A North Dakota firefighter facing up to 50 years in prison for his involvement in child sex crimes, is seeking to have key evidence in the case suppressed because personal information on a work phone was searched without a warrant.

Robert Knuth, an assistant chief with the Minot Rural Fire Department, is currently facing three North Dakota felony charges:

• Two counts of use of a minor in a sexual performance, under N.D.C.C. § 12.1-27.2-02. Each is a Class A felony, carrying up to 20 years’ imprisonment and a $20,000 fine.
• One count of possession of certain prohibited materials, under N.D.C.C. § 12.1-27.2-04.1. It is charged as a Class B felony, carrying up to 10 years’ imprisonment and a $20,000 fine. The Class B enhancement can apply when, among other grounds, the material involves a prepubescent child or child under 12, or at least 20 images.

How the charges came to be filed is rather complicated. According to KFYR TV, Chief Knuth worked for the North Dakota Firefighter’s Association as a trainer, and was given an association owned phone.

In 2025, he was suspected of using association funds for his personal use, and opted to resign. The association allowed him to keep the work phone temporarily until he could acquire a personal phone. He turned in the work phone in April of 2025.

Citing a brief submitted by Chief Knuth’s attorney, Kyle Craig, KFYR TV reported that an investigator with the North Dakota Bureau of Criminal Investigation accessed Chief Knuth’s phone in March of 2026, examining both work and personal information. Search warrants were obtained afterwards, and the sex crime charges were filed on April 17, 2026. At present Chief Knuth has not been charged with regard to the personal use of association funds.

The BCI search related to the personal use of association funds appears to be what led to the discovery of the inappropriate material on the device. Craig has filed a motion to suppress and a brief in support of the motion, neither of which are available on the court’s web site. KFYR TV is reporting that Craig is arguing that case law establishes heightened privacy concerns with regard to personal information on cellphones.

That is absolutely true with regard to personal information on personally-owned cellphones. The key case is Riley v. California, 573 U.S. 373 (2014). North Dakota precedent may also be important. In State v. Valles, 2019 ND 108, 927 N.W.2d 404 (N.D., 2019), the North Dakota Supreme Court emphasized the exceptional privacy interests implicated by cellphones.

However, this was not a personally owned phone. The North Dakota Firefighter’s Association is neither a labor union nor a governmental entity. It is a nonprofit, charitable and educational membership association recognized as a 501(c)(3) organization. In other words, unlike a work phone belonging to a governmental entity, this phone was owned by a private party.

Some lower courts have concluded that a person can have a reasonable expectation of privacy in personal information on a work phone, United States v. Finley, 477 F.3d 250, 259–60 (5th Cir. 2007), overruled in part by Riley v. California, 573 U.S. 373 (2014). The Fifth Circuit also concluded that a firefighter can have a reasonable expectation of privacy in what is on a fire department owned computer, United States v. Slanina, 283 F.3d 670 (5th Cir. 2002).

Nonetheless, the standard Fourth Amendment questions with regard to reasonable expectations of privacy will need to be addressed: was there an expectation of privacy; was the expectation reasonable; who else had access to this information; was that access ever actually exercised; was the person aware others had access; and the most important question: was there a policy that effectively put Chief Knuth on notice that “the association reserves the right to access the phone at any time, for any reason or no reason – you have no expectation of privacy with regard to what is on the device.”

And then there is the “inevitable discovery” exception to the exclusionary rule… we will leave that for a later post. More on the story.