Wash. Rev. Code » Title 10 · Chapter 10.79
Revised Code of Washington

Wash. Rev. Code § 10.79.080 (2025)

Strip, body cavity searches—Warrant, authorization, report

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(1) No person may be subjected to a body cavity search by or at the direction of a law enforcement agency unless a search warrant is issued pursuant to superior court criminal rules.
(2) No law enforcement officer may seek a warrant for a body cavity search without first obtaining specific authorization for the body cavity search from the ranking shift supervisor of the law enforcement authority. Authorization for the body cavity search may be obtained electronically.
(3) Before any body cavity search is authorized or conducted, a thorough pat-down search, a thorough electronic metal-detector search, and a thorough clothing search, where appropriate, must be used to search for and seize any evidence of a crime, contraband, fruits of crime, things otherwise criminally possessed, weapons, or other things by means of which a crime has been committed or reasonably appears about to be committed. No body cavity search shall be authorized or conducted unless these other methods do not satisfy the safety, security, or evidentiary concerns of the law enforcement agency.
(4) A law enforcement officer requesting a body cavity search shall prepare and sign a report regarding the body cavity search. The report shall include:
(a) A copy of the written authorization required under subsection (2) of this section;
(b) A copy of the warrant and any supporting documents required under subsection (1) of this section;
(c) The name and sex of all persons conducting or observing the search;
(d) The time, date, place, and description of the search; and
(e) A statement of the results of the search and a list of any items removed from the person as a result of the search.
The report shall be retained as part of the law enforcement agency's records.
[ 2020 c 57 s 25; 1983 1st ex.s. c 42 s 3.]

Notes:

Effective date—Severability—1983 1st ex.s. c 42: See notes following RCW 10.79.060.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 4 cases, 1991–2020 · leading case: State v. Audley, 894 P.2d 1359 (Wash. Ct. App. 1995).
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State v. Audley, 894 P.2d 1359 (Wash. Ct. App. 1995). “140(2), written permission is required to conduct a strip search where reasonable suspicion is not deemed automatically present under RCW 10.”
State v. Jones, 887 P.2d 461 (Wash. Ct. App. 1995). · cites it 2× “RCW 10.79.080(1). *598 Here, when Jones bent over a small portion of the tube protruded from his anus, and Officer Connor retrieved it by touching that extended portion.”
State v. Colin, 809 P.2d 228 (Wash. Ct. App. 1991). “RCW 10.79.080; RCW 10.79.100(6). Here, the body search for contraband did not involve any bodily touching, was done in the privacy of a room where it was not observed by persons not involved in the search, was performed by persons of the same sex, pursuant to a search warrant.”
State of Washington v. Rico Odell Davis, No. 36561-1 (Wash. Ct. App. Aug. 4, 2020). “RCW 10.79.080(1). Cavity searches must be conducted by trained health care professionals.”
Wash. Rev. Code § 10.79.080(1): 2 cases
State v. Jones, 887 P.2d 461 (Wash. Ct. App. 1995). “RCW 10.79.080(1). *598 Here, when Jones bent over a small portion of the tube protruded from his anus, and Officer Connor retrieved it by touching that extended portion.”
State of Washington v. Rico Odell Davis, No. 36561-1 (Wash. Ct. App. Aug. 4, 2020). “RCW 10.79.080(1). Cavity searches must be conducted by trained health care professionals.”
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