(1)A child may be taken into
temporary custody by a law enforcement officer without order of the court:
(a)When the child is abandoned, lost, or seriously endangered in such child's
surroundings or seriously endangers others and immediate removal appears to be
necessary for such child's protection or the protection of others;
(b)When there are reasonable grounds to believe that such child has run
away or escaped from such child's parents, guardian, or legal custodian and the
child's parents, guardian, or legal custodian has not made a report to a law
enforcement agency that the child has run away from home; or
(c)When an arrest warrant has been issued for such child's parent or
guardian on the basis of an alleged violation of section 18-3-304, C.R.S. No child
taken into temp
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(1) A child may be taken into
temporary custody by a law enforcement officer without order of the court:
(a) When the child is abandoned, lost, or seriously endangered in such child's
surroundings or seriously endangers others and immediate removal appears to be
necessary for such child's protection or the protection of others;
(b) When there are reasonable grounds to believe that such child has run
away or escaped from such child's parents, guardian, or legal custodian and the
child's parents, guardian, or legal custodian has not made a report to a law
enforcement agency that the child has run away from home; or
(c) When an arrest warrant has been issued for such child's parent or
guardian on the basis of an alleged violation of section 18-3-304, C.R.S. No child
taken into temporary custody pursuant to this paragraph (c) shall be placed in
detention or jail.
(1.3) A child shall be taken into temporary custody by a law enforcement
officer without order of the court when there are reasonable grounds to believe the
child has run away from the child's parents, guardian, or legal custodian and the
child's parents, guardian, or legal custodian has made a report to a law
enforcement agency that the child has run away from home.
(1.5) An emergency exists and a child is seriously endangered as described in
paragraph (a) of subsection (1) of this section whenever the safety or well-being of a
child is immediately at issue and there is no other reasonable way to protect the
child without removing the child from the child's home. If such an emergency exists,
a child shall be removed from such child's home and placed in protective custody
regardless of whether reasonable efforts to preserve the family have been made.
(2) The taking of a child into temporary custody under this section shall not
be deemed an arrest, nor shall it constitute a police record.
(3) (a) Notwithstanding subsections (1) and (1.5) of this section and except as
otherwise provided in subsections (3)(b) and (3)(c) of this section, a newborn child,
as defined in section 19-1-103, who is not in a hospital setting must not be taken into
temporary protective custody for a period of longer than twenty-four hours without
an order of the court made pursuant to section 19-3-405 (1). The order must include
findings that an emergency situation exists and that the newborn child is seriously
endangered as described in subsection (1)(a) of this section.
(b) A newborn child, as defined in section 19-1-103, who is in a hospital
setting must not be taken into temporary protective custody without an order of the
court made pursuant to section 19-3-405 (1). The order must include findings that
an emergency situation exists and that the newborn child is seriously endangered
as described in subsection (1)(a) of this section. A newborn child may be detained in
a hospital by a law enforcement officer upon the recommendation of a county
department or by a physician, registered nurse, licensed practical nurse, or
physician assistant while an order of the court pursuant to section 19-3-405 (1) is
being pursued, but the newborn child must be released if a court order pursuant to
section 19-3-405 (1) is denied.
(c) The court orders required by subsections (3)(a) and (3)(b) of this section
are not required in the following circumstances:
(I) When a newborn child is identified by a physician, registered nurse,
licensed practical nurse, or physician assistant engaged in the admission, care, or
treatment of patients as being affected by substance abuse or demonstrating
withdrawal symptoms resulting from prenatal drug exposure;
(II) When the newborn child's only identifiable birth parent has been
determined by a physician, registered nurse, or qualified mental health professional
to meet the criteria specified in section 27-65-106 for custody, treatment, and
evaluation of a mental health disorder or grave disability;
(III) When both of the newborn child's birth parents have been determined by
a physician, registered nurse, or qualified mental health professional to meet the
criteria specified in section 27-65-106 for custody, treatment, and evaluation of a
mental health disorder or grave disability; or
(IV) When the newborn child is subject to an environment exposing the
newborn child to a laboratory for manufacturing controlled substances as defined
in section 18-18-102 (5), C.R.S.
(d) At the time a law enforcement officer takes a newborn child into
temporary protective custody, the law enforcement officer shall provide the notices
required by sections 19-3-402 and 19-3-212 directly to the newborn child's
identifiable birth parent or parents in both verbal and written form. Such notices
may be provided to the child's identifiable birth parent or parents in a language that
the birth parent or parents understand, and the law enforcement officer may
designate another person to assist him or her in providing such written and verbal
notices to fulfill this requirement, if necessary.
(e) If a newborn child is taken into temporary protective custody pursuant to
this subsection (3), the county department may contact the child's identifiable birth
parent or parents to obtain the names of any relatives or other persons in the
parent's or parents' community who may be appropriate, capable, and willing to
care for the newborn child prior to the hearing required by section 19-3-403. In
addition, if the identifiable parent or parents are not citizens of the United States,
the county department may request the parent's or parents' consent to notify the
parent's or parents' government of origin of the situation and, if consent is given,
may contact the parent's or parents' government of origin.