Art. 162.4 Search of a person's place of residence; odor of marijuana

If a police officer smells marijuana coming from your home, that smell alone is not enough for them to search your house without a warrant. The officer needs more evidence than just the odor to justify a warrantless search of where you live.

This rule gives extra protection to people's homes specifically. It means officers can't use "I smelled weed" as their only reason to bypass the normal warrant process and search your residence. They would need additional facts or evidence, along with the smell, to have probable cause for a warrantless search, or they need to get a warrant first.

This protection applies only to a person's place of residence. It does not automatically extend to cars, bags, or other places where marijuana odor might still be used differently by law enforcement under separate rules.