FLORENCE — Challenging an Alabama statute that permits game wardens to search private property without a warrant, three northwest Alabama residents filed suit Tuesday in Lauderdale County Circuit Court.
Killen residents Dalton Boley and Regina Williams, and Muscle Shoals resident Dale Liles joined the Institute for Justice to file the lawsuit after each faced multiple privacy intrusions from Alabama game wardens.
Named in the suit are Chris Blankenship, commissioner of the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources; Charles Sykes, director of Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries, Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources; Chad Howell, in his personal capacity and in his official capacity as game warden, Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources; Jarrod Poole, in his personal capacity and in his official capacity as game warden, Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources; and “unknown officer,” in his personal capacity and in his official capacity as game warden, Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.
The landowners are seeking compensation in the amount of $1 from the game wardens to Boley, Williams and Liles for each trespass committed.
Neither Boley, Williams nor Liles has ever been charged with any hunting violations, yet they claim game wardens have snooped around on their properties without warrants on multiple occasions.
That’s because of an Alabama statute that allows game wardens to “enter upon any land … in the performance of their duty.”
Whether it’s a posted field or residential yard, the statute gives wardens broad power to roam around private property without any warrant.
However, the three claim that provision violates the state Constitution.
“The Alabama Constitution makes it clear that if the government wants to come searching on your property, they need a warrant based on probable cause, and game wardens are not exempt from the Constitution,” said Institute for Justice attorney Suranjan Sen.
The invasion of Williams’ and Boley’s privacy began in 2024, they said.
Williams owns 10 acres in Killen, which she has lived on her entire life. For decades, Williams said she used the backyard for outdoor recreation, but as she has gotten older, she’s been less able to enjoy the land herself.
She said she gave Boley, her neighbor, and his kids permission to use the land. Then, in February 2024, they said game wardens started intruding on the property.
“This used to be a place where I could come to relax and get away from it all, but now that I know someone could be snooping around, I find it hard to just go there and relax,” said Boley.
In November 2024, Williams said game wardens once again returned to her property. This time, they told Boley they had been watching the land and gave him a warning for baiting deer.
But Boley denied ever baiting deer and has only shot one deer on the land with a bow, more than a year before that.
Since that time, Boley — a military veteran who used to use the property as a place to relieve stress — said he has stopped using the land for his personal meditation and has kept a closer eye on his sons when they use it.
In Muscle Shoals, Liles owns and leases a combined 86 acres with sprawling fields, marshes and swamps. Unlike Boley and Williams, Liles does use his land for hunting with his kids and grandkids.
He said there are two entrances to the property: a private gravel road and a gated entrance. Liles said he first saw a game warden’s truck parked on his land in August 2018. He said he tried to talk to the warden, but he sped away.
Six years later, also in November, a neighbor sent Liles a photo of another game warden parked on his property. Once again, Liles said he tried to talk to the warden, but once again, the warden sped away.
Since that time, Liles said he has put up “no trespassing” signs and installed a camera at the entrance, which, in January, captured another game warden attempting to drive onto his property, before seeing the camera and turning around.
“I’m all about preserving our wildlife and great outdoors — that’s why I’m the president of my local Ducks Unlimited chapter,” Liles said. “But game wardens still have to respect people’s rights.
“Aside from my own privacy concerns, I don’t like that the wardens don’t wear orange when they’re roaming around. It makes it very dangerous when you’re hunting with rifles and people aren’t wearing colors that make them easy to see.”
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