41-5-350. Permitted acts -- detention of youth in law enforcement facilities -- criteria. (1) Nothing in this chapter precludes the detention of youth in a police station or other law enforcement facility that is attached to or part of a jail if:
     (a) the area where the youth is held is an unlocked, multipurpose area, such as a lobby, office, interrogation room, or other area that is not designated or used as a secure detention area or that is not part of a secure detention area, or, if part of such an area, that is used only for the purpose of processing, such as a booking room;
     (b) the youth is not secured to a cuffing rail or other stationary object during the period of detention;
     (c) use of the area is limited to ensuring custody of the youth for the purpose of identification, processing, or transfer of the youth to an appropriate detention or shelter care facility;
     (d) the area is not designed or intended to be used for residential purposes; and
     (e) the youth is under continuous visual supervision by a law enforcement officer or by facility staff during the period of time that the youth is held in detention.
     (2) For purposes of this section, "secure detention" means the detention of youth or confinement of adults accused or convicted of criminal offenses in a physically restricting setting, including but not limited to a locked room or set of rooms or a cell designed to prevent a youth or adult from departing at will.

     History: En. Sec. 7, Ch. 548, L. 1991; Sec. 41-5-313, MCA 1995; redes. 41-5-350 by Sec. 47, Ch. 286, L. 1997.