The Florida Senate

397.6772  Protective custody without consent.--

(1)  If a person in circumstances which justify protective custody as described in s. 397.677 fails or refuses to consent to assistance and a law enforcement officer has determined that a hospital or a licensed detoxification or addictions receiving facility is the most appropriate place for the person, the officer may, after giving due consideration to the expressed wishes of the person:

(a)  Take the person to a hospital or to a licensed detoxification or addictions receiving facility against the person's will but without using unreasonable force; or

(b)  In the case of an adult, detain the person for his or her own protection in any municipal or county jail or other appropriate detention facility.

Such detention is not to be considered an arrest for any purpose, and no entry or other record may be made to indicate that the person has been detained or charged with any crime. The officer in charge of the detention facility must notify the nearest appropriate licensed service provider within the first 8 hours after detention that the person has been detained. It is the duty of the detention facility to arrange, as necessary, for transportation of the person to an appropriate licensed service provider with an available bed. Persons taken into protective custody must be assessed by the attending physician within the 72-hour period and without unnecessary delay, to determine the need for further services.

(2)  The nearest relative of a minor in protective custody must be notified by the law enforcement officer, as must the nearest relative of an adult, unless the adult requests that there be no notification.

History.--s. 6, ch. 93-39; s. 741, ch. 95-148.