When Child Protection Comes
Wis. Stat. 48.19 — taken into custody on reasonable grounds of immediate danger, then a hearing within 48 hours
When an officer may act. A law enforcement officer may take a child into custody without a court order on reasonable grounds to believe the child is suffering from illness or injury or is in immediate danger from his or her surroundings and removal is necessary, among the other grounds the section lists.
With a court order. A judge may also order a child taken into custody on a showing that the child's welfare demands immediate removal.
The parents are told. The person taking the child into custody immediately attempts to notify the parent, guardian, legal custodian and Indian custodian by the most practical means, and keeps trying until they are notified or the child is delivered to an intake worker.
Not an arrest. Taking a child into custody is not an arrest, except for deciding whether the custody or any evidence obtained was lawful.
A hearing within 48 hours. A child who is not released has a hearing before a judge or circuit court commissioner within 48 hours of the decision to hold the child, excluding Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays. Without a hearing in that time, or without a petition or statement filed by then, the child is released, with narrow exceptions.
A parent who missed it. A parent not present at the hearing is granted a rehearing on request for good cause shown.
The criteria for continued custody and later stages of the case are in other sections, which are not on this page. A particular case is a question for the juvenile court, or a licensed Wisconsin attorney.
Sources for this section (2)
- Wis. Stat. 48.19 — Taking a child into custody
- Wis. Stat. 48.21 — Hearing for child in custody
Legal information, not legal advice. Verified as of September 2026. Applying it to a particular situation is the work of a licensed Wisconsin attorney.