FCRPP 18.Emergency custody orders in dependency, neglect or abuse actions

No child is removed on a phone call. Every request for an emergency custody order must be in writing, accompanied by an affidavit alleging dependency, abuse or neglect, and presented to the judge with whatever other documentation comes with the filing. The rule repeats the point at the end: in no event shall a child be removed only on a verbal order.

Because these requests arrive at any hour, the oath may be taken remotely. The affidavit may be sworn in the presence of an official authorised to administer oaths or through reliable electronic means, and the affidavit may be presented and the oath administered either way. Where electronic means are used, the official must be in communication with the person completing the affidavit, and must certify on the affidavit or an accompanying document that the oath was taken while in communication with the affiant, giving their own name and title and the time the affidavit was sworn.

The affiant must also say whether other proceedings or custody orders about the child exist in Kentucky or any other state — the question that stops two courts issuing conflicting orders about the same child.

Two deadlines follow issuance. The order and affidavit are filed with the clerk no later than the close of the next work day, and the clerk assigns a case number. If a petition was not filed with the order, it must be filed within 72 hours of taking the child into custody, in the same case file. The court may afterwards transfer the case for forum non conveniens to the county where the conduct is alleged to have occurred, notifying the receiving court when the transfer order issues.