Virginia Code 16.1-246: When and how child may be taken into immediate custody.
No child may be taken into immediate custody except:
Terms Used In Virginia Code 16.1-246
- Adult: means a person 18 years of age or older. See Virginia Code 16.1-228
- Arrest: Taking physical custody of a person by lawful authority.
- Child welfare agency: means a child-placing agency, child-caring institution or independent foster home as defined in § Virginia Code 16.1-228
- City: means an independent incorporated community which became a city as provided by law before noon on July 1, 1971, or which has within defined boundaries a population of 5,000 or more and which has become a city as provided by law. See Virginia Code 1-208
- Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
- Department: means the Department of Juvenile Justice and "Director" means the administrative head in charge thereof or such of his assistants and subordinates as are designated by him to discharge the duties imposed upon him under this law. See Virginia Code 16.1-228
- detention home: means a local, regional or state public or private locked residential facility that has construction fixtures designed to prevent escape and to restrict the movement and activities of children held in lawful custody. See Virginia Code 16.1-228
- Intake officer: means a juvenile probation officer appointed as such pursuant to the authority of this chapter. See Virginia Code 16.1-228
- judge: means the judge or the substitute judge of the juvenile and domestic relations district court of each county or city. See Virginia Code 16.1-228
- law: means the Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court Law embraced in this chapter. See Virginia Code 16.1-228
- Person: includes any individual, corporation, partnership, association, cooperative, limited liability company, trust, joint venture, government, political subdivision, or any other legal or commercial entity and any successor, representative, agent, agency, or instrumentality thereof. See Virginia Code 1-230
- Probable cause: A reasonable ground for belief that the offender violated a specific law.
- Town: means any existing town or an incorporated community within one or more counties which became a town before noon, July 1, 1971, as provided by law or which has within defined boundaries a population of 1,000 or more and which has become a town as provided by law. See Virginia Code 1-254
A. With a detention order issued by the judge, the intake officer or the clerk, when authorized by the judge, of the juvenile and domestic relations district court in accordance with the provisions of this law or with a warrant issued by a magistrate; or
B. When a child is alleged to be in need of services or supervision and (i) there is a clear and substantial danger to the child’s life or health or (ii) the assumption of custody is necessary to ensure the child’s appearance before the court; or
C. When, in the presence of the officer who makes the arrest, a child has committed an act designated a crime under the law of this Commonwealth, or an ordinance of any city, county, town or service district, or under federal law and the officer believes that such is necessary for the protection of the public interest; or
C1. When a child has committed a misdemeanor offense involving (i) shoplifting in violation of § 18.2-103, (ii) assault and battery or (iii) carrying a weapon on school property in violation of § 18.2-308.1 and, although the offense was not committed in the presence of the officer who makes the arrest, the arrest is based on probable cause on reasonable complaint of a person who observed the alleged offense; or
D. When there is probable cause to believe that a child has committed an offense which if committed by an adult would be a felony; or
E. When a law-enforcement officer has probable cause to believe that a person committed to the Department of Juvenile Justice as a child has run away or that a child has escaped from a jail or detention home; or
F. When a law-enforcement officer has probable cause to believe a child has run away from a residential, child-caring facility or home in which he had been placed by the court, the local department of social services or a licensed child welfare agency; or
G. When a law-enforcement officer has probable cause to believe that a child (i) has run away from home or (ii) is without adult supervision at such hours of the night and under such circumstances that the law-enforcement officer reasonably concludes that there is a clear and substantial danger to the child’s welfare; or
H. When a child is believed to be in need of inpatient treatment for mental illness as provided in § 16.1-340.
Code 1950, § 16.1-194; 1956, c. 555; 1958, c. 344; 1974, cc. 585, 671; 1977, c. 559; 1978, cc. 643, 740; 1979, c. 701; 1981, c. 487; 1982, c. 683; 1985, c. 540; 1990, cc. 635, 642, 743, 744, 975; 2002, c. 747.