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Committee modernizes inventory rules for electronic search warrants
Summary
SB411 would let the officer executing a search prepare the inventory and remove the in-person witness requirement when warrants are served electronically to providers who produce certified digital receipts; State Police testified the change reflects modern investigative practice.
The Senate Judiciary Committee recommended Senate Bill 411, a measure to update statutory inventory rules for search warrants to reflect modern and electronic evidence practices.
Senator Bill Ganon introduced the bill and Lieutenant Tamara Hester of the New Hampshire State Police’s Special Investigations Unit described two primary changes: first, the officer who executes the search (rather than the affiant) may prepare the inventory in circumstances where the affiant is not physically present at the scene; second, when a search warrant is served electronically to a remote provider — for example a social-media company or telecommunications carrier — the in-person witness requirement would not apply provided a law-enforcement officer attests to the inventory’s accuracy and the provider supplies an electronic receipt or certification.
Hester told the committee that many warrants now are served to large companies that maintain digital logs, and those companies often provide certifications of their records. She gave examples such as records returned by carriers and social-media firms and said digital trails provide time-stamped evidence of production, which can be used to corroborate inventories in later proceedings.
Committee members asked about certification practices and chain-of-custody concerns; Hester said large corporations typically provide a certification of records and that the officer would attest to the request and receipt. The committee voted to advance SB411 by 'ought to pass' motion in executive session; the hearing transcript records voice votes but does not include a roll-call tally.
