Office of Accreditation & Teacher Quality

Student Rights & Responsibilities

Police in Schools
**** AN IMPORTANT CAVEAT **** 

The general principles outlined above about searches of students may not apply when law enforcement are involved or present during the search.  Even if law enforcement are not directly involved, but school personnel are acting as agents of law enforcement, the principles are different.  When law enforcement is involved in a search of students or school property, at a minimum, there must be probable cause to search.  However, with regard to law enforcement utilizing a drug dog on school property, see section on Search by Drug-Sniffing Dogs.

Moreover, if students are questioned by law enforcement about a potential crime to which they are a suspect or witness, the student may have the right to counsel and to have the parents informed about the student’s status prior to questioning.  The student does not have to talk to law enforcement personnel.

When the investigation involves child abuse, the parents may or may not be notified as provided by South Dakota law.  Finally, law enforcement may arrive at the school with a search or arrest warrant,  Schools in consultation with their legal counsel should have formal policies in place about law enforcement’s access to students during school hours.

Under certain circumstances, individualized reasonable suspicion may not be necessary before conducting a search by school personnel.