Probable Cause

• To receive a search warrant, a law enforcement official must first show probable cause for believing that a crime was committed. This could be obvious in the case of an abuse victim and a police report. However, other crimes, such as drug and weapons smuggling, may not have a specific victim who can be identified and the police will need other forms of evidence to submit to the judge to obtain the affidavit.
  
  

Physical Evidence

• Another stipulation that the police need to prove is that the location in question is likely to contain a critical piece of evidence for the case against the specific crime. In other words, the law enforcement has to prove that the specific materials, such as illegal drugs, are likely to be at the specific location before searching it legally. Otherwise, the judge can reject the petition for the affidavit.
  
  

Timing

• Another reason to reject a search warrant is if there is no agreed upon time frame for the search. Instead, the time must be very limited in scope. A judge may never produce a search warrant that extends for an unlimited or indeterminate amount of time. This is another check on the power of law enforcement to unlimited searches. Instead, they must prove that the illegal material is likely to be at the location at the time of search.
  
  

Scope Too Broad

• Another common reason to reject a search affidavit is that the submission is too broad. For example, if the affidavit does not identify exactly what is being searched for but rather makes a broad claim of "illegal material." Similarly, the warrant must identify who the law enforcement officials are targeting. These targets must have reasonable evidence or suspicion to warrant the inclusion in the affidavit.