Drug-Sniffing Dogs & Traffic Stops

Police officers may need a search warrant if they want to deploy a drug-sniffing dog on your car. Prior to Rodriguez v. United States, the law was unclear about how long an officer can wait before deploying a drug-sniffing dog on a stopped motor vehicle. For example, the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals had held that 8 minutes was acceptable. In April 2015, the Supreme Court settled this issue by holding that the police officer’s authority to search and seize a person’s vehicle ends when the tasks tied to the traffic infraction are completed.

Read the case here >>