Can your land be searched? Western conference session details Fourth Amendment and ag

FAYETTEVILLE — Two crowd-favorite presenters are returning to speak at a national agricultural conference — this time out West.
The Institute for Justice's Robert Frommer and Joshua Windham will present "Fourth Amendment and Agriculture: Warrantless Access to Ag & Private Rural Lands" at the Western Water, Ag & Environmental Law Conference. The conference is hosted by the National Agricultural Law Center and the NASDA Foundation. (Images courtesy Robert Frommer and Joshua Windham)
Senior Attorneys Robert Frommer and Joshua Windham of the Institute for Justice will present on the Fourth Amendment and agriculture at the 3rd Annual Western Water, Agricultural, and Environmental Law Conference. The two previously spoke in 2024 at the 11th Annual Mid-South Agricultural and Environmental Law Conference.
This year, the Western is co-hosted by the National Agricultural Law Center, or NALC, and the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture Foundation, or NASDA Foundation. Frommer and Windham will discuss the “Fourth Amendment and Agriculture: Warrantless Access to Ag & Private Rural Lands.” The conference is June 19-20 in Reno, Nevada, with a livestream option available. Registration is available at nationalaglawcenter.org/western2025.
The Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution guarantees “the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures.” However, Frommer and Windham have found that most private ag land in the country is unprotected by the Fourth Amendment.
“Thanks to the open fields doctrine, which was established in the 1924 Supreme Court case Hester v. United States, a majority of private agricultural land in the U.S. is unprotected by the Fourth Amendment,” said Frommer. “The open fields doctrine means that private land can be searched without warrant or probable cause. This leaves many Americans questioning their rights. We’ve seen it time and time again.”

A 2024 study co-authored by Windham for the Cato Institute stated that about 1.2 billion acres of U.S. private land is essentially open to warrantless government access.
“Almost 96 percent of private land in the U.S. can be searched without a warrant,” Windham said. “Robert and I have handled many cases involving farmers who have had their land searched without a warrant or probable cause. We’re looking forward to discussing this critical topic at the 3rd Annual Western. The information is crucial for agricultural stakeholders in Western states as well.”
Harrison Pittman, director of the NALC, said that Frommer and Windham distill important legal issues into effective, engaging presentations.
“Robert and Joshua are excellent presenters, as our attendees from last year’s Mid-South conference know,” he said. “We’re happy they’ll be sharing their expertise at the Western. The topic of warrantless search is relevant for stakeholders out West and beyond, and I know attendees will learn a lot from this presentation.”
The Western conference features continuing legal education credit, as well as continuing education from the American Society of Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers.