Why?
Wouldn't it be more appropriate to cite Art I, Sec 9 of TX's own Constitution?
The truth is that almost all of the time game wardens have no magical powers to
detain, search and question hunters or anybody else.
They have no more right than any other law enforcement officer to stop you on
a public road and search your truck or the people in it. They should, the law says,
have probable cause to believe that a violation of the law has taken place before
they execute a stop, and they should request, and obtain, your permission to search
your truck. Otherwise, they need a search warrant.
They do not, as I’ve heard around a hundred campfires, have a special legal dispensation
to enter, uninvited, your home or your camp house on a lease. They have no special
right to search you or to go through your freezer to see how many doves you might
have stocked away
*********
Wardens are allowed to enter public and private property to enforce game laws, Kennedy
said, any place where animals under state jurisdiction are known to exist. In Texas, that
would be pretty much any property. And they can, while on that property, ask to inspect
any receptacles — game bags, ice chests, etc. — where game is known to be stored.
But the house or camp house on that property is another situation altogether, Kennedy
said. “The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has interpreted the 4th amendment to mean that
the provision of the Parks and Wildlife Code allowing entry on private property does not apply to residences,” he
said. “So I don’t think
there is any 4th amendment problem with game wardens going onto private property
outside of residences.”
end snips
Ha! Probably because I’m in Alabama....