After a juvenile-court judge orders a child detained pending an adjudication hearing, who is responsible for transporting the child to and from court?

Subject

How responsibility is allocated between law-enforcement officers and juvenile-detention-facility staff for transporting children placed in court-ordered pre-adjudication detention to and from court appearances.

Plain-English summary

Deputy Speaker Curtis Johnson asked a practical operational question: when a child is detained pending a delinquency hearing, who's on the hook for driving the child between the detention facility and court? Sheriff's deputies sometimes sit at courthouses for hours waiting to transport juveniles; detention-facility staff sometimes argue it's the sheriff's job; juvenile-court judges want clarity.

The AG laid out the two-phase rule:

Phase 1 (custody to detention facility). The person who took the child into custody, usually a law-enforcement officer, "shall deliver" the child to the court-ordered detention facility (§ 37-1-115(a)(2)). The Court of Criminal Appeals confirmed in State v. Carroll that this provision triggers the procedural protections for juveniles. So when an officer takes a child into custody, the officer transports the child to the designated facility. Period.

Phase 2 (court appearances after detention placement). Once the child is in the detention facility, DCS Rule 0250-04-08-.12(1) controls. The rule says: "All transportation … shall be provided by approved facility staff or law enforcement." The "or" matters. Facility staff have the primary obligation, but law enforcement shares responsibility. In practice, the local arrangements vary: some facilities transport with their own staff and vehicles, others coordinate with sheriff's offices, others split based on safety risk or staffing.

The AG's opinion confirms that both detention-facility staff and law enforcement have authority to transport, neither has an exclusive duty, and the local protocol can allocate the work in whatever way the facility, the sheriff's office, and the juvenile court agree on.

The opinion is short (two pages) and operational, but it resolves a real and recurring source of confusion in juvenile-justice operations.

What this means for you

Sheriff's offices and city police

Under § 37-1-115(a)(2), the person who takes a child into custody, typically a law-enforcement officer, must deliver the child to the court-ordered detention facility. The opinion reads that as the officer's responsibility for the first leg, from custody to the facility. After the child is in the facility, the opinion concludes that law enforcement shares the transportation responsibility with facility staff under DCS Rule 0250-04-08-.12(1); it is not exclusively law enforcement's job.

Juvenile-detention-facility staff

The opinion holds that once a child is in the court-ordered detention facility, the facility is responsible for transporting the child to and from court, with law enforcement sharing that responsibility. It rests this on DCS Rule 0250-04-08-.12(1), which states that "all transportation … shall be provided by approved facility staff or law enforcement."

Juvenile-court judges

The opinion answers the allocation question: phase one (custody to facility) falls on whoever took the child into custody; phase two (between facility and court) is the facility's responsibility, shared with law enforcement. The opinion does not direct courts to adopt any particular protocol; it states which entities bear the duty.

Common questions

Q: Who has to drive the child from the detention facility to a court hearing?

Once the child is in the court-ordered facility, the opinion places that duty on the detention facility, with law enforcement sharing it. DCS Rule 0250-04-08-.12(1) says all transportation "shall be provided by approved facility staff or law enforcement."

Q: Who transports the child in the first place, before they reach the facility?

The person who took the child into custody. Under § 37-1-115(a)(2), that person "shall … deliver such child to a detention or shelter care facility designated by the court." If a law-enforcement officer made the custody, the officer delivers the child to the facility.

Q: Does the opinion say law enforcement alone is responsible for court trips?

No. It reads the "or" in the DCS rule to mean facility staff and law enforcement share the responsibility for transportation between the facility and court. Neither is given an exclusive duty by the opinion.

Q: Does the opinion address who pays for the transportation?

No. The opinion resolves only which entities are responsible for providing transportation. It does not address financing, escorts, or local cost-sharing.

Background and statutory framework

§§ 37-1-114, 37-1-116(a)(3), Tenn. R. Juv. P. 203(b)-(d). Authorize a juvenile court to order pre-adjudication detention or shelter-care placement when statutory criteria are met. The order designates the specific facility.

§ 37-1-115(a)(2). Requires "the person taking a child into custody [to] … deliver such child to a detention or shelter care facility designated by the court." The Court of Criminal Appeals applied this in State v. Carroll (1999) for the proposition that within a reasonable time of taking a child into custody, the police must release to parents, bring to court, or place in a detention facility, "thereby triggering procedural protections."

§§ 37-5-109(1), -501(b)(10)(B), -502(a) and Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 0250-04-08-.02(2). Require that pre-adjudication detention be in a facility "specifically licensed" by DCS.

Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 0250-04-08-.12(1). "All transportation … shall be provided by approved facility staff or law enforcement." This is the operative rule for transport between detention and court once the child is in the facility.

