1999 Florida Code
TITLE XLVII CRIMINAL PROCEDURE AND CORRECTIONS
Chapter 933 Search and Inspection Warrants  
933.18   When warrant may be issued for search of private dwelling.

933.18  When warrant may be issued for search of private dwelling.--No search warrant shall issue under this chapter or under any other law of this state to search any private dwelling occupied as such unless:

(1)  It is being used for the unlawful sale, possession, or manufacture of intoxicating liquor;

(2)  Stolen or embezzled property is contained therein;

(3)  It is being used to carry on gambling;

(4)  It is being used to perpetrate frauds and swindles;

(5)  The law relating to narcotics or drug abuse is being violated therein;

(6)  A weapon, instrumentality, or means by which a felony has been committed, or evidence relevant to proving said felony has been committed, is contained therein;

(7)  One or more of the following misdemeanor child abuse offenses is being committed there:

1(a)  Interference with custody, in violation of s. 787.03.

(b)  Commission of an unnatural and lascivious act with a child, in violation of s. 800.02.

(c)  Exposure of sexual organs to a child, in violation of s. 800.03.

(8)  It is in part used for some business purpose such as a store, shop, saloon, restaurant, hotel, or boardinghouse, or lodginghouse;

(9)  It is being used for the unlawful sale, possession, or purchase of wildlife, saltwater products, or freshwater fish being unlawfully kept therein; or

(10)  The laws in relation to cruelty to animals have been or are being violated therein, except that no search pursuant to such a warrant shall be made in any private dwelling after sunset and before sunrise unless specially authorized by the judge issuing the warrant, upon a showing of probable cause. Property relating to the violation of such laws may be taken on a warrant so issued from any private dwelling in which it is concealed or from the possession of any person therein by whom it shall have been used in the commission of such offense or from any person therein in whose possession it may be.

If, during a search pursuant to a warrant issued under this section, a child is discovered and appears to be in imminent danger, the law enforcement officer conducting such search may remove the child from the private dwelling and take the child into protective custody pursuant to chapter 39. The term "private dwelling" shall be construed to include the room or rooms used and occupied, not transiently but solely as a residence, in an apartment house, hotel, boardinghouse, or lodginghouse. No warrant shall be issued for the search of any private dwelling under any of the conditions hereinabove mentioned except on sworn proof by affidavit of some creditable witness that he or she has reason to believe that one of said conditions exists, which affidavit shall set forth the facts on which such reason for belief is based.

History.--s. 19, ch. 9321, 1923; s. 2, ch. 10273, 1925; CGL 8518; s. 1, ch. 57-418; s. 1, ch. 67-348; s. 1, ch. 69-18; s. 1, ch. 74-318; s. 1, ch. 78-126; s. 1, ch. 78-345; s. 1, ch. 86-93; s. 1, ch. 88-298; s. 59, ch. 88-381; s. 4, ch. 93-4; s. 1576, ch. 97-102; s. 161, ch. 98-403.

1Note.--Section 787.03, as amended by s. 1, ch. 88-244, provides that interference with custody is a felony of the third degree.