AL HB54

Adds Section 30-3-11 to the Code of Alabama 1975 to authorize circuit courts and district courts to issue emergency ex parte orders of protection or restraint for children, in addition to the existing authority of juvenile courts.

Allows courts to issue these orders pending petitions for divorce, legal separation, or actions seeking modification, interpretation, or enforcement of final decrees upon making specific findings of evidence of abuse or neglect of a child.

Permits courts to order a child removed from a parent or legal custodian and placed with an appropriate relative or, if no relative is available, into the temporary protective custody of the county department of human resources.

Requires immediate verbal and written notice of the order to the department of human resources, which must proceed according to Chapter 14 of Title 26 and may provide consent for medical, dental, health, and hospital services.

Emergency ex parte orders remain in effect until the juvenile court conducts a hearing under Section 12-15-308 and may ratify or modify the order; the act becomes effective June 1, 2025.