Johnson County to consider Fourth Amendment workplace search protections resolution

IOWA CITY — The Johnson County Board of Supervisors will consider adopting a resolution next week to affirm the county’s commitment to upholding protections outlined in the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

The Fourth Amendment provides protections against “unreasonable searches and seizures.”

The county resolution outlines certain procedures for the county, including directing its employees to request to see a search warrant before granting access to private areas within county buildings.

“It is about your personal rights and as it pertains to the workplace,” Supervisor V Fixmer-Oraiz said at a board work session this week. “This resolution is trying to show that we have a responsibility as employers to obviously uphold the constitution. This does not violate or bypass any state or federal laws.”

A majority of board members indicated support for the resolution, but the board won’t formally vote on it until Dec. 18. Requests for the county to approve such a resolution came from community members after the arrest of Jorge Elieser Gonzalez Ochoa by plainclothes federal agents at Bread Garden Market in downtown Iowa City in September.

“Executive Branch law enforcement agencies including Immigration & Customs Enforcement have recently engaged in a pattern of unconstitutional, warrantless workplace searches, which have disrupted small businesses, courts, and local communities in many counties, including Johnson County …” a draft of the resolution reads.

Similar Fourth Amendment resolutions have been passed by other local governments around the country, including the Durham, N.C. City Council.

County policy guidelines, community support

Calls for a resolution were initiated by Escucha Mi Voz, an Iowa City-based nonprofit that advocates for immigrant rights, and county staff who were seeking clear guidance on how to handle a search request from federal law enforcement.

Under the resolution, it would be county policy for employees to ask to see a search warrant for access to any area not open to the public within county buildings. The resolution also would direct employees to seek guidance from the County Attorney’s Office should questions about a warrant arise.

The county also would post signage at entrances to buildings explicitly stating that a search warrant is required for access to “non-public work areas.”

The resolution also seeks to affirm the county’s commitment to constitutional rights training, rental assistance and legal aid for “… vulnerable populations impacted by the Administration’s mass deportation policies, to the extent allowable under law,” either directly or in partnership with community organizations.

Additionally, the resolution would encourage other employers in the county to adopt similar protocols.

“All workers deserve to feel safe from warrantless ICE raids at work and we demand Johnson County pass a strong resolution now,” Eva Castro, an Escucha Mi Voz member, said in statement following the work session.

Download: JoCo Resolution.pdf

Comments: megan.woolard@thegazette.com

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