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La. Ch. Code art. 621

This is the official text of La. Ch. Code art. 621, part of Louisiana’s Children's Code — governs child custody, child protection, and juvenile justice in Louisiana.

Not legal advice. This page reproduces the official text of a government statute for reference only. Laws change, and how a statute applies depends on your specific facts. For advice about your situation, consult a licensed attorney in your state.

Taking child into custody without a court order

Official statutory text

A. A peace officer or probation officer of the court may take a child into custody without a court order if there are reasonable grounds to believe that the child's surroundings are such as to endanger the child's health, welfare, and safety and immediate removal appears to be necessary. The peace officer shall have the responsibility to promptly notify and release the child to the department.

B. Employees of the department shall secure an instanter order before taking a child into custody.

C. The department may release the child or secure an instanter order.

D. The department shall promptly notify the parents or caretaker of the nature of the allegations and, if the child is not released, of the time and place of the continued custody hearing.

Acts 1991, No. 235, §6, eff. Jan. 1, 1992; Acts 1993, No. 634, §1, eff. June 15, 1993; Acts 2006, No. 278, §1; Acts 2022, No. 272, §1.

Status: in_force · Read it on the official government site

About this page: Statute text is reproduced from official government publishers via the Open US Law dataset (Vaquill AI, snapshot v2026.08, CC BY 4.0). Primary legislative text like this is public domain under the government-edicts doctrine (Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, 2020). We link every section back to its official source so you can verify it independently.