§ 37-5-105(3) and § 37-5-106(a)(1). Authorize DCS to promulgate the chapter 0250-04-08 rules and to inspect/license detention facilities.

The framework split, two-phase rule (custody-to-facility = officer; facility-to-court = facility staff or law enforcement), is the AG's reading of the statutes plus the DCS rule.

Citations

• Tenn. Code Ann. § 37-1-114 (juvenile-court detention orders)
• Tenn. Code Ann. § 37-1-115(a)(2) (officer's duty to deliver child to designated facility)
• Tenn. Code Ann. § 37-1-116(a)(3) (criteria for detention)
• Tenn. Code Ann. § 37-5-105(3) (DCS rulemaking authority)
• Tenn. Code Ann. § 37-5-106(a)(1) (DCS licensing authority)
• Tenn. Code Ann. § 37-5-109(1) (DCS-licensed facilities)
• Tenn. Code Ann. § 37-5-501(b)(10)(B), -502(a) (juvenile-detention facility licensure)
• Tenn. R. Juv. P. 203(b)-(d) (detention rule)
• Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 0250-04-08 (DCS juvenile-detention chapter)
• Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 0250-04-08-.02(2), (9)(b), (c) (placement requirements)
• Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 0250-04-08-.12(1) (transportation rule)
• State v. Carroll, 36 S.W.3d 854 (Tenn. Crim. App. 1999) (interpretation of § 37-1-115(a))

Source

• Landing page: https://www.tn.gov/attorneygeneral/opinions.html
• Original PDF: https://www.tn.gov/content/dam/tn/attorneygeneral/documents/ops/2022/op22-13.pdf

Original opinion text

STATE OF TENNESSEE
OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
November 15, 2022
Opinion No. 22-13
Responsibility for Transporting Children in Court-ordered Pre-adjudication Detention
Question
Once a judge decides to place a child in detention before the adjudication of a delinquency
petition, who or what entity is responsible for the transportation of the child to and from court?
Opinion
Once a court orders a child to be placed in pre-adjudication detention, the person who took
the child into custody is responsible for transporting the child from the court to the court-ordered
detention facility. Once the child has been placed in a court-ordered detention facility, the
detention facility is responsible for transporting the child to and from court, but law enforcement
shares that transportation responsibility.
ANALYSIS
Under certain circumstances, a juvenile court may order that a child taken into custody and
brought before the court on a delinquency petition under title 37, ch. 1, part 1 of the Tennessee
Code be detained or placed in shelter care pending the hearing and adjudication on the petition.
Tenn. Code Ann. §§ 37-1-114; -116(a)(3); Tenn. R. Juv. P. 203(b)-(d); Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs.
0250-04-08-.02(9)(b), (c). When the court determines that pre-adjudication detention is
appropriate, the child must be placed in a detention or care facility that is "specifically licensed"
by Department of Children's Services ("DCS"). Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 0250-04-08-.02(2); see
also Tenn. Code Ann. §§ 37-5-109(1), -501(b)(10)(B), -502(a). And the "person taking a child
into custody shall … deliver such child to a detention or shelter care facility designated by the
court." Tenn. Code Ann. § 37-1-115(a)(2).
Thus, the person who took the child into custody is responsible for transporting the child
to the court-ordered detention facility. For example, if a law enforcement officer took the child
into custody, then the law enforcement officer "shall deliver" the child to the court-ordered
detention facility. As the Court of Criminal Appeals noted, "[i]n essence, [§ 37-1-115(a)] provides
that within a reasonable time of taking a child into custody, the police must either release the child
to his parents' custody, bring the child before the court, or place the child in an appropriate
detention facility for juveniles, thereby triggering procedural protections relating to the detention
of juveniles." State v. Carroll, 36 S.W.3d 854, 863 (Tenn. Crim. App. 1999) (emphasis in
original).
Once the child is in the court-ordered detention facility, those procedural protections are
triggered, including the applicable rules promulgated by DCS. Tenn. Code Ann. § 37-5-105(3);
see also § 37-5-106(a)(1); -502(a); Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 0250-04-08. And Tenn. Comp. R. &
Regs. 0250-04-08-.12(1) deals specifically with transportation of a child in detention. Under that
DCS rule, the responsibility to transport the child rests with both the staff of the detention facility
and with law enforcement: "All transportation," which would include transportation of a child
between the detention center and the court, "shall be provided by approved facility staff or law
enforcement." Id. (emphasis added).
JONATHAN SKRMETTI
Attorney General and Reporter
ANDRÉE SOPHIA BLUMSTEIN
Solicitor General
LIZ EVAN
Assistant Attorney General
Requested by:
Deputy Speaker Curtis Johnson, District 68
425 Rep. John Lewis Way N.
Suite 612, Cordell Hull Bldg.
Nashville, TN 37243