Article 5, Part 4 – Arrest and custody (705 ILCS 405/Article V, Part 4)
H. Federal standards for minors in detention:
The following is a brief overview of the Federal Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974 as amended (442 U.S.C. 5601):
- Minors who are ten years of age or older and who are accused of committing criminal type, i.e. delinquent minor, offenses may be securely detained for a maximum of 6 hours. Status offenders cannot be securely detained.
- Secure custody (detention) begins once the minor has been placed in a locked room, cell, or handcuffed to a stationary object. Time spent transporting the minor is not considered secure custody. Any such holding of a juvenile should be limited to the absolute minimum time necessary to complete action. It should not exceed 6 hours and in no case can it be overnight.
- The 6 hour limit for securely holding accused delinquent offenders is limited to temporary holding for the purpose of identification processing and release to parents.
- Once the clock starts on detention, it can be stopped once when the juvenile is permanently removed from the locked setting and not placed back into that setting.
- Sight and sound separation from adult offenders is required. Brief, inadvertent, or accidental contact between juvenile offenders in secure custody and incarcerated adults in secure nonresidential areas of a facility is allowed.
- The 6-hour rule applies to secure custody during any and all stages of the juvenile court process, including holding a juvenile prior to a court appearance. Any court-ordered detention must be served in a detention center and is not allowed in any other type of lock-up.
Unless sooner released, the alleged delinquent minor who has been taken into temporary custody must be brought before a judicial officer within 40 hours for a detention or shelter care hearing. In all cases the 40 hour time period is exclusive of Saturdays, Sundays and court-designated holidays.
COOK COUNTY AGENCIES ONLY: Effective October 24, 2016, by a Judicial Order of the Presiding Judge, Judge Evans; The County of Cook will hold Delinquency- Detention/Shelter Hearings every day of the year, and the Delinquent Minor shall appear before the court within 24-hours (holidays and weekend exclusions no longer apply for the County of Cook)
Remember, if a minor gives false information to a Law Enforcement Officer regarding his or her identity or age, the 40 hour period will not commence until the court rules that the minor is subject to the Juvenile Court Act.
