Michigan House Republicans have introduced legislation that would prevent enforcement officers from the state Department of Natural Resources from entering private lands.
House bills 4073 and 4421 would require DNR officers to obtain a search warrant before entering private property, eliminating what is commonly known as the “open fields” exception.
That legal doctrine allows law enforcement to enter and search open areas of a property as long as they're not in the immediate area around a home or dwelling.
House Republicans cited concerns over government overreach and erosion of private property rights as reasons for the legislation. The bills have no Democratic sponsors. Democrats have said they worry that the legislation would hinder law enforcement’s ability to protect wildlife and provide public safety.
Jason Haines, the chief of the DNR's Law Enforcement Division, said even with the exception in place, the department requires its officers to provide reasonable suspicion or probable cause, and document that reasoning in a report, before entering open field areas.
“We certainly do recognize the importance of private property rights, and the sensitivity that many have for those rights,” Haines said. “That’s what this country is based on, is our individual rights and freedoms.”
Haines said it is essential the department still be able to protect wildlife that travels into private property boundaries. He said the legislation could indicate to property owners that they own the wildlife on their property too, which would hinder DNR conservation and preservation efforts.
"Michigan’s resources, wildlife, fish, they are held in the public trust,” he said.
The DNR commonly utilizes the open fields principle to investigate illegal baiting and hunting and complaints from nearby landowners. Haines explained that in one instance, the use of the legal doctrine allowed an officer to investigate a trail of blood. The officer entered the area after conversation with the owner and found that 10 deer had been illegally shot on the property, 3 of which were bucks.
“Without that officer having the ability to step onto private property to try to determine where these violations even occurred, he very likely would not have been able to resolve the situation.”
