Chap. 431.—An ACT to authorize the council of the city of Rich-
mond, to establish and maintain a house of reformation and work-

house. .
Approved March 6, 1886. °

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That
the council of the city of Richmond shall have authority to
establish and maintain in said city, or within any county contig-
uous to said city, a house for the reformation of juveniles, and
a work-house in which persons lawfully confined therein may
be required to labor at such employment, and under such reg-
ulations, as may be prescribed. The said council shall have
authority to purchase and hold for said city, such lands, and
erect thereon such buildings as may be necessary for the estab-
lishment of said house of reformation and work-house, and
may, from time to time, appropriate such sums of money as
may be necessary for its maintenance and efficient operation.

2. The said house of reformation and work-house shall be
under the general control and management of a board of man-
agers, to consist of seven persons, of which ‘the mayor, judge
of the hustings court and police justice, shall be ex-officio
members; the other four members shall be elected by the city
council, from the members of either branch of said council, or
from the qualified voters of said city. The board of managers
shall organize within ten days after such election, by selecting
from among its members a president, a vice-president, a secre-
tary and a treasurer; and the four members elected by the city
council shall thereupon proceed to draw lots to determine their
terms of service. The one drawing ballot number one, shall
serve for one year; the one drawing number two, for two
vears; number three, for three years; and number four, for
four vears, so that the time of service of one member of the
board will expire every year. All elections by the city council
of members of the board, after the first, shall be for four years,
except to fill vacancies caused by death, removal or resigna-
tion, in which case the election shall be to fill the unexpired
term. The members of said bodrd may enter upon the dis-
charge of their duties immediately after their election, but the
regular term of those first elected as provided for by this act,
shall commence on the first of January after such election. A
majority of the board of managers shall constitute a quorum
for the transaction of business, and for the exercise of any
power conferred upon said board.

3. The said board of managers shall have power to make by-
laws for its own government, and to make, establish, alter and
to enforce all needful regulations for the government and control
of said house of reformation and work-house, its officers, em-
ployees and inmates, not in conflict with any law of this state,
or ordinances of the city of Richmond. Said board shall elect
or appoint annually, in the month of January, a warden or
general manager for said house of reformation and work-house,
and such other officers and employees as may be necessary, and
shall, with the approval of the city council, fix their salaries,

and may require from such of them, as may be proper, bond
and security, conditioned for the faithful performance of ser-
vices. Any officer or employee so selected or appointed, may
be removed by the board, at any time, for inefficiency, negli-
gence or misconduct. Said board shall have authority to make
all necessary contracts for said house of reformation and work-
house, its officers and inmates, subject to such conditions as
may be imposed by the city council. All bills for work done,
materials and provisions furnished, and all other claims for
money, shall first be audited and approved by the board, and
entered by the secretary on his books, and paid in the manner
prescribed by the city council. The warden and all other
officers and employees receiving moneys belonging to said
house of reformation and ‘work-house, shall promptly report
the amount, and the source from which it was received, to the
secretary, who shall make an entry thereof on his books, and
such money shall be immediately paid to the treasurer. The
board shall make a report to the city council, at the first meet-
ing thereof, in the month of January of each year, showing the
sums of money received from appropriations by the city council
during the year, the receipts, by the board, of moneys from all
other sources, a detailed statement of all expenditures, an ac-
count of the number of inmates received, and the time of their
detention, the number employed and the character and value of
work done by them, and the cost of their maintenance per
capita, and in the aggregate. Said board shall also make an
estimate of the expenses of maintaining said house of reforma-
tion and work-house during the coming year, and may make
such recommendations as, in its judgment, will promote the
efficiency of the same. Said board shall have authority, by its
president, to issue a writ, directed to any sheriff, constable or
police officer, of any county or corporation of this common-
wealth, for the re-capture of any fugitive from said house of
reformation and work-house, which said writ shall have force
and effect of a warrant of arrest, issued by a justice of the
peace, and shall be executed accordingly. In all investigations
by the board into the conduct of the officers, employees and
inmates of said house of reformation and work-house, the board
shall have power to summons witnesses, and any person failing
to obey such summons, signed by the secretary, may be re-
ported to the hustings court of the city of Richmond, and shall
be liable to such penalties as may be prescribed by law for fail-
ing to obey a summons issued by said court. The board shall
have authority to bind out, as an apprentice, any minor who is
an inmate of said house of reformation and work- house, in the
same manner as the courts of this commonwealth are author-
ized to bind out apprentices.

