Arkansas minor runaway laws.

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Hello and thank you for reaching out to the National Runaway Safeline. While we are not legal experts, we do have a great deal of experience working with runaways. Whether the police search for you and how long they search for you can depend on how old you are, the situation that made you leave, even the police officers in your county, as well as other factors. If you are a minor and you leave home, your parents can file a runaway report with the police. It’s not illegal to run away and you won’t go to jail or get arrested, but your name will be in a database and if the police find you, they will notify your guardian and then return you back home.

If you wanted, we could talk more about what is going on and hopefully provide you with some clearer and more concrete answers. Please don’t hesitate to give us a call at 1-800-786-2929 or chat us at 1800runaway.org.

Take care,
NRS

how log will the search for me last if i ran away

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Hello,
Thank you for writing to us here at the National Runaway Safeline.

We are here to listen and help as best as we can. It sounds like you are going through a really tough time not having your daughter at home and being unsure of their safety. It sounds like you feel she is being manipulated and mislead by a family member about how much you care about her.
We understand how traumatic this must be for you and her father.

One of the first options that can be important to explore is contacting your local law enforcement to file a runaway report. We are not legal experts here, but typically it is not illegal to run away or leave home without permission. However, if a runaway report is filed, police that encounter a runaway youth will work to return them home when found. Keep in mind though, that the efforts made to search for runaway youth can vary from state to state or even within districts. Often it is up to the parents to advocate for themselves and keep track of the steps taken to find your child.

If you have a way to communicate with your daughter either email, text, phone, or social media you can inform them that we are offer confidential 24/7 support. We can try to locate some resources that could be of assistance, wherever they are located, to help keep them safe. If you do not have contact with your child (which it sounds like she has you blocked), we also offer a message service where parents can call us to leave a message for their child. If they calls in, we can deliver this message. We also take messages from youth to their parents that we deliver as well. This can be a great option for you to express yourself in a safe, productive, and non-confrontational way. If you choose to utilize our message service, its best to spread the word to anyone you think may be in contact with your daughter to increase the chances of your message being retrieved. It’s a stressful situation we’re sure but in situations such as this you must take your health and wellbeing into consideration.
NRS is here to support you during this most difficult time. If you would like to talk more about your situation or explore other options, please contact us at 1-800-Runaway (786-2929) or www.1800runaway.org (Live chat).

We hope that things work out and you have her back home soon.

Take care,
NRS

My daughter and I got I to an argument last week. My mother and I are estranged and my daughter called her. I’ve made it clear to the school that my mother is not to leave the school with my child. After picking her up from school she began manipulating my daughter and convinced her I was being emotionally abusive. She left the school with her on Friday and advised her to block me from texting and stopped sharing her location with everyone. She Intended to keep her hidden until she could go to the court and ask for emergency temporary custody. My daughter is a senior, has a 4.25 gpa, is a national honor society member and attended girls state and governors school. She’s exceptional. She was manipulated into making a list of things her father and I have done that were mostly gross exaggerations of truth or outright lies. Can I use the fact that my mother harbored and encourages my daughter to run away to get a no contact? If have congestive heart failure and the stress has been dangerous. I don’t abuse my kids, this is an outrageous situation.

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Hello There,
Thank you so much for reaching out to The National Runaway Safeline, we are here to help and here to listen. It sounds like you are going through r rough time. Even though it may not seem like it, your very close to being of legal age to leave home without consent.
We are not legal experts but we do have some information on the laws. If you were to leave home without permission and the police found you they most likely would bring you home. Because you have mentioned you ran away two other times the police may get the juvenile courts involved. Also whoever you stay with could get in trouble for harboring a runaway. Which that would usually be a fine they would need to pay or a misdemeanor.
We hope this information will be helpful to you in your situation. If you have any more questions or would like to explore your options please give us a call. We are here 24/7 to listen and provide support. Best of luck!
NRS

hii.. i'm 17, i turn 18 in April. i was adopted and i regret it. I've already ran away twice and my parents haven't started a fins case. I've talked to many people telling them i don't wanna be adopted anymore but nothing is happening. i get mistreated from their real children. i was wondering if i ran away again with my girlfriend who just turned 20, if either her or me would get in serious trouble

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Thank you for reaching out to us, this is a really good question. Yes, you can leave home with your parents’ permission maybe just make sure you have proof that your parents are giving you permission. Please do not hesitate to call or chat us if you have more questions or need to talk to someone. We are here for you. Best of luck with everything!

