By: Rebecca McCutcheon
A federal judge has ruled in favor of a Cowley County couple who sued the State of Kansas over its kennel inspection practices, saying the state’s warrantless searches of such facilities violate the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
The lawsuit was filed by the Kansas Justice Institute in October 2022 on behalf of Scott Johnson and his wife, Harlene Hoyt, owners of Covey Find Kennel located about five miles east of Winfield on U.S. 160. The lawsuit alleged that state inspections under the 2018 Kansas Pet Animal Act violated constitutional rights protecting people from warrantless searches of property.
The state defended the inspections, stating that kennels fall under the “pervasively regulated industry” exception to the Fourth Amendment’s prohibition of warrantless searches.
U.S. District Judge Kathryn H. Vratil rejected the state’s argument that warrantless inspections of training kennels were justified, warning that such logic “could essentially turn any industry into a closely regulated one and swallow the rule” that the government must obtain a warrant before conducting a search, according to a news release about the ruling issued by the Kansas Justice Institute.
At issue were two counts, one alleging that the warrantless searches violate the plaintiffs’ Fourth Amendment rights, and that compelled consent coerces the plaintiffs to waive their Fourth Amendment rights in exchange for a license, therefore violating the unconstitutional conditions doctrine.
The ruling issues an injunction prohibiting the state from conducting surprise, routine warrantless inspections of boarding and training kennel operators, and boarding and training kennel premises. The state is also prohibited from penalizing a kennel operator by attempting to conduct a surprise, routine warrantless inspection, or due to a kennel operators, refusal or failure to make their facility or records available for an inspection.
The lawsuit had been dismissed in 2023, when Vratil agreed with the Kansas attorney generals’ office that the Kansas Pet Animal Act does not violate the Fourth Amendment protection against searches without a warrant. Johnson and Hoyt appealed the dismissal, and their lawsuit was reinstated.
“This is a landmark victory for Scott and Harlene—and for every American who values the sanctity of their home,” said Sam MacRoberts, litigation director for Kansas Justice Institute, in the institute’s press release about the ruling. “The Constitution’s promise that our homes are our castles was upheld—and rightly so.”
“We are pleased that the federal court saw things our way,” Johnson said in the news release. “The wellbeing of the animals in our care is priority one around here, our clients know and appreciate that about us. This will come as a relief to other trainers and boarding kennels around the state.”