§ 644:21 — Searches of Portable Electronic Devices

I. Definitions. In this section:
(a) "Government entity" means a federal, state, county, or local government agency, including but not limited to a law enforcement agency or any other investigative entity, agency, department, division, bureau, board, or commission, or an individual acting or purporting to act for, or on behalf of, a federal, state, county, or local government agency. "Government entity" shall not apply to a federal government agency to the extent that federal statute preempts state statute.
(b) "Information" includes any information concerning the substance or meaning or purported substance or meaning of a communication, including without limitation the name and address of the sender and receiver and the time, date, location, and duration of the communication.
(c) "Portable electronic device" means any portable device that is capable of creating, receiving, accessing, or storing electronic data or communications, including but not limited to cellular telephones.
II. No information contained in a portable electronic device shall be subject to search by a government entity, including a search incident to a lawful arrest or for inventory purposes, except pursuant to a warrant signed by a judge and based on probable cause, or pursuant to a legally-recognized exception to the warrant requirement. A portable electronic device searched pursuant to this paragraph shall be returned to its owner as expeditiously as possible.
III. Evidence obtained in violation of this section shall not be admissible in a criminal, civil, administrative, or other proceeding, except as proof of a violation of this section.
IV. A person injured by a government entity as a result of a violation of this section may file civil suit against the government entity.

Legislative History

2014, 184:1, eff. July 1, 2014.