Police in Iowa can now rummage through your curbside garbage without a warrant.

According to a Des Moines Register report, the Iowa Supreme Court on June 13 upheld a 2023 law permitting warrantless trash searches.

The decision reverses a 2021 ruling that had recognized a privacy interest in garbage placed at the curb. That earlier split opinion broke with federal courts by extending constitutional protections under the state constitution. Conservatives hailed the reversal as a legislative check on judicial overreach.

Legislature Enacts Curbs On Privacy Claims

In response to the 2021 opinion, lawmakers passed a bill declaring that Iowans “have no reasonable expectation of privacy in garbage placed outside of the person’s residence for waste collection in a publicly accessible area.” This provision explicitly preempted local ordinances that barred third parties from scavenging curbside trash. The statute also deemed curbside garbage “abandoned,” stripping away any ownership claims.

Under the new law, descriptions of private property were supplanted by uniform state rules on waste. Legislative sponsors argued that citizens must choose a municipal collection to comply with sanitation codes. Critics warned this forced surrender of privacy rights amounted to legislative overreach.

The bill took effect in 2023, clearing the way for police to search trash based on tips without first obtaining a warrant. Supporters pointed to drug investigations that relied on discarded evidence. Opponents challenged the statute in court, arguing it contravened the state constitution.

Case That Sparked Controversy

The dispute centered on a Des Moines investigation into alleged drug trafficking by Charles Amble and John Mandracchia. Officers followed a tip and rifled through the men’s curbside cans, seizing evidence that led to felony drug charges. Amble and Mandracchia moved to suppress the findings, asserting the 2023 law violated their constitutional rights.

A district court sided with the defendants, holding that the legislature could not override the Supreme Court’s interpretation of the state constitution. That decision threatened to nullify enforcement of the trash-search law statewide. The state immediately appealed.

On June 13, the Iowa Supreme Court reversed the lower court’s order, ruling six to one that the searches and the enabling statute are constitutional. The majority included the author of the original 2021 opinion, signaling a full shift in legal footing. Only Justice Matthew McDermott dissented.

Majority Defends Statutory Power

Justice Thomas Waterman wrote for the majority that the 2021 ruling had hinged on a Clear Lake ordinance prohibiting noncollectors from taking curbside trash. The 2023 law, he noted, expressly preempts such local rules and declares garbage abandoned once placed for collection. “Nothing in Wright precludes the legislature from conclusively declaring that Iowans have abandoned any ownership rights in trash,” Waterman wrote.

By defining when property is abandoned, the legislature exercised its authority to shape public policy. The majority held that declaring trash abandoned does not conflict with the constitution’s property-rights provisions. They concluded that warrantless searches of abandoned items fall outside the scope of protected “effects.”

The court also emphasized that residents opting for city pickup implicitly consign their waste. Waterman rejected the notion that mandatory collection equates to retained ownership. As a result, law enforcement may now rely on tips rather than warrants to inspect curbside cans.

Dissent Warns Of Constitutional Erosion

In dissent, Justice McDermott argued that the 2021 court had independently recognized a privacy interest in garbage, regardless of local ordinances. “The legislature’s disagreement with our determination that people do have a reasonable expectation of privacy…does not override our court’s prerogative to interpret and apply the constitution,” he wrote. He warned that the majority’s approach lets lawmakers sidestep constitutional protections by redefining key terms.

McDermott further challenged the “abandoned” label, noting that residents lack practical alternatives to municipal trash service. He asserted that homeowners simply convey property to collectors, not abandon it. By allowing the legislature to erase constitutional rights through ordinary statutes, he concluded, the court undermines its role as guardian of the state charter.

Attorneys for Mandracchia and Amble declined to comment, and the Iowa Attorney General’s Office did not respond to inquiries. With the Supreme Court’s ruling, warrantless trash searches are now firmly established under Iowa law.