18 U.S.C. § 3105
Section 3105 · Persons authorized to serve search warrant
Amended 1 time on record
Applied in 61 court decisions — leading case Wilson v. Layne (1999)
Most recently applied in People v. Ward (May 2020)
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
A search warrant may in all cases be served by any of the officers mentioned in its direction or by an officer authorized by law to serve such warrant, but by no other person, except in aid of the officer on his requiring it, he being present and acting in its execution.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Historical and Revision Notes
Based on title 18, U.S.C., 1940 ed., §617 (June 15, 1917, ch. 30, title XI, §7, 40 Stat. 229).
Minor change was made in phraseology.
Canal Zone
Applicability of section to Canal Zone, see section 14 of this title.
Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure
Search warrants and seizures, see rule 41, Appendix to this title.