The housing contract and the Fourth Amendment are two different doors.

Wayne State's move in window closed yesterday and classes start Monday, which means several thousand students in Detroit are spending this weekend in a room rented from a landlord that also writes the rules, employs the police, and runs a disciplinary system of its own. Nearly all of them signed a housing agreement letting staff enter for health and safety reasons, read it as fine print, and won't think about it again until somebody knocks. The distinction worth knowing before that happens is that a contractual right to enter a room and a legal right to search it aren't the same thing.

Does the Fourth Amendment apply in a dorm room?

Yes, at a public university like Wayne State or the University of Michigan Dearborn, because for privacy purposes the room is the student's home while they live in it. That means a search aimed at finding evidence of a crime generally needs a warrant, valid consent, or one of the recognized exceptions, and the fact that the university owns the building doesn't remove the protection any more than a landlord's ownership removes it from an apartment.

Then why can an RA come in?

Because the housing agreement says so, and that's a different kind of entry. Universities reserve the right to enter for health and safety inspections, maintenance, welfare checks, and policy enforcement, and a student agrees to that as a condition of living there. What the agreement doesn't do is convert every entry into a general search for evidence, since the reason for the entry is supposed to set its limits, and an inspection looking for a prohibited appliance isn't an invitation to go through a closed bag.

Are campus police actually police?

They are, and this catches students off guard more than anything else on this page. MCL 390.1512 gives the public safety officers of a Michigan institution of higher education the powers and authority of peace and police officers on property owned or leased by the school, wherever it sits in the state, and on the public rights of way running alongside it. Their reports go to the same prosecutor and their arrests produce the same charges, so a case that starts with a campus officer ends up in a district court like any other.

What does consent do?

It removes the need for a warrant, which is why so much turns on the thirty seconds at the door. A student who steps aside and says go ahead has consented, and consent given that way is hard to take back after the fact, though it can be limited and it can be withdrawn while a search is under way. A roommate complicates it further, since a person who shares a space can generally consent to a search of the areas they share, which is not the same as consenting to your locked drawer or your side of a room you don't share.

What usually gets charged?

The common ones are alcohol offenses, small possession cases, and identification offenses, and each of them has a life outside the residence hall. A minor in possession is its own charge with its own record, which we cover in minor in possession in Michigan, and a borrowed license or a bought ID is a felony here rather than a college story, as we explain in fake ID charges. For students in that age range, the Holmes Youthful Trainee Act is often the most important thing on the table, because it can keep a conviction off the public record entirely.

The conduct hearing is a separate case

The university's process moves faster than the court's, uses a lower standard of proof, and can suspend or remove a student while a criminal charge is still pending. It also isn't confidential in the way students assume, so an explanation offered to a conduct officer can end up quoted in a police report, which is the same problem we describe in what to do when police want to question you. Both cases need to be handled with the other one in view, and our criminal defense practice does exactly that. The consultation is free, so call before the hearing, not after it.

Quick answers

Can an RA search my dorm room?

A housing agreement generally lets staff enter for health, safety, maintenance, or policy reasons, and that's an administrative entry rather than a criminal search. The purpose of the entry is supposed to define its scope, but anything in plain view during a lawful entry can still be reported.

Do campus police need a warrant to search a dorm room?

Generally yes, unless the student consents or an exception applies. At a public university the student keeps a reasonable expectation of privacy in the room, and MCL 390.1512 makes university public safety officers police officers, so the usual rules for police searches apply to them.

Can my roommate let police into our room?

A roommate can usually consent to a search of the areas you share. That generally doesn't extend to your locked or personal spaces, though the line depends on the facts, including what the officers were told and what the room looks like.

Related reading

• Police Want to Question You? Know Your Rights
• HYTA: Michigan's Second Chance Law
• Criminal Defense at D.C. Law