PRINTER'S NO. 314
No. 304 Session of 1991
INTRODUCED BY GREENLEAF, FATTAH, GREENWOOD AND LAVALLE,
JANUARY 29, 1991
REFERRED TO JUDICIARY, JANUARY 29, 1991
AN ACT
1 Amending Title 42 (Judiciary and Judicial Procedure) of the
2 Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, further providing for
3 detention of children.
4 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
5 hereby enacts as follows:
6 Section 1. Sections 6326 and 6327(f) of Title 42 of the
7 Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes are amended to read:
8 § 6326. Release or delivery to court.
9 (a) General rule.--A person taking a child into custody,
10 with all reasonable speed and without first taking the child
11 elsewhere, shall:
12 (1) notify the parent, guardian or other custodian of
13 the apprehension of the child and his whereabouts;
14 (2) release the child to his parents, guardian, or other
15 custodian upon their promise to bring the child before the
16 court when requested by the court, unless his detention or
17 shelter care is warranted or required under section 6325
18 (relating to detention of child); or
1 (3) bring the child before the court or deliver him to a
2 detention or shelter care facility designated by the court or
3 to a medical facility if the child is believed to suffer from
4 a serious physical condition or illness which requires prompt
5 treatment. He shall promptly give written notice, together
6 with a statement of the reason for taking the child into
7 custody, to a parent, guardian, or other custodian and to the
8 court.
9 Any temporary detention or questioning of the child necessary to
10 comply with this subsection shall conform to the procedures and
11 conditions prescribed by this chapter and other provisions of
12 law.
13 (b) Detention in police lockup generally prohibited.--Unless
14 a child taken into custody is alleged to have committed a crime
15 or summary offense or to be in violation of conditions of
16 probation or other supervision following an adjudication of
17 delinquency, the child may not be detained in a municipal police
18 lockup or cell, or otherwise held securely within a law
19 enforcement facility or structure which houses an adult jail or
20 lockup. A child shall be deemed to be held securely only when
21 physically detained or confined in a locked room or cell or when
22 secured to a cuffing rail or other stationary object within the
23 facility.
24 (c) Detention in police lockup under certain
25 circumstances.--A child alleged to have committed a crime or
26 summary offense or to be in violation of conditions of probation
27 or other supervision following an adjudication of delinquency
28 may be held securely in a municipal police lockup or other
29 facility which houses an adult jail or lockup only under the
30 following conditions:
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1 (1) the secure holding shall only be for the purpose of
2 identification, investigation, processing, releasing or
3 transferring the child to a parent, guardian, or juvenile
4 court or county children and youth official, or to a shelter
5 care or juvenile detention center;
6 (2) the secure holding shall be limited to the minimum
7 time necessary to complete the procedures listed in paragraph
8 (1), but in no case may such holding exceed six hours; and
9 (3) if so held, a child must be separated by sight and
10 sound from incarcerated adult offenders and must be under the
11 continuous visual supervision of law enforcement officials or
12 facility staff.
13 (d) Conditions of detention.--Notwithstanding other
14 provisions of law, a child held in nonsecure custody in a
15 building or facility which houses an adult jail or lockup may be
16 so held only under the following conditions:
17 (1) the area where the child is held is an unlocked
18 multipurpose area which is not designated or used as a secure
19 detention area, or is not part of a secure detention area; or
20 if the area is a secure booking or similar area, it is used
21 only for processing purposes;
22 (2) the child is not physically secured to a cuffing
23 rail or other stationary object during the period of custody
24 in the facility;
25 (3) the area is limited to providing nonsecure custody
26 only long enough for the purposes of identification,
27 investigation, processing or release to parents or for
28 arranging transfer to another agency or appropriate facility;
29 and
30 (4) the child must be under continuous visual
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1 supervision by a law enforcement officer or other facility
2 staff during the period of nonsecure custody.
3 (e) Reports regarding children held in custody.--Law
4 enforcement agencies shall provide information and reports
5 regarding children held in secure and nonsecure custody under
6 subsections (c) and (d) as requested by the Pennsylvania
7 Commission on Crime and Delinquency.
8 [(b)] (f) Enforcement of undertaking to produce child.--If a
9 parent, guardian, or other custodian, when requested, fails to
10 bring the child before the court as provided in subsection (a),
11 the court may issue its warrant directing that the child be
12 taken into custody and brought before the court.
13 § 6327. Place of detention.
14 * * *
15 (f) Development of approved shelter care programs.--The
16 Department of Public Welfare shall develop or assist in the
17 development in each county of this Commonwealth approved
18 programs for the provision of shelter care for children needing
19 these services who have been taken into custody under section
20 6324 (relating to taking into custody) and for children referred
21 to or under the jurisdiction of the court.
22 Section 2. This act shall take effect in 60 days.
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