DeKalb GA News

A recent ruling by the Iowa Supreme Court has raised concerns about privacy rights across the state. The court's decision, reported by the Institute for Justice (IJ), allows for random inspections of rental properties in Orange City, Iowa. This decision overturned a previous lower court ruling that deemed the city's mandatory rental inspection law unconstitutional.

The case was brought forward by tenants and landlords represented by IJ, who argued that the law infringed on constitutional rights. However, the state's highest court ruled that since there are instances where such inspections could be conducted constitutionally, the challenge to the law did not succeed.

The court noted that inspections do not necessarily have to be carried out by government officials and suggested that "certified third-party" inspectors could perform them constitutionally.

John Wrench, an attorney with IJ, expressed disappointment with the ruling: “Today’s ruling is incredibly disappointing and threatens the privacy rights of all Iowans.” He criticized Orange City's stance on conducting searches without evidence of violations using warrants not based on probable cause.

Orange City authorities have decided they can use "administrative warrants" to enter rental units for inspections. Unlike traditional warrants requiring probable cause of a violation, administrative warrants allow entry without proof of any wrongdoing.

Erika Nordyke, one of the lawsuit's tenants, voiced her concerns: “My husband and I are private people, and we don’t want to be forced to let people we don’t know into our home to go searching around when we’ve done nothing wrong.”

Rob Peccolo from IJ explained earlier that administrative warrants differ from traditional search warrants as they do not require suspicion of wrongdoing for entry. Such inspections potentially expose personal information including religious beliefs and socio-economic status.

According to IJ, inspectors can view sensitive personal details during these checks and may report suspected criminal activities to police, which could lead to arrests stemming from rental inspections.