Policy Text
Search Warrants
Purpose of the
order The purpose of this order is to p rovide procedures for obtainin g and serving
a search warrant, and the re turn of the search warrant.
How to obtain a
search warrant during court hours The following list describes the procedure an officer shall fol low to obtain a
search warrant after court hours.
A. Prepare the search w arrant package to be s igned, making sure al l needed
areas are completed.
B. The search warrant will be made up of the following:
1. All necessary reports, documents, and supportive paperwork
2. Along with the "Affidavit in Support of Issuance of a Search
Warrant"
3. "Affiant's Expertise" into the a ffidavit for search warrant
package making sure the pre-prin ted affidavit face sheets are
attached and prope rly completed
4. Have original and at least one copy
C. Take or send the affidavit to the District Attorney's Office fo r a Deputy
District Attorney to review, as well as his/her approval and si gnature.
D. Take the approved search warrant package to a Superior Court Ju dge for
signature.
E. After the Judge’s approval and sig nature, take the entire packa ge to the
Sacramento County Court Felony Unit where it will be numbered a nd
the original affidavit will be filed.
NOTE: If the object of the search warra nt is of a sensitive nature,
the numbering of the warrant may be done after the
completion of the service of the warrant.
F. Ma
ke necessar y copies for service and re port packages.
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Search Warrants, Continued
How to obtain a
search warrant after court hours The following list describes the procedure an officer shall fol low to obtain a
search warrant after court hours.
A. Prepare the search w arrant package to be s igned, making sure al l needed
areas are completed.
B. The search warrant will be made up of the following:
1. All necessary reports, documents, and supportive paperwork
2. Along with the "Affidavit in Support of Issuance of a Search
Warrant"
3. "Affiant's Expertise" into the a ffidavit for search warrant
package making sure the pre-prin ted affidavit face sheets are
attached and prope rly completed
4. Have original and at least one copy
C. Contact the on-call Deputy Distr ict Attorney for his/her review ,
approval and signature of the affidavit.
D. Deliver the approved original sear ch warrant package, including the
affidavit, to the on-call judge for approval and signature.
E. The judge usually returns the complete package, however,
He/she may want to r etain the affidavit.
F. On the next court date (or aft er service of the warrant), file the
Search warrant with the Sacramento Count
y Court Felon y Unit.
Procedure for
obtaining an Oral affidavit (Skelton Hearing) The following list describes the procedure to follow to obtain an oral
affidavit (Skelton Hearing).
A. An investigation may dictate wh en an oral affidavit may be appr opriate.
B. This would come about in situations where untested citizen info rmants
have the facts tending to e stablish probable cause.
C. An investigation may dictate wh en an oral affidavit may be appr opriate.
D. This would come about in situations where untested citizen info rmants
have the facts tending to e stablish probable cause.
E. Confer with a district attorney.
F. Take the untested citizen informa nt in front of the magistrate.
G. The magistrate may take a swor n oral statement from officer and /or the
untested citizen informant.
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Procedure for
obtaining an Oral affidavit (Skelton Hearing)
continued H. The oral statement under oath s hall be recorded and transcribed .
I. Both the recording of the stateme nt and the transcribed stateme nt shall
be certified by the magistrate and filed with the court clerk.
J. In the alternative, the sworn or al statement shall be recorded by a court
reporter and after being certif ied by the magistrate, the trans cribed
statement filed with the court clerk.
Procedure for
obtaining a telephonic search warrant The following list describes the procedure to follow to obtain a telephonic
search warrant.
A. A telephonic search warrant is in tended to save the time of an
appearance before both the Distric t Attorney and the Magistrate .
B. Due to the more restrictive requ irements associated with a tele phonic
warrant, officers are encouraged t o use other forms of electron ic
communication to speed up this pr ocess first (i.e. E-mail).
C. If a telephonic warrant is deem ed necessary, contact the superv ising
De
puty District Attorne y of the Ma jor Narcotics Unit for procedures.
Procedure for
obtaining a telephonic search warrant The following list describes the procedure to follow to obtain a telephonic
search warrant.
A. A telephonic search warrant is in tended to save the time of an
appearance before both the Distric t Attorney and the Magistrate .
B. Due to the more restrictive requ irements associated with a tele phonic
warrant, officers are encouraged t o use other forms of electron ic
communication to speed