Alaska Statutes 47.10.141 – Runaway and missing minors

(a) Upon receiving a written, telephonic, or other request to locate a minor evading the minor’s legal custodian or to locate a minor otherwise missing, a law enforcement agency shall make reasonable efforts to locate the minor and shall immediately complete a missing person‘s report containing information necessary for the identification of the minor. The report must be submitted to the Alaska Public Safety Information Network, the National Crime Information Center, and the missing persons information clearinghouse in accordance with Alaska Stat. Chapter 18.65 .

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Terms Used In Alaska Statutes 47.10.141

action: includes any matter or proceeding in a court, civil or criminal. See Alaska Statutes 01.10.060
Arrest: Taking physical custody of a person by lawful authority.
care: means to provide for the physical, mental, and social needs of the child. See Alaska Statutes 47.10.990
child: means a person who is
(A) under 18 years of age. See Alaska Statutes 47.10.990
child in need of aid: means a child found to be within the jurisdiction of the court under Alaska Stat. See Alaska Statutes 47.10.990
Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
court: means the superior court of the state. See Alaska Statutes 47.10.990
custodian: means a natural person 18 years of age or older to whom a parent or guardian has transferred temporary physical care, custody, and control of the child for a period of time. See Alaska Statutes 47.10.990
department: means the Department of Family and Community Services. See Alaska Statutes 47.10.990
Guardian: A person legally empowered and charged with the duty of taking care of and managing the property of another person who because of age, intellect, or health, is incapable of managing his (her) own affairs.
guardian: means a natural person who is legally appointed guardian of the child by the court. See Alaska Statutes 47.10.990
juvenile detention facility: has the meaning given in Alaska Stat. See Alaska Statutes 47.10.990
parent: means the biological or adoptive parent of the child. See Alaska Statutes 47.10.990
peace officer: means
(A) an officer of the state troopers. See Alaska Statutes 01.10.060
person: includes a corporation, company, partnership, firm, association, organization, business trust, or society, as well as a natural person. See Alaska Statutes 01.10.060
Probable cause: A reasonable ground for belief that the offender violated a specific law.
reasonable efforts: means , with respect to family support services required under Alaska Stat. See Alaska Statutes 47.10.990
sexual abuse: means the conduct described in Alaska Stat. See Alaska Statutes 47.10.990
state: means the State of Alaska unless applied to the different parts of the United States and in the latter case it includes the District of Columbia and the territories. See Alaska Statutes 01.10.060
support: has the meaning given in Alaska Stat. See Alaska Statutes 47.10.990

(b) A peace officer shall take into protective custody a minor described in (a) of this section if the minor is not otherwise subject to arrest or detention. Unless (c) of this section applies, when a peace officer takes a minor into protective custody under this subsection,

(1) the peace officer shall

(A) return the minor to the minor’s parent or guardian at the parent’s or guardian‘s residence if the residence is in the same community where the minor was found and if the minor’s parent or guardian consents to the return, except that the officer may not use this option if the officer has reasonable cause to believe that the minor has experienced physical or sexual abuse in the parent’s or guardian’s household;

(B) take the minor to a nearby location agreed to by the minor’s parent or guardian if the parent or guardian does not consent to return of the minor under (A) of this paragraph and the officer does not have reasonable cause to believe that the minor has experienced physical or sexual abuse in the parent’s or guardian’s household; or

(C) if disposition of the minor is not made under (A) or (B) of this paragraph, take the minor to

(i) an office specified by the Department of Family and Community Services;

(ii) a program for runaway minors licensed by the department under Alaska Stat. § 47.10.310;

(iii) a shelter for runaways that has a permit from the department under Alaska Stat. Chapter 47.32 that agrees to shelter the minor;

(iv) a facility or contract agency of the department; or

(v) another suitable location and promptly notify the department if an office specified by the department, a licensed program for runaway minors, a shelter for runaways that will accept the minor, or a facility or contract agency of the department does not exist in the community;

(2) if the peace officer plans to take the minor to an office, program, shelter, or facility under (1)(C) of this subsection, the peace officer shall give the highest priority to taking the minor to an office, program, shelter, or facility that is semi-secure;

(3) a minor under protective custody may not be housed in a jail or other detention facility but may be housed in a semi-secure portion of an office, program, shelter, or other facility under (1)(C) of this subsection;

(4) the peace officer, immediately upon taking a minor into protective custody, shall

(A) advise the minor of available mediation services and of the right to social services under Alaska Stat. § 47.10.142 (b); and

(B) if the identity of the minor’s parent or guardian is known, advise the minor’s parent or guardian that the minor has been taken into protective custody and that counseling services for the minor’s parent or guardian and the minor’s household may be available under Alaska Stat. § 47.10.142 (b).

