Regulations
& Codified CSA > USC > Subchapter
I, Part E > Section 880
Section 880. Administrative Inspections and Warrants
Controlled premises defined
(a) As used in this section, the term "controlled premises" means --
(1) places where original or other records or documents required under this
subchapter are kept or required to be kept, and
(2) places, including factories, warehouses, and other establishments, and
conveyances, where persons registered under section 823 of this title (or exempt
from registration under section 822(d) of this title or by regulation of the Attorney
General) or regulated persons may lawfully hold, manufacture, distribute, dispense,
administer, or otherwise dispose of controlled substances or listed chemicals or
where records relating to those activities are maintained.
Grant of authority; scope of inspections
(b)(1) For the purpose of inspecting, copying, and verifying the correctness of records, reports, or
other documents required to be kept or made under this subchapter and otherwise facilitating the
carrying out of his functions under this subchapter, the Attorney General is authorized, in
accordance with this section, to enter controlled premises and to conduct administrative
inspections thereof, and of the things specified in this section, relevant to those functions.
(2) Such entries and inspections shall be carried out through officers or employees
(hereinafter referred to as "inspectors") designated by the Attorney General. Any
such inspector, upon stating his purpose and presenting to the owner, operator, or
agent in charge of such premises (A) appropriate credentials and (B) a written
notice of his inspection authority (which notice in the case of an inspection
requiring, or in fact supported by, an administrative inspection warrant shall consist
of such warrant), shall have the right to enter such premises and conduct such
inspection at reasonable times.
(3) Except as may otherwise be indicated in an applicable inspection warrant, the
inspector shall have the right --
(A) to inspect and copy records, reports, and other documents required to be kept or
made under this subchapter;
(B) to inspect, within reasonable limits and in a reasonable manner, controlled
premises and all pertinent equipment, finished and unfinished drugs, listed
chemicals, and other substances or materials, containers, and labeling found therein,
and, except as provided in paragraph (4) of this subsection, all other things therein
(including records, files, papers, processes, controls, and facilities) appropriate for
verification of the records, reports, and documents referred to in clause (A) or
otherwise bearing on the provisions of this subchapter; and
(C) to inventory any stock of any controlled substance or listed chemicals therein
and obtain samples of any such substance or chemical.
(4) Except when the owner, operator, or agent in charge of the controlled premises
so consents in writing, no inspection authorized by this section shall extend to --
(A) financial data;
(B) sales data other than shipment data; or
(C) pricing data.
Situations not requiring warrants
(c) A warrant under this section shall not be required for the inspection of books and records
pursuant to an administrative subpena issued in accordance with section 876 of this title, nor for
entries and administrative inspections (including seizures of property) --
(1) with the consent of the owner, operator, or agent in charge of the controlled
premises;
(2) in situations presenting imminent danger to health or safety;
(3) in situations involving inspection of conveyances where there is reasonable
cause to believe that the mobility of the conveyance makes it impracticable to
obtain a warrant;
(4) in any other exceptional or emergency circumstance where time or opportunity
to apply for a warrant is lacking; or
(5) in any other situations where a warrant is not constitutionally required.
Administrative inspection warrants; issuance; execution; probable cause
(d) Issuance and execution of administrative inspection warrants shall be as follows:
(1) Any judge of the United States or of a State court of record, or any United States
magistrate, may, within his territorial jurisdiction, and upon proper oath or
affirmation showing probable cause, issue warrants for the purpose of conducting
administrative inspections authorized by this subchapter or regulations thereunder,
and seizures of property appropriate to such inspections. For the purposes of this
section, the term "probable cause" means a valid public interest in the effective
enforcement of this subchapter or regulations thereunder sufficient to justify
administrative inspections of the area, premises, building, or conveyance, or
contents thereof, in the circumstances specified in the application for the warrant.
(2) A warrant shall issue only upon an affidavit of an officer or employee having
knowledge of the facts alleged, sworn to before the judge or magistrate and
establishing the grounds for issuing the warrant. If the judge or magistrate is
satisfied that grounds for the application exist or that there is probable cause to
believe they exist, he shall issue a warrant identifying the area, premises, building,
or conveyance to be inspected, the purpose of such inspection, and, where
appropriate, the type of property to be inspected, if any. The warrant shall identify
the items or types of property to be seized, if any. The warrant shall be directed to a
person authorized under subsection (b)(2) of this section to execute it. The warrant
shall state the grounds for its issuance and the name of the person or persons whose
affidavit has been taken in support thereof. It shall command the person to whom it
is directed to inspect the area, premises, building, or conveyance identified for the
purpose specified, and, where appropriate, shall direct the seizure of the property
specified. The warrant shall direct that it be served during normal business hours.
It shall designate the judge or magistrate to whom it shall be returned.
(3) A warrant issued pursuant to this section must be executed and returned within
ten days of its date unless, upon a showing by the United States of a need therefor,
the judge or magistrate allows additional time in the warrant. If property is seized
pursuant to a warrant, the person executing the warrant shall give to the person
from whom or from whose premises the property was taken a copy of the warrant
and a receipt for the property taken or shall leave the copy and receipt at the place
from which the property was taken. The return of the warrant shall be made
promptly and shall be accompanied by a written inventory of any property taken.
The inventory shall be made in the presence of the person executing the warrant
and of the person from whose possession or premises the property was taken, if
they are present, or in the presence of at least one credible person other than the
person making such inventory, and shall be verified by the person executing the
warrant. The judge or magistrate, upon request, shall deliver a copy of the
inventory to the person from whom or from whose premises the property was taken
and to the applicant for the warrant.
(4) The judge or magistrate who has issued a warrant under this section shall attach
to the warrant a copy of the return and all papers filed in connection therewith and
shall file them with the clerk of the district court of the United States for the
judicial district in which the inspection was made.
(Pub. L. 91-513, Title II, Section 510, Oct. 27, 1970, 84 Stat. 1274; Pub.L. 101-647, Title
XXXV, Section 3599M, Nov. 29, 1990, 104 Stat. 4932.)
EDITORIAL NOTES
Change of Name of United States Magistrates. United States magistrates appointed under
section 631 of Title 28, Judiciary and Judicial Procedure, to be known as United States
magistrate judge after Dec. 1, 1990, with any reference to any United States magistrate or
magistrate contained in Title 28, in any other Federal statute, etc., deemed to refer to a United
States magistrate judge appointed under section 631 of Title 28, see section 321 of Pub.L.
101-650, set out as a note under section 631 of Title 28.
Code of Federal Regulations
Controlled drugs, warnings, see 21 CFR 290.5 et seq.
Administrative functions, practices, and procedures, see 21 CFR 1316.01 et seq.
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