2024 New Mexico Statutes
Chapter 32A - Children's Code
Article 4 - Child Abuse and Neglect
Section 32A-4-7 - Release or delivery from custody.
A. A person taking a child into custody shall, with all reasonable speed:
(1) release the child to the child's parent, guardian or custodian and issue verbal counsel or warning as may be appropriate; or
(2) deliver the child to the department or, in the case of a child who is believed to be suffering from a serious physical or mental condition or illness that requires prompt treatment or diagnosis, deliver the child to a medical facility. If a law enforcement officer delivers a child to a medical facility, the officer shall immediately notify the department that the child has been placed in the department's legal custody.
B. When an alleged neglected or abused child is delivered to the department, a department caseworker shall review the need for placing the child in custody and shall release the child from custody unless custody is appropriate or has been ordered by the court. When a child is delivered to a medical facility, a department caseworker shall review the need for retention of custody within a reasonable time after delivery of the child to the facility and shall release the child from custody unless custody is appropriate or has been ordered by the court.
C. If a child is placed in the legal custody of the department and is not released to the child's parent, guardian or custodian, the department shall give written notice thereof as soon as possible, and in no case later than twenty-four hours, to the child's parent, guardian or custodian together with a statement of the reason for taking the child into custody.
D. Reasonable efforts shall be made to prevent or eliminate the need for removing the child from the child's home, with the paramount concern being the child's health and safety. In all cases when a child is taken into custody, the child shall be released to the child's parent, guardian or custodian, unless the department files a petition within three days from the date that the child was taken into custody.
E. The department may release the child at any time within the three-day period after the child was taken into custody if it is determined by the department that release is appropriate or if release has been ordered by the court.
F. If a child that has been taken into custody and released to the child's parent, guardian or custodian is taken into custody again within one year of having been taken into custody, the child shall not be released from custody until a department review is conducted, in consultation with the children's court managing attorney, to review the child's case and documents and determine whether the child should be released to the child's parent, guardian or custodian or if it is in the best interest of the child to file a petition alleging neglect or abuse. The department's review shall be conducted by a person above the level of supervisor who has been authorized by the secretary of children, youth and families to review such cases. If the secretary has not authorized anyone to review such cases, the department's review shall be conducted by the director of the protective services division of the department. The three-day deadline for filing the petition pursuant to Subsections D and E of this section is extended to five days when the child's case is reviewed pursuant to this subsection.
History: 1978 Comp., § 32A-4-7, enacted by Laws 1993, ch. 77, § 101; 1999, ch. 77, § 4; 2005, ch. 189, § 42; 2009, ch. 239, § 36; 2023, ch. 172, § 2.
ANNOTATIONSThe 2023 amendment, effective June 16, 2023, restricted the return of a child if taken into custody more than once in a year, and required a department review in such cases to determine whether the child should be released or whether to file a petition alleging neglect or abuse; in Subsection D, after "within", deleted "two" and added "three"; in Subsection E, after "within the", deleted "two-day" and added "three-day"; and added new Subsection F.
The 2009 amendment, effective July 1, 2009, in Paragraph (2) of Subsection A, in the first sentence, after "child to the department", deleted "or to an appropriate shelter-care facility" and in the second sentence, after "delivers a child to", deleted "a shelter-care facility or"; in Subsection B, in the second sentence, after "child is delivered to", deleted "an appropriate shelter-care facility or"; and added Subsection E.
Applicability. — Laws 2009, ch. 239, § 71, provided that the provisions of this act apply to all children who, on July 1, 2009, are on release or are otherwise eligible to be placed on release as if the Juvenile Public Safety Advisory Board Act had been in effect at the time they were placed on release or became eligible to be released.
The 2005 amendment, effective June 17, 2005, changed "custody" to "legal custody" in Subsections A(2) and C.
The 1999 amendment, effective July 1, 1999, in Paragraph A(2), substituted "or" for "and" in the first sentence, and inserted "or a medical facility" in the second sentence; in Subsection B, inserted "or medical facility" in the second sentence; and added the first sentence of Subsection D.