4. The said house of reformation shall be separate from said
work-house, but under the same general management. The
inmates of each shall be confined in different houses or apart-
ments, and there shall be no intercourse or communication be-
tween them. In both departments they shall be divided ac-
cording to race and sex; and the inmates of the house of refor-
mation shall be graded or classified, as far as practicable, as
they may prove tractable or vicious.

5. It shall be lawful for the judge of the hustings court, and
police justice of the city of Richmond, to commit to said house
of reformation all males and females, under the age of sixteen
years, who may be convicted of any offence punishable by con-
finement in the jail of said city; also, every child found in the
city of Richmond in a state of want, or abandoned, or impro-
perly exposed, or grossly neglected by its parents, or persons
having its charge; and also, every child found in the house of
any person convicted of being a common prostitute, or keeper
of a house of prostitution. or assignation. All commitments
made as above provided to said house of reformation, shall be
without limit as to time, and the person thus committed shall be
detained until, in the judgment of the board, he or she shall
give such evidences of reformation as will justify a discharge:
provided, that no person shall be detained in said house of re-
formation after he or she shall have reached the age of twenty-
one years.

6. And it shall be lawful for said.judge and police justice to
commit to said work-house, for such term as may be stated in
the warrant of commitment, not exceeding twelve months, all
persons, male and female, found begging upon the streets of
said city of Richmond; all tramps and vagrants; all persons
convicted of misdemeanors, subjecting them to imprisonment
in the city jail; all common strumpets found plying their voca-
tion on the streets; and all persons subject to imprisonment in
jail for failing to pay any fine imposed by said hustings court or
police justice: provided, that no person shall be committed to
said work-house who is unable to work: and provided further,
that any person committed in default of the payment of any
fine, may work out said fine at the rate of twenty-five cents for
each day’s labor performed.

7. The board shall provide educational facilities for the in-
mates of said house of reformation, and have particular re-
gard to their moral training. They may be employed in such
manner as may be suited to their age and strength, but no
child shall be’ compelled to perform severe and exhaustive
Jabor; and any cruelty or unnecessary harshness by any officer
or emplovee shall be followed by the immediate discharge by
the boayd of such officer or employee. Said house of reforma-
tion shall be open to visitors at all reasonable hours, and espe-
cially to ministers of every denomination, but shall be con.
ducted in a manner entirely non-sectarian. The discipline
shall be suited to the government of children, and the board
may enforce its rules and regulations by providing for the
proper punishment of those who violate them. Said board
may establish a system of rewards for good conduct; and may
release any inmate of said house of reformation whenever four
of the members of said board shall concur in the opinion that
it is proper. to do so.
8. The inmates of said work-house shall be required-to labor
at some employment by which they may contribute to their
support. The board may enforce discipline by prescribing
punishments not excessive or cruel, and may make all needful
regulations to prevent escapes. Any inmate of said work-
house who shall escape therefrom, or from the custody of the
person having him in charge, shall be subject to all the penal-
ties prescribed by law for escaping from the jails of this com-
monwealth.

g. Any person who shall aid or assist any inmate of said
house of reformation and work-house to escape therefrom, or
from the custody of the persons having such inmates in charge,
or who shall knowingly harbor, maintain, or conceal such es-
caped person, shaJl be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and
shall be fined not exceeeding one hundred dollars, or imprisoned
not exceeding six months, the fine thus imposed, to be for the
benefit of the board of managers of said house of reformation
and work-house.

10. The board of managers of said house of reformation and
work- house, shall be entitled to receive from the treasury of the
commonwealth the same fees and allowances for receiving,
maintaining and discharging persons committed to the work-
house, who would have been liable to confinement in the city
jail, as may be fixed by law for sheriffs and sergeants, and the
auditor of public accounts shall issue his warrant for such sum
as may be due upon an account approved by said board of
managers, and sworn to by the president, treasurer or wardens.

11. The hustings court, and police justice of the city of
Richmond, shall have jurisdiction for the trial of all offences
under the criminal laws of the commonwealth committed by
any person in the buildings or within the grounds of said house
of reformation and work-house.

12. This act shall be in force from its passage.