Pennsylvania Code › Title 234 - RULES OF CRIMINAL PROCEDURE › Chapter 2 - INVESTIGATIONS › Part A - Search Warrant › Rule 209 - Return With Inventory

Current through Register Vol. 54, No. 28, July 13, 2024
(A) The law
				enforcement officer executing the search warrant shall return the search
				warrant promptly after the search is completed, along with any inventory
				required under paragraph (C), to the issuing authority.
(B) Unexecuted warrants shall be returned
				promptly to the issuing authority once the period of time authorized for
				execution of the warrant has expired. The affiant shall retain a copy of the
				returned unexecuted search.
(C) An
				inventory of items seized shall be made by the law enforcement officer serving
				a search warrant. The inventory shall be made in the presence of the person
				from whose possession or premises the property was taken, when feasible, or
				otherwise in the presence of at least one witness. The officer shall sign a
				statement on the inventory that it is a true and correct listing of all items
				seized, and that the signer is subject to the penalties and provisions of
				18 Pa.C.S. §
										4904(b)-Unsworn
				Falsification To Authorities. The inventory shall be returned to and filed with
				the issuing authority.
(D) The
				judicial officer to whom the return was made shall, upon request, cause a copy
				of the inventory to be delivered to the applicant for the warrant and to the
				person from whom, or from whose premises, the property was taken.
(E) When the search warrant affidavit(s) is
				sealed pursuant to Rule 211, the return shall be made to the justice or judge
				who issued the warrant.
Comment:
The inventory is required to ensure that all items seized
				  are accounted for in the return to the issuing authority. It thus differs from
				  the receipt required by Rule 208, which is for the personal records of those
				  from whose possession or from whose premises property was taken. In some cases,
				  however, the list in the receipt may be sufficiently detailed so as to also be
				  sufficient for use in the inventory. The inventory need not be sworn to before
				  the issuing authority; however, the officer is subject to statutory penalties
				  for unsworn falsification.
The rule was amended in 2013 specifically to require that
				  the executed warrant be returned to the issuing authority. This amendment
				  reflects a procedure with a long-standing practice but one that had not been
				  codified in the rules.
See Rule 205(a)(6) regarding the circumstances under which
				  the issuing authority to whom the warrant is returned may differ from the one
				  that issued the warrant.
As provided in Rule 205(a)(4), search warrants generally
				  authorize execution within a period not to exceed two days. Paragraph (B)
				  requires that an unexecuted warrant be returned to the issuing authority upon
				  expiration of this period.
Unexecuted search warrants are not public records, see Rule
				  212(B), and therefore are not to be included in the criminal case file nor are
				  they to be docketed.
For the obligation of the Commonwealth to disclose
				  exculpatory evidence, see Rule 573 and its Comment.
Official
Note Rule 2009 adopted October 17, 1973, effective 60 days
				  hence; amended April 26, 1979, effective July 1, 1979; amended September 3,
				  1993, effective January 1, 1994; renumbered Rule 209 and amended March 1, 2000,
				  effective April 1, 2001; amended October 22, 2013, effective January 1, 2014;
				  Comment revised July 31, 2017, effective October 1, 2017.
Committee Explanatory Reports:
Report explaining the September 3, 1993 amendments published
				  at 21 Pa.B. 3681 (August 17, 1991).
Final Report explaining the March 1, 2000 reorganization and
				  renumbering of the rules published with the Court's Order at 30 Pa.B.
				  1478 (March 18, 2000).
Final Report explaining the October 22, 2013 amendments
				  related to the return of the search warrant published with the Court's
				  Order at 43 Pa.B. 6652 (November 9, 2013).
Final Report explaining the July 31, 2017 comment revisions
				  correcting a cross-reference to Rule 205 published with the Court's
				  Order at 47 Pa.B. 4681 (August 12, 2017).