                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

SEARCH WITHOUT WARRANT PROHIBITED; WHEN SEARCH WITHOUT WARRANT LAWFUL (§
19.2-59)

No officer of the law or any other person shall search any place, thing or
person, except by virtue of and under a warrant issued by a proper officer. Any
officer or other person searching any place, thing or person otherwise than by
virtue of and under a search warrant, shall be guilty of malfeasance in office.
Any officer or person violating the provisions of this section shall be liable
to any person aggrieved thereby in both compensatory and punitive damages. Any
officer found guilty of a second offense under this section shall, upon
conviction thereof, immediately forfeit his office, and such finding shall be
deemed to create a vacancy in such office to be filled according to law.
		Provided, however, that any officer empowered to enforce the game laws or
marine fisheries laws as set forth in Title 28.2 may without a search warrant
enter for the purpose of enforcing such laws, any freight yard or room,
passenger depot, baggage room or warehouse, storage room or warehouse, train,
baggage car, passenger car, express car, Pullman car or freight car of any
common carrier, or any boat, automobile or other vehicle; but nothing in this
proviso contained shall be construed to permit a search of any occupied berth or
compartment on any passenger car or boat or any baggage, bag, trunk, box or
other closed container without a search warrant.

HISTORY: Code 1950, § 19.1-88; 1960, c. 366; 1975, c. 495; 1976, c. 293; 1978,
c. 721; 1997, c. 147.