by Drew Viguet, NALC Communications & Special Projects Coordinator
The National Agricultural Law Center’s Third Annual Western Water, Ag, and Environmental Law Conference will feature the return of two popular conference presenters: the Institute for Justice’s Robert Frommer, senior attorney, and Joshua Windham, attorney and Elfie Gallun Fellow in Freedom and the Constitution.
Frommer and Windham will present “Fourth Amendment and Agriculture: Warrantless Access to Ag & Private Rural Lands” at the Western in 2025. The conference will be held on June 19-20 at the Peppermill Resort Spa Casino in Reno, Nevada, and also available via livestream.
The Western Conference highlights water, ag, and environmental law topics that uniquely impact the ag industry in the Western U.S., with many having significant influence on the ag industry throughout the country. One such topic is the Fourth Amendment and warrantless searches of private property.
While the Fourth Amendment guarantees “the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures,” most private ag land is unprotected.
That is due to the open fields doctrine, which came out of the 1924 Supreme Court decision in Hester v. United States, allows for open fields to be subject to search without a warrant or probable cause. A subsequent 1984 Supreme Court decision in Oliver v. United States ruled that the open fields doctrine applies even when a “No Trespassing” sign is posted.
“The open fields doctrine, and other exceptions like it, treat private land like public property,” Frommer said. “These exceptions apply broadly, but have outsized effects on farmers and rural landowners. We are excited to discuss IJ’s fight to end the open fields doctrine and secure Americans’ rights over their own land at the 2025 Western Conference.”
A 2024 study co-authored by Windham for the Cato Institute stated that about 1.2 billion acres of private land in the country is essentially open to warrantless government access.
“Our research showed that, under current law, officials can search almost 96 percent of private land in the U.S. without a warrant or probable cause,” Windham said. “Rob and I look forward to sharing information at the Western from our experience working on warrantless search cases.”
NALC Director Harrison Pittman said that Frommer and Windham bring unique perspective and experience that conference participants are sure to learn from.
“They were immensely popular presenters at our 2024 Mid-South, so we are glad to have them back presenting to our audience at the Western,” he said. “This topic is one that is relevant across the country.”
Registration for the conference will open in January. More information on NALC conferences is available online.
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