(c) A minor may be taken into emergency protective custody by a peace officer and placed into temporary detention in a juvenile detention facility in the local community if there has been an order issued by a court under (k) of this section. A minor detained under this subsection shall be brought before a court on the day the minor is detained, or if that is not possible, within 24 hours after the detention for a hearing to determine the most appropriate placement in the best interests of the minor. A minor taken into emergency protective custody under this subsection may not be detained for more than 24 hours, except as provided under (k) of this section. Emergency protective custody may not include placement of a minor in an adult correctional facility, an adult jail, or a temporary secure juvenile holding area, nor may an order for protective custody be enforced against a minor who is residing in a licensed program for runaway minors, as defined in Alaska Stat. § 47.10.390.

(d) If, after investigation of a report of a missing minor, a law enforcement agency has reason to believe that the minor is involuntarily absent from the custody of a custodial parent or guardian, the department shall notify the Bureau of Vital Statistics of the disappearance and shall provide the bureau with a description of the minor. The description of the minor must include, if known, the minor’s full name, date and place of birth, parent’s names, and mother’s maiden name. If the Department of Public Safety has reason to believe that the minor, whether born in this state or not, has been enrolled in a specific school or school district in the state, the department shall also notify the last known school or school district attended in the state by the missing minor of the disappearance. When a person who was listed as a missing minor is found, the Department of Public Safety shall notify the Bureau of Vital Statistics and any school or school district previously informed of the person’s disappearance.

(e) In the absence of gross negligence or intentional misconduct, an office, program, shelter, or facility, or an employee of an office, program, shelter, or facility, to which a minor is taken by a peace officer for semi-secure custody is not subject to civil or criminal liability based on the minor’s leaving the office, program, shelter, or facility without permission unless the office, program, shelter, or facility is not in compliance with the department’s regulations that set standards for semi-security and the lack of compliance was a material factor in the minor’s being able to leave without permission.

(f) If a child, without permission, leaves the semi-secure portion of an office, program, shelter, or facility to which the child was taken by a peace officer under (b)(1)(C) of this section, the office, program, shelter, or facility shall immediately notify the department and the nearest law enforcement agency of the identity of the child and the child’s absence. If the same child is again taken into protective custody under (b) of this section and the peace officer knows that the child has previously been reported under this subsection as missing from a semi-secure placement, the peace officer, in addition to taking the appropriate action under (b) of this section, shall report the circumstances and the identity of the child to the department. Within 48 hours after receiving this report, the department shall determine whether to file a petition alleging that the child is a child in need of aid under Alaska Stat. § 47.10.011. If the department decides not to file a petition alleging that the child is a child in need of aid, the department shall, within seven state working days after receiving the report from the peace officer under this subsection, send to the child’s parents or guardian, as applicable, written notice of its determination not to proceed with the petition, including the reasons on which the determination was based. If the department is unable to obtain a reasonably reliable address for a parent or guardian, the department shall keep a copy of the notice on file and, notwithstanding Alaska Stat. § 47.10.093, release the notice to the child’s parent or guardian on request of the parent or guardian. If the department files a petition alleging that the child is a child in need of aid, the court shall proceed under Alaska Stat. § 47.10.142 (d).

(g) If the department files a petition alleging the child is a child in need of aid under Alaska Stat. § 47.10.011 (5) because the child is habitually absent from home or refuses available care, the child’s parent or guardian shall attend each hearing held during the child-in-need-of-aid proceedings unless the court excuses the parent or guardian from attendance for good cause. If the child is found to be a child in need of aid, the court may order that the

(1) child participate in treatment;

(2) parent or guardian personally participate in treatment reasonably available in the parent or guardian’s community as specified in a plan set out in the court order; and

(3) child and the parent or guardian comply with other conditions set out in the court order.

(h) If the court orders a minor’s parent or guardian to participate in the treatment under (g) of this section, the court may also order the parent or guardian to use available insurance or another resource to cover the treatment, or to pay for the treatment if other coverage is unavailable.

(i) If the parent or guardian fails to attend a hearing as required by the court under (g) of this section, the hearing shall proceed without the presence of the parent.

(j) In this section,

(1) “law enforcement agency” has the meaning given in Alaska Stat. § 12.36.090;

(2) “semi-secure” means operated according to standards that may be established by the department in regulations that are designed to require a level of security that will reasonably ensure that, if a minor leaves without permission, the minor’s act of leaving will be immediately noticed;

(3) “temporary secure juvenile holding area” has the meaning given in Alaska Stat. § 47.12.990.

(k) The court shall issue a written order if the court determines that a minor shall be placed in a juvenile detention facility as a result of violating a court order issued under Alaska Stat. § 47.10.080 (c)(1) or 47.10.142 (f). An order issued under this subsection

(1) must include a finding of probable cause that the minor is a runaway in wilful violation of a court order and identify the court order the minor has violated;

(2) must specify the factual basis for determining that there is reasonable cause to believe that the minor has violated a court order;

(3) must describe how the minor’s current situation poses a severe and imminent risk to the minor’s life or safety;

(4) must include findings of fact to support a determination that there is not an appropriate, less restrictive alternative to placing the minor in a juvenile detention facility available, with due consideration to the best interests of the minor;

(5) must include a plan for the minor’s release from the juvenile detention facility in the least amount of time necessary, not to exceed seven days unless otherwise specified by the court; and

(6) may not be renewed or extended.

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