N.L. v. State

Opinion

IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF FLORIDA FIFTH DISTRICT

NOT FINAL UNTIL TIME EXPIRES TO FILE MOTION FOR REHEARING AND DISPOSITION THEREOF IF FILED

N.L., A CHILD,

Petitioner,

v. Case No. 5D16-4195

STATE OF FLORIDA,

Respondent.

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Opinion filed December 12, 2016

Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus, A Case of Original Jurisdiction.

Robert Wesley, Public Defender, and Jessica Cahoon, Assistant Public Defender, Orlando, for Petitioner.

Pamela Jo Bondi, Attorney General, Tallahassee, and Rebecca Rock McGuigan, Assistant Attorney General, Daytona Beach, for Respondent.

PER CURIAM.

We grant N.L.’s petition for an emergency writ of habeas corpus and order her

immediate release from secure detention. N.L. was committed to a non-secure residential

program in one case on November 3, 2016, and in several other cases on November 14,

2016. She remains there despite the requirement that a child “must be removed from

detention within 5 days, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays.” § 985.27(1)(a), Fla. Stat. (2016). The Department of Children and Families may seek an

order authorizing extended secure detention, up to 15 days after entry of the commitment

order. Id. However, even if such an extension had been ordered, that time limit has

expired as to the November 3 and November 14, 2016 orders of commitment.

We order Respondent to immediately release N.L. from secure detention by 5:00

pm, December 12, 2016.

PETITION GRANTED.

LAWSON, C.J., EVANDER, and EDWARDS, JJ., concur.