TWRA Won’t Appeal Ruling Barring Warrantless Searches of Private Land

The Tennessee Wildlife Resource Agency has decided it will not appeal a recent ruling by the Tennessee Supreme Court barring state wildlife officers from accessing private lands without the landowner’s explicit permission or a court-ordered search warrant.

According to newschannel9.com, the court case came about after Terry Rainwaters and Hunter Hollingsworth found hidden cameras on their western Tennessee property in 2018 and sued TWRA for violating their rights under the state constitution.

Before that case, TWRA wildlife law enforcement officers say they were allowed to set up cameras under the Open Fields Doctrine, which was established in 1924 when the U.S. Supreme Court held that the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution does not protect any land beyond the home and its immediate surrounding area. The court reaffirmed the doctrine in 1984 when it held that property owners have no “reasonable expectation of privacy” on any land the court deems to be an “open field.”

Wildlife law enforcers in many states and federal wildlife law enforcers have used the Open Fields Doctrine to search private property.

However, after claiming the doctrine violates the Tennessee Constitution, Institute for Justice attorneys representing Rainwaters and Hollingsworth won their court battles, including the most recent decision from the Tennessee Court of Appeals.

Rainwaters and Hollingsworth's attorney told News Channel 9, "I think the best way to describe how my clients feel is safe. They can go and find some solitude, and that was destroyed by not only finding government cameras on their land, spying on them, but by government officials coming on and roaming around."

In a written statement, TWRA Executive Director Jason Maxedon said, “We respect the Attorney General’s decision not to appeal the case. When TWRA was founded 75 years ago, nearly all big-game species had been hunted to the brink of survival. It was hunters who came together to self-regulate and allow inspection of private property to prevent bad actors from stealing wildlife from their neighbors and the state.”

TWRA spokesperson Emily Buck said in an e-mail to News Channel 9, “TWRA is currently working with the Attorney General’s office for further clarity on TWRA’s right to inspect hunters. The agency will have new policy and procedures in place by the opening of dove season in September. TWRA already has a landowner consent process implemented for game wardens to enter private property, and all wardens have received additional search warrant training.”

Wayne Rich, a retired Tennessee wildlife officer with 37 years of experience, told News Channel 9, “I'm disappointed, but of course, I've been disappointed in the (TWRA) administration since before I retired. I know the officers have to abide by the directives they're given, but this is going to be detrimental to the wildlife. It will keep officers from working illegal baiting, deer spotlighting and other wildlife cases. Of course, I've given (my local wildlife officer) permission to access my own land anytime he wants to.”

In an Institute for Justice news release, Rainwaters said, “This final victory has been a long time coming. For too long, TWRA officers have treated my private land like public property. But in Tennessee, our land just means more. It’s part of who we are. And to hear the court say that our land deserves protection from TWRA’s warrantless intrusions makes me proud to be a Tennessean.”

“Finding out you were under illegal surveillance on your private property for months is a hard pill to swallow,” Hollingsworth said. “Thanks to the countless hours of work from Jack Leonard, Josh Windham, and the Institute for Justice, Tennesseans don't have to swallow that pill anymore! Lots of sacrifices were made by all involved, but Bear Bryant said it best: ‘The price of victory is high, but so are the rewards.’"

The Institute for Justice said it is now litigating similar cases against open fields doctrines in Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Louisiana.