Can they search the whole house if I'm just renting a room at this house

Do you have access to the whole house?

Yes, that's how they find hidden things..

If you have access to the whole house, then yes, they can search the whole house. I'm sure you don't just stay in the room. I'm sure you go to the bathroom, or use the kitchen, and maybe even sit in the family room to watch TV or read.

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Originally Posted by Wondergirl

Do you have access to the whole house?

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Yes however the other two rooms that are not mine don't have locks on doors but I don't freely go in them because one is my friends room and the other is her moms room.

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Originally Posted by Alty

If you have access to the whole house, then yes, they can search the whole house. I'm sure you don't just stay in the room. I'm sure you go to the bathroom, or use the kitchen, and maybe even sit in the family room to watch TV or read.

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I use kitchen , bathroom, and garage

Since you have access to them, yes they can search any and all rooms in the house.
If they find illegal things, like drugs, anywhere in the house, you will be considered to have custody of it.

A common condition of probation is to not be around certain people, places and things so searching the whole house, and even scrutinizing those you live with very closely, whether you have access or associations with or not, is policy and procedure.

You may not be charged, but anything they find illegal or questionable, big or small, can endanger your probation.

It should also be noted that, as a condition of OP being allowed to stay in the house, the other people who live there may have been required to agree that their rooms also be subject to search. OP really doesn't have standing to assert any privacy interests of those other people; they would have to object to a search of their rooms.

The idea that bedrooms in a house are 'private' because you don't go in them doesn't hold weight as unreasonable search and seizure.
If the house were a registered rooming house with locks on bedroom doors, you'd have an expectation of not searching those rooms.

The legal question I see is what would happen if another bedroom yielded some illegal object, when that person was not of concern to the police.
I think I have seen this come up before on tv shows about the law.
I think the answer is 'it depends.' YOU could be charged for that found object, being the reason for the search, depending on various factors.
So... hiding things in the house is fruitless. But that's not why you are asking, is it? The friend and her mother are nervous? They should be.
I imagine that if you do absolutely nothing to cause concern, including being on time, not associating with certain people/places, and taking all classes, then a search of the house won't happen.

I do have to ask. Why are you worried about this? Unless you have something to hide, or they people you're living with have something to hide, then what's the big deal? If there's nothing to find, they won't find anything. This only becomes a problem if there's something to find, and it's found.

Hello Vanessa:

I'm late to the party, but I have stuff to contribute..

Let's talk about a LOCKED box the PO finds in your roommates room. Is IT subject to search?? If the PO opens it, and finds drugs, CAN you be charged or violated??

My answer is an emphatic NO..

excon