(1) A child may be taken into custody under the following circumstances:
(a) Pursuant to an order of the circuit court issued under this chapter, based upon sworn testimony, either before or after a petition is filed.
(b) For a delinquent act or violation of law, pursuant to Florida law pertaining to a lawful arrest. If such delinquent act or violation of law would be a felony if committed by an adult or involves a crime of violence, the arresting authority shall immediately notify the district school superintendent, or the superintendent’s designee, of the school district with educational jurisdiction of the child. Such notification shall include other education providers such as the Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind, university developmental research schools, and private elementary and secondary schools. The information obtained by the superintendent of schools pursuant to this section must be released within 48 hours after receipt to appropriate school personnel, including the principal of the child’s school, or as otherwise provided by law. The principal must immediately notify the child’s immediate classroom teachers. Information provided by an arresting authority under this paragraph may not be placed in the student’s permanent record and shall be removed from all school records no later than 9 months after the date of the arrest.
(c) By a law enforcement officer for failing to appear at a court hearing after being properly noticed. However, before a court issues an order to take a child into custody for failing to appear, it must consider all of the following information relating to whether the child’s nonappearance was willful:
1. Whether notice was sent to the child’s address included in the official court record.
2. Whether any person provided notice to the child in any format.
3. If the child is represented by counsel, whether counsel for the child has information that the nonappearance was not willful or was otherwise beyond the child’s control.
4. Whether a department representative had contact or attempted to have contact with the child.
5. Whether the department has any other specific information to assist the court in making the determination.
(d) By a law enforcement officer who has probable cause to believe that the child is in violation of the conditions of the child’s probation, supervised release detention, or conditional release supervision; has absconded from nonresidential commitment; or has escaped from residential commitment.
Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to allow the detention of a child who does not meet the detention criteria in part V.
(2) Except in emergency situations, a child may not be placed into or transported in any police car or similar vehicle that at the same time contains an adult under arrest, unless the adult is alleged or believed to be involved in the same offense or transaction as the child.
(3) When a child is taken into custody as provided in this section, the person taking the child into custody shall attempt to notify the parent, guardian, or legal custodian of the child. The person taking the child into custody shall continue such attempt until the parent, guardian, or legal custodian of the child is notified or the child is delivered to the department under ss. 985.14 and 985.145, whichever occurs first. If the child is delivered to the department before the parent, guardian, or legal custodian is notified, the department shall continue the attempt to notify until the parent, guardian, or legal custodian of the child is notified. Following notification, the parent or guardian must provide identifying information, including name, address, date of birth, social security number, and driver license number or identification card number of the parent or guardian to the person taking the child into custody or the department.
(4) Taking a child into custody is not an arrest except for the purpose of determining whether the taking into custody or the obtaining of any evidence in conjunction therewith is lawful.
Cited 3 times | Published | Florida 3rd District Court of Appeal | 2008 WL 724124
...The detention of juveniles in Florida is governed by chapter 985, Florida Statutes. See ch. 985, pt. V, Fla. Stat. (2007). Part III of chapter 985 expressly states that the sole means by which a juvenile judge may take a child into custody is "[p]ursuant to an order of the circuit court issued under this chapter." § 985.101, Fla....
Cited 3 times | Published | Florida 3rd District Court of Appeal | 2007 WL 756922
...Had we not issued the writ, A.K. would have been in secure detention for twenty-one days after he was taken into custody on the pick-up order. In Florida, the detention of juveniles is governed completely by statute. R.G. v. State, 817 So.2d 1019, 1020 (Fla. 3d DCA 2002). Section 985.101, Florida Statutes (2007) provides that if a child fails to appear at a court hearing, the trial court is authorized to issue an order, known as a "pick-up" order, to take the child into custody....
...JACs, as physical
locations, were established primarily to avoid intermingling children with adults in the
central booking process. They "provide collocated central intake and screening
services" for juveniles. § 985.135(1), Fla. Stat. (2013). After a juvenile is taken into
custody, see § 985.101(1), the juvenile must be "released from custody as soon as is
reasonably possible." § 985.115(1)....
...a] felony or misdemeanor." See
§ 951.23(1)(a).2 Many of the young "persons" in a JAC have been "taken into custody"
by law enforcement officers who had probable cause to believe that they had committed
"a delinquent act or violation of law." See § 985.101(1)(b)....
son’s contact and identifying information. See § 985.101(3), Fla. Stat. (2009) (“[T]he person taking the
This Florida statute resource is curated by Graham W. Syfert, Esq., a Jacksonville, Florida personal injury and workers' compensation attorney. For legal consultation, call 904-383-7448.
