725 ILCS 5/108-1 – Search Without Warrant

725 ILCS 5/108-1 – Search Without Warrant

This law explains when a police officer may search someone without a warrant after arresting them.

This statute says that when police arrest someone legally, they can search that person and the area nearby to keep safe, stop escape, or find evidence of a crime. It also says officers cannot search a car or its passengers just because of a seat belt violation.

(1) When someone is lawfully arrested, a police officer may search that person and the nearby area for these reasons:

1. To protect the officer from being attacked.
2. To stop the person from escaping.
3. To find stolen items or evidence from the crime.
4. To find any tools, objects, or things that might have been used to commit a crime or could serve as evidence.

(2) (Blank)

(3) A police officer cannot search or inspect a car, its contents, the driver, or any passenger just because someone broke the seat belt law.

View the full statute here.

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