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Authority to Initiate a Student Search

Reasonable Suspicion

To initiate a lawful search, a public school official must have a reasonable suspicion of all of the following:

     1. A crime or school-rule violation has been or is being committed;

     2. A particular student has committed a crime or school-rule violation;

     3. Physical evidence of the suspected crime or school-rule violation is likely to
         exist; and

     4. Physical evidence would likely be found in a particular place associated with
         the student suspected of committing the crime or school-rule violation.

Factors Justifying a Student Search

The following are examples of relevant factors in determining whether a reasonable suspicion exists to initiate a student search.

• Sometimes, one factor by itself is sufficient to create a reasonable suspicion (e.g., a teacher glimpses a weapon in a backpack);
   
• Other times, multiple factors must be present (e.g., a school official approaches an area where students frequently smoke cigarettes, and a student appears nervous, discards an object and attempts to flee).

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