§3103a Additional grounds for issuing warrant

Summary

A judge may issue a warrant to search for and take things that are evidence of a federal crime. The judge can delay telling the owner about the search if the judge finds reason to believe telling them right away could cause an "adverse result" (as defined in section 2705), except when the only bad effect would be delaying a trial. A warrant can also stop the seizure of physical items, live wire or electronic communications (see section 2510), or stored electronic information (except as chapter 121 allows), unless the court says it is necessary to seize them. Any delayed notice must be set to happen within a reasonable time, no later than 30 days after the search, unless the case facts justify a longer delay. The court can extend a delayed notice for good cause, but each extension needs a new showing of need and should be for 90 days or less unless the facts justify more time. No later than 30 days after a delayed-notice warrant ends or is denied, the judge must tell the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts that a warrant was requested, whether it was granted, changed, or denied, how long notice was delayed and any extensions, and the offense named. Starting with the fiscal year ending September 30, 2007, the Administrative Office must send Congress an annual summary with counts of these requests and outcomes. The Office, with the Attorney General, may make binding rules about what those reports must look like.