Chap. 591.—An ACT +o provide places of abode and for the safe custody and pro
per guardianship of children who are vicious, or depraved, or without proper
places of abode, or proper guardianship or control, or who shall be ill-treated.
nevlected, or deserted by parents, guardian, or other custodian, or who shall be
exposed to immoral or vicious influences and training.

Approved April 2, 1902.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That if a minor,
under the age of fourteen years, is destitute or without any proper place
of abode or proper guardianship, or is deserted, neglected, or ill-treated
by its parent, guardian, or other custodian, or is exposed to immoral or
vicious influences and training, or if the parent or guardian or other
custodian is, by reason of poverty, a charge, or likely to become a charge,
upon the county, town, or city unable to support or properly care for
such minor, and it shall clearly appear that such minor is vicious and
depraved, or is destitute, or is neglected, deserted, or ill-treated by his
or her parent, guardian, or other custodian, or is exposed to immoral or
vicious influences and training by the neglect, bad habits, or vicious con-
duct of his or her parent, guardian, or other custodian, or that the parent,
guardian, or other custodian of such minor is unable or unwilling to ex-
ercise proper control over such minor, or that, by reason of poverty, is a
charge upon the county, town, or city, and unable to support and properly
care for such minor, or in any case where it appears that any minor is
likely to become a burden or charge upon the public, and that the welfare
of such minor in all such cases, as well as the peace and good order of
society, requires such commitment, any court of record in this State, or
the judge thereof in vacation, may, on the application of any reputable
citizen of the city or town or county wherein such minor may reside or
be found, or on application of any society or association chartered un-
der the laws of this State for benevolent or charitable purposes, or for
the care, custody, and maintenance of, and the prevention of cruelty to,
children, commit such minor to the care and custody of any society or
association incorporated under the laws of this State for charitable or
benevolent purposes, or for the care, custody, and maintenance of, and
the prevention of cruelty to, children, to be kept until such minor, in the
case of females, shall arrive at the age of eighteen years, and, in the case
of males, shall arrive at the age of twenty-one years, unless sooner dis-
charged by such society or association, or by due process of law, and such
court, or the judge thereof in vacation, may require such minor to be
brought before it upon a warrant, or may commit without previous war-
rant, if such minor can be brought before the said court or judge, or is
present without it, or is of such tender age, or the circumstances are such
that otherwise warrant should be dispensed with: provided, that it shall
be lawful for the parent, guardian, or custodian of the minor so com-
mitted, upon reasonable notice to such society or association, to petition
the circuit or corporation court, or the judge thereof in vacation, for the
discharge of such minor, and after a hearing upon said petition, answer,
and evidence adduced, said court, or judge thereof in vacation, may order
said society or association to discharge said minor at any time when, in
the judgment of said court or judge, such discharge will be to the best
interest of such minor.

2. That the said court and the judges thereof, and the officers of such
courts performing any act or executing any process under this act, are
vested with all the incidental powers necessary to the effectual execution
of the powers herein enumerated; that any minor held in any custody,
under a commitment or otherwise, for care and guardianship under the
provisions of this act, shall be held to be in private custody within the
meaning of this act. Proceedings in such cases shall not be classed as
criminal, and the laws limiting or defining the jurisdiction or procedure
in criminal cases shall have no application to the cases herein mentioned.

3. That all warrants and commitments under this act shall be upon
the order of such court, or the judge thereof in vacation, and shall issue
from the clerk’s office of such court, under the hand of the clerk thereof,
and shall be executed by any officer authorized to execute process under
the laws of this State, and shall be in substance of the form following:

WARRANT.
State of Virginia, (city or county )—to-wit:
To the (sheriff, sergeant, or any constable) of the said (city or county) :

Whereas, complaint has been made before the (.......... court of
Lecce eens , city or county, or before the judge of..........court of
Len ee ewan , city or county) that...............i8 a minor (insert the
grounds upon which the application for the warrant is based), you are,
therefore, commanded forthwith to apprehend said.................
and bring (him or her) before the said court, or before the judge of the
said court, at....... hour (A. M. or P. M.), on the........... day of
cece eee eneeees , 19..., to be dealt with according to law; and have
you there this warrant.

Given under my hand this...... day of.............. , 19...

Clerk
COMMITMENT.

State of Virginia, (city or county)—to-wit:

Whereas, on complaint and due proof it has been adjudged by the

ommend hE oi court of the said (city or county of............), or the
judge of the............. court of (city or county of............. ),
that.........e..eee, is (insert the reasons for the commitment), and

the welfare of such minor, as well as the peace and good order of society,

requires (his or her) commitment to some institution for care and
guardianship, and that (he or she) stand committed to..............
you are, therefore, empowered and directed to receive said.............
698 , ACTS OF ASSEMBLY.

to be kept and detained in your care and custody until discharged by due
course of law.
Given under my hand this...... May Gleesaasececeaas , 19...

4. All bodies incorporated, or to be incorporated, under the general
laws for purposes of the care, custody, guardianship, and protection
of minors generally, and all charitable and benevolent societies or asso-
ciations to whom such minors may be committed under this act shal
have the power and authority following:

First. To retain children legally committed or confided to them until
the age of eighteen in females and twenty-one in males, except as here-
inbefore provided.

Second. To place out such children in suitable homes upon such term:
as the managers, directors, or trustees deem beneficial to the children, or
to place them out as apprentices to any trade or occupation which the
managers, directors, or trustees may deem proper for their betterment.
subject to the control and supervision of such managers, directors, and
trustees, the custody of such minors not to be absolutely relinquished in
any case, except as hereinbefore provided, and a record to be kept af the
time of placing out, the name and residence of persons with whom placed.
and the terms and conditions of placing out; and it shall be the duty of
the said managers, directors, or trustees to cause every child so placed
out to be visited not less than once in every three months, in order to
inquire into its welfare, and such managers, directors, and trustees may
require of the person with whom such minor may be placed out a suitable
bond, with satisfactory security, for the faithful performance of the
conditions and agreements upon which such minor may be placed out.

Third. To exercise parental authority and control over such children,
and to make all needful provisions as to care, maintenance, and education
of the same.

Fourth. To procure and commit such children in cases of necessity
to reformatory institutions. The foregoing provisions are not to be un-
derstood to affect the powers of the courts to adjudicate all questions as
to the custody of minors, irrespective of any alleged or supposed claim or
right of guardianship or custody, or to abridge or affect any corporate
rights of any institution, or to prevent the receiving of minors, under
such limitations or for such definite periods as any institution may, by
their regulations, direct or prescribe.

5. Every agent, officer, or representative of any institution, socicty, or
association, or body corporate, under the laws of this State, for the care,
custody, or protection of children or minors having in possession, custody,
or personal charge any minor or person under the age of twenty-one years
for any purpose connected with the object of such institution, society,
association, or body shall be entitled to all privileges and authorities of
a conservator of the peace, and any person, w hether under claim or color
of authority over the person of such minor, as parent, guardian, or other-
wise, or under any other claim, or pretense of claim, who shall in any
manner interfere with or obstruct such agent, cfficer, or representative ir
relation to the possession, custody, or personal charge of such minor shal!
be guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall be punished by a fine not exceed-
ing fifty dollars, and by confinement in jail not execeding three months.
and it shall be the duty of all officers of police, policemen, constables
officers, and officials of every description having authority to make arrests
to enforce this section in every particular.

6. This act shall be in force on and after July first, nineteen hundred
and two.