Custody by a private person
§ 305.1. Custody by a private person. 1. A private person may take a child who may be subject to the provisions of this article for committing an act that would be a crime if committed by an adult into custody in cases in which such private person may arrest an adult for a crime under section 140.30 of the criminal procedure law.
2. Before taking such child under the age of sixteen into custody, a private person must inform the child of the cause thereof and require him to submit, except when he is taken into custody on pursuit immediately after the commission of a crime.
3. After taking such child into custody, a private person must take the child, without unnecessary delay, to the child's home, to a family court, or to a police officer or peace officer.
A private citizen can take a child into custody only where they could arrest an adult (CPL § 140.30). They must tell the child why (unless caught in hot pursuit) and then, without unnecessary delay, take the child home, to Family Court, or to a police/peace officer.
Marked in the text: penalties, time limits, sums of money. Editorial emphasis added by this edition; it does not appear in the statute as enacted.
This provision appears in Volume 5 — The JG-22 Family Court Act and in Volume 1 — The JG-22 in Plain English.