exigent circumstances, community caretaking, and

emergency aid.

Key Terms and Concepts

Emergency-Related Exceptions

A Fourth Amendment

"search" generally involves

government:

• intrusion upon a person's

reasonable expectation

of privacy, or

• trespass upon a

constitutionally

protected space.4

A Fourth Amendment

"seizure" generally involves

the meaningful government

interference with a person's

possessory interests in

property or self.5

The Fourth Amendment

provides that "no Warrants

shall issue, but upon probable

cause." Probable cause

generally requires a "fair

probability" that a search will

reveal evidence of criminal

activity or that a seizure is of a

person who committed a

crime.6

Law enforcement

responsibilities include

duties:

• preventing and

investigating criminal

activity, including by

preserving evidence of

such activity, and7

• promoting public safety.8

Involves traditional crime-related functions

Probable cause required for warrantless entry into a home.10

Features

The "community caretaking" exception recognizes that law enforcement may perform

certain non-crime-related "civic functions," such as responding to disabled vehicles and

accidents.11

Features

Involves non-crime-related, civic-related functions

Does not alone justify warrantless entry into a home

The "emergency aid" exception applies when law enforcement responds to emergency

or crisis situations in which an individual poses an immediate threat to themselves or

others, or in which a person is in need of immediate medical attention.12

Features

Involves non-crime-related, crisis situations13

Probable cause not required; a warrantless entry into a home must be

supported by an "objectively reasonable basis" to believe someone inside has

been or is about to be seriously injured.14

The "exigent circumstances" exception captures situations in which law enforcement is

performing a crime-related function, such as preserving evidence, and taking the time to

secure a warrant would frustrate those crime-related interests.9