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Appeals court says no dorm patrols

Shawn Vestal
Staff writer
July 9, 2008

Washington State University’s police officers have no legal authority to conduct random patrols of dormitory hallways, the state Court of Appeals has ruled – arguing that, constitutionally, dorm hallways are like the inside of a private home.

Now WSU and the state’s other universities must consider what to do in light of the June 26 ruling, since all of them conduct some form of regular patrols of dorm hallways. WSU went so far as to rewrite its regulations to allow the patrols after it lost the case in Whitman County Superior Court in spring 2006 – something that defense attorney Tim Esser argues was an attempt to circumvent the Constitution.

“You would think that an institution of higher learning would be dedicated to the rule of law,” Esser said. “For WSU to think it can rewrite some regulations to get around the Fourth Amendment is bizarre.”

WSU will be reviewing the ruling and its policies in the months before fall classes begin. The university said in a prepared statement that its top priority is student safety; the statement notes that the court’s ruling mentions the WSU revision but doesn't indicate how it might be affected.

“That being said, we have been in the process of reviewing our policies regarding the police presence in the residence halls and will continue to do so in the light of this ruling,” according to the WSU statement.

Whitman County prosecutor Byron Bedirian, who argued the state’s side of the case, did not return a call seeking comment Monday.

The case was one of two that were thrown out by Whitman County Superior Court Judge David Frazier on the basis that a campus police officer had overstepped by roaming the hallways and listening and sniffing at students’ doors.

The officer, Matthew Kuhrt, was investigating a burglary in the east tower of the Stephenson dorm complex in the early morning of Feb. 11, 2006. Searching the dorm floors, he stopped at a sixth-floor door when he heard music and voices.

He first tried what the appeals court called a “ruse” to draw the suspects into the hall – covering the peephole, knocking and saying, “Let me in, this is Matt.” He eventually identified himself as an officer, and a student, Jacob Houvener, opened the door. The stolen property, a laptop and a guitar, were found in the room and Houvener was charged with burglary.

Whitman County Superior Court Judge David Frazier dismissed the charges, ruling that Houvener had a reasonable expectation of privacy in the hallways of his residence hall. Frazier noted that students on a dorm floor share bathroom facilities and other common areas, and that public access is limited to residents and guests.

WSU halted its random dorm patrols after those rulings, at least long enough to go through the process of rewriting its regulations. Officials said that access to the dorm hallways by police officers was important for student safety and criminal investigations, and the patrols have continued.

The appeals court agreed with Frazier’s “thoughtful” ruling, arguing that “the residents of the sixth-floor share a study area and a bathroom, and they are viewed as a living group independent of residents of other floors. … Because of the intimate nature of activities in the hallway – most remarkably, towel-clad residents navigating the hallways to and from the shared shower facilities – it is reasonable to hold that this area is protected.”

The ruling by the three-judge panel was unanimous. However, Appellate Judge Stephen M. Brown wrote a concurring opinion in which he disagreed that campus police lack the legal authority to enter dorm hallways but agreed that the officer in this case overstepped by eavesdropping and ordering Houvener to open the door without a warrant.

But the main ruling defined the issue more broadly – not only did Kuhrt overstep in the Houvener case, but students in his situation have a constitutional expectation of privacy in dorm hallways.

“The sixth-floor student residents have a right to privacy in the hallway they share,” the court wrote. The officer “had no greater right, absent a warrant or consent, than a private citizen to act in the manner that they did.”

It’s not clear whether WSU or the prosecutor’s office would seek a review by the state Supreme Court, or how the ruling might play out specifically at the state’s colleges. Campus police officers at WSU, the University of Washington, Central and Eastern Washington universities all have conducted such dorm patrols, officials have said.

Esser said that if colleges proceed with the patrols, they risk having important criminal cases thrown out of court.

“If you are a resident at WSU,” he said, “that hallway is part of your home.”

Shawn Vestal can be reached at (509) 459-5431 or shawnv@spokesman.com.

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