A. In a court proceeding concerning child custody or visitation, a motion for an emergency custody hearing shall include an independent report, if available, to include but not be limited to, a police report or a report from the Department of Human Services, that demonstrates that the child is in surroundings which endanger the safety of the child and that if such conditions continue, the child would likely be subject to irreparable harm. If there is no such report, the motion shall include a notarized affidavit from an individual with personal knowledge that the child is in surroundings which endanger the safety of the child and that not granting the motion would likely cause irreparable harm to the child. Upon receipt of the motion for emergency custody with supporting documentation, the court shall have seventy-two (72) hours to conduct a hearing. If the court fails to conduct a hearing within such time, the movant may present such motion to the presiding judge of the judicial district, who shall conduct an emergency custody hearing within twenty-four (24) hours of receipt of the motion.
B. If the court finds that any relevant information provided to the court upon which the court relied to make its emergency custody decision to be false, the court shall assess against the movant all costs, attorney fees, and other expenses incurred as a result of such emergency custody hearing. The movant shall pay all such costs, fees and expenses within thirty (30) days. Failure to make such payment shall be grounds for contempt, punishable by six (6) months in the county jail, a fine not to exceed One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00), or both such imprisonment and fine.
Added by Laws 2010, c. 350, § 1, eff. Nov. 1, 2010.