2010 Pennsylvania Code
Title 42 - JUDICIARY AND JUDICIAL PROCEDURE
Chapter 63 - Juvenile Matters
6326 - Release or delivery to court.

     § 6326.  Release or delivery to court.
        (a)  General rule.--A person taking a child into custody,
     with all reasonable speed and without first taking the child
     elsewhere, shall:
            (1)  notify the parent, guardian or other custodian of
        the apprehension of the child and his whereabouts;
            (2)  release the child to his parents, guardian, or other
        custodian upon their promise to bring the child before the
        court when requested by the court, unless his detention or
        shelter care is warranted or required under section 6325
        (relating to detention of child); or
            (3)  bring the child before the court or deliver him to a
        detention or shelter care facility designated by the court or
        to a medical facility if the child is believed to suffer from
        a serious physical condition or illness which requires prompt
        treatment. He shall promptly give written notice, together
        with a statement of the reason for taking the child into
        custody, to a parent, guardian, or other custodian and to the
        court.
     Any temporary detention or questioning of the child necessary to
     comply with this subsection shall conform to the procedures and
     conditions prescribed by this chapter and other provisions of
     law.
        (b)  Detention in police lockup generally prohibited.--Unless
     a child taken into custody is alleged to have committed a crime
     or summary offense or to be in violation of conditions of
     probation or other supervision following an adjudication of
     delinquency, the child may not be detained in a municipal police
     lockup or cell or otherwise held securely within a law
     enforcement facility or structure which houses an adult lockup.
     A child shall be deemed to be held securely only when physically
     detained or confined in a locked room or cell or when secured to
     a cuffing rail or other stationary object within the facility.
        (c)  Detention in police lockup under certain
     circumstances.--A child alleged to have committed a crime or
     summary offense or to be in violation of conditions of probation
     or other supervision following an adjudication of delinquency
     may be held securely in a municipal police lockup or other
     facility which houses an adult lockup only under the following
     conditions:
            (1)  the secure holding shall only be for the purpose of
        identification, investigation, processing, releasing or
        transferring the child to a parent, guardian, other
        custodian, or juvenile court or county children and youth
        official, or to a shelter care or juvenile detention center;
            (2)  the secure holding shall be limited to the minimum
        time necessary to complete the procedures listed in paragraph
        (1), but in no case may such holding exceed six hours; and
            (3)  if so held, a child must be separated by sight and
        sound from incarcerated adult offenders and must be under the
        continuous visual supervision of law enforcement officials or
        facility staff.
        (d)  Conditions of detention.--Notwithstanding other
     provisions of law, a child held in nonsecure custody in a
     building or facility which houses an adult lockup may be so held
     only under the following conditions:
            (1)  the area where the child is held is an unlocked
        multipurpose area which is not designated or used as a secure
        detention area or is not part of a secure detention area; or,
        if the area is a secure booking or similar area, it is used
        only for processing purposes;
            (2)  the child is not physically secured to a cuffing
        rail or other stationary object during the period of custody
        in the facility;
            (3)  the area is limited to providing nonsecure custody
        only long enough for the purposes of identification,
        investigation, processing or release to parents or for
        arranging transfer to another agency or appropriate facility;
        and
            (4)  the child must be under continuous visual
        supervision by a law enforcement officer or other facility
        staff during the period of nonsecure custody.
        (e)  Reports regarding children held in custody.--Law
     enforcement agencies shall provide information and reports
     regarding children held in secure and nonsecure custody under
     subsections (c) and (d) as requested by the Pennsylvania
     Commission on Crime and Delinquency.
        (f)  Enforcement of undertaking to produce child.--If a
     parent, guardian, or other custodian, when requested, fails to
     bring the child before the court as provided in subsection (a),
     the court may issue its warrant directing that the child be
     taken into custody and brought before the court.
     (June 14, 1991, P.L.68, No.9, eff. 60 days; Dec. 15, 1998,
     P.L.949, No.126, eff. Jan. 1, 1999)

        1998 Amendment.  Act 126 amended subsec. (c)(1).