Iowa Code 232.79 – Custody without court order
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1. A peace officer or juvenile court officer may take a child into custody, a physician or physician assistant treating a child may keep the child in custody, or a juvenile court officer may authorize a peace officer, physician or physician assistant, or medical security personnel to take a child into custody, without a court order as required under section 232.78 and without the consent of a parent, guardian, or custodian provided that both of the following apply:
a. The child is in a circumstance or condition that presents an imminent danger to the child’s life or health.
b. There is not enough time to apply for an order under section 232.78.
Terms Used In Iowa Code 232.79
- Adult: means a person other than a child. See Iowa Code 232.2
- Child: means any person under the age of eighteen years. See Iowa Code 232.68
- Court: means the juvenile court established under section 602. See Iowa Code 232.2
- Custodian: means a stepparent or a relative within the fourth degree of consanguinity to a child who has assumed responsibility for that child, a person who has accepted a release of custody pursuant to subchapter IV, or a person appointed by a court or juvenile court having jurisdiction over a child. See Iowa Code 232.2
- Department: means the state department of human services and includes the local, county, and service area offices of the department. See Iowa Code 232.68
- Fictive kin: means an adult person who is not a relative of a child but who has an emotionally positive significant relationship with the child or the child's family. See Iowa Code 232.2
- following: when used by way of reference to a chapter or other part of a statute mean the next preceding or next following chapter or other part. See Iowa Code 4.1
- Guardian: means a person who is not the parent of a child, but who has been appointed by a court having jurisdiction over the child, to have a permanent self-sustaining relationship with the child and to make important decisions which have a permanent effect on the life and development of that child and to promote the general welfare of that child. See Iowa Code 232.2
- Guardian: A person legally empowered and charged with the duty of taking care of and managing the property of another person who because of age, intellect, or health, is incapable of managing his (her) own affairs.
- Institution: means a birthing hospital. See Iowa Code 252A.2
- Juvenile: means the same as "child". See Iowa Code 232.2
- Juvenile court officer: means a person appointed as a juvenile court officer under section 602. See Iowa Code 232.2
- Parent: means a biological or adoptive mother or father of a child; or a father whose paternity has been established by operation of law due to the individual's marriage to the mother at the time of conception, birth, or at any time during the period between conception and birth of the child, by order of a court of competent jurisdiction, or by administrative order when authorized by state law. See Iowa Code 232.2
- Peace officer: means a law enforcement officer or a person designated as a peace officer by a provision of the Code. See Iowa Code 232.2
- person: means individual, corporation, limited liability company, government or governmental subdivision or agency, business trust, estate, trust, partnership or association, or any other legal entity. See Iowa Code 4.1
- Petition: means a pleading the filing of which initiates formal judicial proceedings in the juvenile court. See Iowa Code 232.2
- Physical examination: means direct physical viewing, touching, and medically necessary manipulation of any area of the child's body by a physician licensed under chapter 148. See Iowa Code 232.68
- Probation: means a legal status which is created by a dispositional order of the court in a case where a child has been adjudicated to have committed a delinquent act, which exists for a specified period of time, and which places the child under the supervision of a juvenile court officer or other person or agency designated by the court. See Iowa Code 232.2
- Probation: A sentencing alternative to imprisonment in which the court releases convicted defendants under supervision as long as certain conditions are observed.
- relative: includes the parent of a sibling of the child if the sibling's parent's parental rights were not previously terminated in relation to the child. See Iowa Code 232.2
2. If a person authorized by this section removes or retains custody of a child, the person shall:
a. Bring the child immediately to a place designated by the rules of the court for this purpose, unless the person is a physician or physician assistant treating the child and the child is or will presently be admitted to a hospital.
b. Make every reasonable effort to inform the parent, guardian, or custodian of the whereabouts of the child.
c. Make every reasonable effort to place the child with an adult relative or a fictive kin of the child.
d. In accordance with court-established procedures, immediately orally inform the court of the emergency removal and the circumstances surrounding the removal.
e. Within twenty-four hours of orally informing the court of the emergency removal in accordance with paragraph “d”, inform the court in writing of the emergency removal and the circumstances surrounding the removal.
3. Any person, agency, or institution acting in good faith in the removal or keeping of a child pursuant to this section, and any employer of or person under the direction of such a person, agency, or institution, shall have immunity from any civil or criminal liability that might otherwise be incurred or imposed as the result of such removal or keeping.
4. a. When the court is informed that there has been an emergency removal or keeping of a child without a court order, the court shall direct the department of human services or the juvenile probation department to make every reasonable effort to communicate immediately with the child’s parent or parents or other person legally responsible for the child’s care. Upon locating the child’s parent or parents or other person legally responsible for the child’s care, the department of human services or the juvenile probation department shall, in accordance with court-established procedures, immediately orally inform the court. After orally informing the court, the department of human services or the juvenile probation department shall provide to the court written documentation of the oral information.
b. The court shall authorize the department of human services or the juvenile probation department to cause a child thus removed or kept to be returned if it concludes there is not an imminent risk to the child’s life and health in so doing. If the department of human services or the juvenile probation department receives information which could affect the court’s decision regarding the child’s return, the department of human services or the juvenile probation department, in accordance with court established procedures, shall immediately orally provide the information to the court. After orally providing the information to the court, the department of human services or the juvenile probation department shall provide to the court written documentation of the oral information. If the child is not returned, the department of human services or the juvenile probation department shall forthwith cause a petition to be filed within three days after the removal.
c. If deemed appropriate by the court, upon being informed that there has been an emergency removal or keeping of a child without a court order, the court may enter an order in accordance with section 232.78.
5. When there has been an emergency removal or keeping of a child without a court order, a physical examination of the child by a licensed medical practitioner shall be performed within twenty-four hours of such removal, unless the child is returned to the child’s home within twenty-four hours of the removal.