Protective custody — Placement — Immunity

39-8204. Protective custody — Placement — Immunity. (1) Upon notification by a safe haven that a child has been abandoned pursuant to the provisions of this chapter, a peace officer or other person appointed by the court shall take protective custody of the child and shall immediately deliver the child to the care, control and custody of the department of health and welfare. (2) The department of health and welfare shall maintain a list of licensed adoption agencies to contact for the placement of abandoned children and shall transfer care, control, and custody of an abandoned child to the department’s selected adoption agency for placement within twenty-four (24) hours of taking custody of an abandoned child, unless exigent circumstances exist. (3) When an abandoned child requires further medical evaluation, care, or treatment and the adoption agency selected by the department of health and welfare pursuant to subsection (2) of this section is unable to locate a prospective adoptive family within forty-eight (48) hours, the child shall be left in the care of a hospital, and the peace officer or other person appointed by the court shall notify the court and prosecutor of the action taken and the location of the child so that a shelter care hearing may be held. (4) If, at any time, a party knows or has reason to know that the child is an Indian child, the jurisdiction of the Indian child welfare act (ICWA), 25 U.S.C. 1901, et seq., applies. If a party knows or has reason to know that the child is an Indian child, the department of health and welfare shall send immediate ICWA notification to the child’s Indian tribe and to any other tribe or to the bureau of Indian affairs as required by ICWA or federal regulations implementing ICWA. Within ten (10) days of receiving the information that causes the department of health and welfare to know or have reason to know that the child is an Indian child, the department shall issue any notice required by this subsection. (5) A peace officer or other person appointed by the court who takes a child into custody under this section, shall not be held liable either criminally or civilly unless the action of taking the child was exercised in bad faith or in violation of the provisions of this chapter.