(a) The parent, guardian, person, or agency entitled to legal custody of a juvenile who has not been adjudged delinquent but who has run away without the consent of the parent, guardian, person, or agency may petition the appropriate court in the demanding state for the issuance of a requisition for the juvenile's return. The petition shall state the name and age of the juvenile, the name of the petitioner, and the basis of entitlement to the juvenile's custody, the circumstances of the running away, the juvenile's location if known at the time application is made, and any other facts that may tend to show that the juvenile who has run away is endangering the juvenile's own welfare or the welfare of others and is not an emancipated minor. The petition shall be verified by affidavit, shall be executed in duplicate, and shall be accompanied by two certified copies of the document or documents on which the petitioner's entitlement to the juvenile's custody is based, such as birth certificates, letters of guardianship, or custody decrees. Any further affidavits and other documents as may be deemed proper may be submitted with the petition. The judge of the court to which this application is made may hold a hearing thereon to determine whether for the purposes of this Compact the petitioner is entitled to the legal custody of the juvenile, whether or not it appears that the juvenile has in fact run away without consent, whether or not the juvenile is an emancipated minor, and whether or not it is in the best interests of the juvenile to compel the juvenile's return to the state. If the judge determines, either with or without a hearing, that the juvenile should be returned, the judge shall present to the appropriate court or to the executive authority of the state where the juvenile is alleged to be located a written requisition for the return of the juvenile. The requisition shall set forth the name and age of the juvenile, the determination of the court that the juvenile has run away without the consent of a parent, guardian, person, or agency entitled to legal custody, and that it is in the best interests and for the protection of the juvenile that the juvenile be returned. In the event that a proceeding for the adjudication of the juvenile as a delinquent, neglected, or dependent juvenile is pending in the court at the time when the juvenile runs away, the court may issue a requisition for the return of the juvenile upon its own motion, regardless of the consent of the parent, guardian, person, or agency entitled to legal custody, reciting therein the nature and circumstances of the pending proceeding. The requisition shall in every case be executed in duplicate and shall be signed by the judge. One copy of the requisition shall be filed with the Compact Administrator of the demanding state, there to remain on file subject to the provisions of law governing records of the court. Upon the receipt of a requisition demanding the return of a juvenile who has run away, the court or the executive authority to whom the requisition is addressed shall issue an order to any peace officer or other appropriate person directing that person to take into custody and detain the juvenile. The detention order must substantially recite the facts necessary to the validity of its issuance hereunder. No juvenile detained upon the order shall be delivered over to the officer whom the court has appointed to receive the juvenile unless the juvenile first is taken before a judge of a court in the state, who shall inform the juvenile of the demand made for the juvenile's return, and who may determine that counsel or guardian ad litem for the juvenile should be appointed. If the court finds that the requisition is in order, the court shall deliver the juvenile over to the officer appointed to receive the juvenile by the court demanding the juvenile. The court, however, may fix a reasonable time to be allowed for the purpose of testing the legality of the proceeding.
Upon reasonable information that a person is a juvenile who has run away from another state party to this Compact without the consent of a parent, guardian, person, or agency entitled to legal custody, the juvenile may be taken into custody without a requisition and brought before a judge of the appropriate court who may determine that counsel or guardian ad litem for the juvenile should be appointed and who shall determine after a hearing whether sufficient cause exists to hold the person, subject to the order of the court, for the juvenile's own protection and welfare, for such a time not exceeding 90 days as will enable the return of the juvenile to another state party to this Compact pursuant to a requisition for return from a court of that state. In cases in which the court determines that counsel or guardian ad litem should be provided for the juvenile, appointment shall be in accordance with rules adopted by the Office of Indigent Defense Services. If, at the time when a state seeks the return of a juvenile who has run away, there is pending in the state wherein the juvenile is found, any criminal charge, or any proceeding to have the juvenile adjudicated a delinquent juvenile for an act committed in the state, or if the juvenile is suspected of having committed within the state a criminal offense or an act of juvenile delinquency, the juvenile shall not be returned without the consent of the state until discharged from prosecution or other form of proceeding, imprisonment, detention, or supervision for the offense or juvenile delinquency. The duly accredited officers of any state party to this Compact, upon the establishment of their authority and the identity of the juvenile being returned, shall be permitted to transport the juvenile through any and all states party to this Compact, without interference. Upon return of the juvenile to the state from which the juvenile ran away, the juvenile shall be subject to such further proceedings as may be appropriate under the laws of that state.
(b) The state to which the juvenile is returned under this Article shall be responsible for payment of the transportation costs of return.
(c) The term "juvenile" as used in this Article means any person who is a minor under the law of the state of residence of the parent, guardian, person, or agency entitled to the legal custody of the minor. (1963, c. 910, s. 1; c. 1965, c. 925, s. 1; 1979, c. 815, s. 1; 1998-202, s. 6; 2000-144, s. 25.)
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Last modified: March 23, 2014