I have a clarification question. You keep saying that a teen cannot legally leave home without permission before they're eighteen. What about if you have your parents permission?

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Hi there,
Thank you for reaching out to us at the National Runaway Safeline. It sounds like your friend is going through a difficult time right now but that you really care about their well-being and are here to advocate for them.

Though we are not legal experts, in many cases, if your friend runs away and comes to stay with you, you could be charged with harboring a runaway. Running away is not a crime, but harboring a runaway is. In Arkansas, the age of majority is eighteen, meaning that until your friend turns eighteen, their parents or guardians could file a runaway report. If the police were to find your friend, they would likely send them back home and potentially charge you with harboring a runaway minor. Rules, however, vary between states and situations; you can verify your rights by reaching out to your local, non-emergency police line with hypothetical questions.

If your friend’s situation makes it unsafe for them to wait until they turn eighteen to leave home, they can also reach out to the local police with hypothetical questions to gauge what they can do. If your friend decides to run away and is ever in an unsafe situation, they can text the National Safe Place at 44357 with the word “SAFE” and their location.

Know that you and your friend can always call us at 1-800-RUNAWAY. We are 24/7, confidential, and toll-free.
Stay safe,
NRS

My friend is 17 and wants to runaway and stay at my place could the courts or authorities do anythi g about it or charge me with anything

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Hi there, thanks for reaching out today.

Generally speaking 18 is the majority age or age that someone can leave home without permission and not be reported as a runaway and returned home. Some police departments handle 17 year old runaway situations differently so it is possible that they might not return him home but it is not a guarantee. One way to get a better idea of how local police would respond to the situation you might call the local police non-emergency number and ask hypothetical questions about 17 year olds leaving home and how they would respond.

Please do not hesitate to call or chat us if you have more questions or need to talk to someone. We are here for you.

Best,

NRS

Will a 17 year old be forced to come back home if he ran away from home, or is it safe to be on his own as long as he is not in danger?

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Hey there,

Thanks so much for reaching out and sharing a little bit about what's going on. It sounds like you are in a bit of a sticky situation. Since you have a FINS case open, there may be legal consequences for leaving home. These consequences and limitations can vary case by case and it may be a good idea to reach out to the proper agencies to get clarification. You may want to contact the Arkansas Juvenile Court office by calling 501-340-6700. It may also be beneficial to speak with a legal aid group as well about the possible ramifications. You can go to http://www.arkansaslegalservices.org to find a legal aid group near you.

If you’d like to go over what’s going on in depth, or if you’d like to explore other options that you may have available to you, please don’t hesitate to call us at 1-800-RUNAWAY. You can also chat us by clicking on the “CHAT” button on top of our homepage. We’re open 24/7 and here to listen and support you in any way we can.

Stay safe,
NRS

I will be 18 in 3 months i live in ar and have a fens case open recently i left ans went to ok with my parents permission could they do anything to me or her for that? They told her they could take us both

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Hi there,
Thank you for writing to us here at National Runaway Safeline (NRS). We understand it takes great courage to reach out, and we appreciate you sharing a little bit about what’s going on. It seems there is a lot that you are faced with right now and you’re feeling like leaving is one of your only options. It seems you want to know some information on runaway laws.
While we are not experts on the law, 18 is generally the age that an individual may leave home without parent permission. If you are under 18 and leave home, your parent/guardian may file you as a runaway and you may be returned home. Also, those you stay with may run the risk of being charged with harboring a runaway. For more specifics on the law, the local non-emergency police or legal aid may better answer legal questions.
We are here as support to help through this challenging time. We can best help by phone or chat as NRS is unable to respond more than twice by email to assist you. If you would like to talk more in detail please call or chat soon.
Our contact information is 1-800-RUNAWAY (786-2929); www.1800runaway.org (click on the chat button).
If you are at risk of any danger or feeling unsafe, we encourage you to reach out to 911 or seek emergency assistance immediately.
Be safe,
NRS