A. A child may be taken into protective custody by a law enforcement officer without a court order when the officer has reasonable grounds to believe that the child:
(1) has run away from the child's parent, guardian or custodian;
(2) without parental supervision is suffering from illness or injury;
(3) has been abandoned;
(4) is endangered by the child's surroundings and removal from those surroundings is necessary to ensure the child's safety;
(5) is engaged in an act that would be designated as prostitution if committed by an adult; or
(6) is a victim of human trafficking as defined in Section 30-52-1 NMSA 1978.
B. A child may be taken into protective custody pursuant to a court order issued after an agency legally charged with the supervision of the child has notified a law enforcement agency that the child has run away from a placement.
C. When a child is taken into protective custody, the department shall make a reasonable effort to determine whether the child is an Indian child.
D. Any person, other than the child taken into protective custody, who interferes with placing the child in protective custody is guilty of a petty misdemeanor and shall be sentenced pursuant to the provisions of Section 31-19-1 NMSA 1978.
History: 1978 Comp., § 32A-3B-3, enacted by Laws 1993, ch. 77, § 75; 2019, ch. 101, § 3.
The 2019 amendment, effective June 14, 2019, authorized a child to be taken into protective custody by a law enforcement officer without a court order when the officer has reasonable grounds to believe that the child is engaged in prostitution or is a victim of human trafficking; and in Subsection A, added Paragraphs A(5) and A(6).
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