West Virginia Code 49-4-705 – Taking a juvenile into custody; requirements; existing conditions; detention centers; medical aid
(a) In proceedings formally instituted by the filing of a juvenile petition, the circuit court or a magistrate may issue an order directing that a juvenile be taken into custody before adjudication only upon a showing of probable cause to believe that one of the following conditions exists: (1) The petition shows that grounds exist for the arrest of an adult in identical circumstances; (2) the health, safety and welfare of the juvenile demand custody; (3) the juvenile is a fugitive from a lawful custody or commitment order of a juvenile court; or (4) the juvenile is alleged to be a juvenile delinquent with a record of willful failure to appear at juvenile proceedings and custody is necessary to assure his or her presence before the court. A detention hearing pursuant to section seven hundred six of this article shall be held by the judge or magistrate authorized to conduct the hearings without unnecessary delay and in no event may any delay exceed the next day.
Terms Used In West Virginia Code 49-4-705
- Adult: means a person who is at least eighteen years of age. See West Virginia Code 49-1-202
- Arrest: Taking physical custody of a person by lawful authority.
- Court: means the circuit court of the county with jurisdiction of the case or the judge in vacation unless otherwise specifically provided. See West Virginia Code 49-1-207
- Custodian: means a person who has or shares actual physical possession or care and custody of a child, regardless of whether that person has been granted custody of the child by any contract or agreement. See West Virginia Code 49-1-204
- Facility: means a place or residence, including personnel, structures, grounds, and equipment used for the care of a child or children on a residential or other basis for any number of hours a day in any shelter or structure maintained for that purpose. See West Virginia Code 49-1-206
- 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.
- Judgment: includes decrees and orders for the payment of money, or the conveyance or delivery of land or personal property, or some interest therein, or any undertaking, bond or recognizance which has the legal effect of a judgment. See West Virginia Code 2-2-10
- Juvenile: means any person under eighteen years of age or is a transitioning adult. See West Virginia Code 49-1-202
- Juvenile delinquent: means a juvenile who has been adjudicated as one who commits an act which would be a crime under state law or a municipal ordinance if committed by an adult. See West Virginia Code 49-1-202
- Parent: means an individual defined as a parent by law or on the basis of a biological relationship, marriage to a person with a biological relationship, legal adoption or other recognized grounds. See West Virginia Code 49-1-204
- Probable cause: A reasonable ground for belief that the offender violated a specific law.
- Respondent: means all parents, guardians, and custodians identified in the child abuse and neglect petition who are not petitioners or copetitioners. See West Virginia Code 49-1-201
- Status offender: means a juvenile who has been adjudicated as one:
(A) Who habitually and continually refuses to respond to the lawful supervision by his or her parents, guardian or legal custodian such that the juvenile'. See West Virginia Code 49-1-202
(b) Absent a court order, a juvenile may be taken into custody by a law-enforcement official only if one of the following conditions exists:
(1) Grounds exist for the arrest of an adult in identical circumstances;
(2) Emergency conditions exist which, in the judgment of the officer, pose imminent danger to the health, safety and welfare of the juvenile;
(3) The official has reasonable grounds to believe that the juvenile has left the care of his or her parents, guardian or custodian without the consent of the person and the health, safety and welfare of the juvenile is endangered;
(4) The juvenile is a fugitive from a lawful custody or commitment order of a juvenile court;
(5) The official has reasonable grounds to believe the juvenile to have been driving a motor vehicle with any amount of alcohol in his or her blood; or
(6) The juvenile is the named respondent in an emergency domestic violence protective order issued pursuant to section four hundred three, article twenty-seven, chapter forty-eight of this code and the individual filing the petition for the emergency protective order is the juvenile's parent, guardian or custodian or other person with whom the juvenile resides.
(c) Upon taking a juvenile into custody, with or without a court order, the official shall:
(1) Immediately notify the juvenile's parent, guardian, custodian or, if the parent, guardian or custodian cannot be located, a close relative;
(2) Release the juvenile into the custody of his or her parent, guardian or custodian unless:
(A) Circumstances present an immediate threat of serious bodily harm to the juvenile if released;
(B) No responsible adult can be found into whose custody the juvenile can be delivered. Each day the juvenile is detained, a written record must be made of all attempts to locate a responsible adult; or
(C) The juvenile has been taken into custody for an alleged act of delinquency for which secure detention is permissible.
(3) If the juvenile is an alleged status offender or has been taken into custody pursuant to subdivision (6), subsection (b) of this section, immediately notify the Department of Health and Human Resources and, if the circumstances of either paragraph (A) or (B), subdivision (2) of this subsection exist and the requirements therein are met, the official may detain the juvenile, but only in a nonsecure or staff-secure facility;
(4) Take the juvenile without unnecessary delay before a judge of the circuit court for a detention hearing pursuant to section seven hundred six of this article. If a circuit court judge is not available in the county, the official shall take the juvenile without unnecessary delay before any magistrate available in the county for the sole purpose of conducting the detention hearing. In no event may any delay in presenting the juvenile for a detention hearing exceed the next day after he or she is taken into custody.
(d) In the event that a juvenile is delivered into the custody of a sheriff or director of a detention facility, the sheriff or director shall immediately notify the sheriff or director shall immediately provide to every juvenile who is delivered into his or her custody a written statement explaining the juvenile's right to a prompt detention hearing, his or her right to counsel, including appointed counsel if he or she cannot afford counsel, and his or her privilege against self-incrimination. In all cases when a juvenile is delivered into a sheriff's or detention center director's custody, that official shall release the juvenile to his or her parent, guardian or custodian by the end of the next day unless the juvenile has been placed in detention after a hearing conducted pursuant to section seven hundred six of this article.
(e) The law-enforcement agency that takes a juvenile into custody or places a juvenile under arrest is responsible for the juvenile's initial transportation to a juvenile detention center or other Division of Juvenile Services' residential facility.
(f) Notwithstanding any other provision of this code, a juvenile detention center, or other Division of Juvenile Services' residential facility, is not required to accept a juvenile if the juvenile appears to be in need of medical attention of a degree necessitating treatment by a physician. If a juvenile is refused pursuant to this subsection, the juvenile detention center, or other Division of Juvenile Services' residential facility, may not subsequently accept the juvenile for detention until the arresting or transporting officer provides the juvenile detention center, or other Division of Juvenile Services' residential facility, with a written clearance from a licensed physician reflecting that the juvenile has been examined and, if necessary, treated and which states that in the physician's medical opinion the juvenile can be safely confined in the juvenile detention center or other Division of Juvenile Services' residential facility.