For years code enforcement officers, building Inspectors, and assessors in the City of Springfield have been violating residents’ 4 th Amendment rights to the United States Constitution that prohibits unreasonable searches and seizures of one’s property. As a result, City Councilor Justin Hurst has proposed an Ordinance this evening that ensures these departments obtain an administrative warrant prior to entering the curtilage of a residential property to perform an inspection.
Councilor Hurst stated, “City government and its employees are not exempt from complying with our constitution as was evident by the most recent consent decree levied against the city by the Department of Justice. Complying with the law is not optional and residents need know their rights just as much as our city employees, which is why it is necessary to codify this language into a local ordinance.”
Councilor Hurst went on to say, “I was stunned to learn that these inspectors have badges that give them the authority to ‘…enter at reasonable times, any building, structure, or premises in the City to perform his/her duties. Any person that obstructs an inspector from carrying out his/her duties could face criminal and or civil charges.’ This language is in direct conflict with the constitution and has the potential to open the city up to an onslaught of litigation if people only knew their rights. I can only
imagine the number tickets that have been wrongfully written, the number of residences whose houses have been wrongfully inspected, the number of criminal and civil charges that have been wrongfully levied, and the number of homes that were lost to the city or a receiver as a result of such an abuse of power.”
This ordinance, substantiated by relevant federal and state case law (Camara v. Municipal Court of City and County of San Francisco, City of Boston v. Ditson, and Com v. Lipomi), exempts the Department of Code Enforcement, Building Department, and the Assessor’s Department from needing to obtain a warrant provided consent is received from someone who is over the age of 18 and authorized to permit entry onto the property, an emergency situation exist, or the areas to be inspected can be seen from the public way without entering the curtilage of the property. Councilor Hurst explained, “This ordinance also serves to protect our city employees many of whom have a difficult job already. The last thing the city needs is for one of its employees to harmed or injured on a property that they had no legal right to be on in the first place.”
