A federal lawsuit that alleges a city program to inspect rental homes is unconstitutional has been appealed to the U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals.
A pair of Lawrence tenants are continuing with the case, which claims that the city violated their Fourth Amendment rights guarding against unreasonable searches, said their attorney, Chris Miller.
"It raises constitutional questions anytime you have the government coming into homes uninvited," Miller said.
The complaints stem from a city program that requires rental homes in single-family neighborhoods to be inspected. City inspectors ask to enter the homes. But if they are denied access they can receive an administrative search warrant to inspect the homes for health and safety issues and for evidence of whether there are more than three unrelated individuals living in the home, which is a violation of a city ordinance.
A federal judge in October sided with the city that the administrative search warrants did not violate the Fourth Amendment. Toni Wheeler, the city's interim director of legal services, said the city would continue to defend itself in the lawsuit.
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