Chap. 350.—An ACT to provide for the commitment of delinquent, dependent,
or neglected ehildren to the State board of charities and corrections, and
to certain societies, associations, or reformatories, and authorizing such
organizations to place said children in suitable homes and institutions;
defining the terms “delinquent,” “dependent,” and “neglected” child:
when children under eighteen years of age may or may not be sent to
jail, workhouse, police station or penitentiary; requiring parents in
certain contingencies to pay for support of delinquent, dependent or
negiected children, providing for physical and mental examination of
children, and for placing them in hospitals when necessary; providing
for the appointment of probation officers and prescribing their duties and
powers; allowing delinquent children to be released on probation; pre
scribing the procedure in the hearing of children’s cases; penalties for
removing or interfering with any child committed hereunder, or for
violating any provision hereof; allowing jury trials and appeals; and
providing for the supervision and inspection of societies and associa-
tions by the State board of charities and corrections. (S. B. 150.)

.. Approved March 27, 1914.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That
every court of record of general criminal jurisdiction or the judge
thereof in vacation, and the police and justice courts are hereby
authorized and empowered, in their discretion, to commit to the
care and custody of the State board of charities and corrections,
or of any society, association or reformatory approved by the State
board of charities and corrections, and chartered under the laws of
this State, for the care, custody, maintenance, protection, discipline,
or betterment of children, any child who shall be proven to be
delinquent dependent or neglected; provided, however, that all
children twelve years old and under, declared delinquent by any
court or justice in this State and not placed on probation as here-
inafter provided, shall be committed to the State board of charities
and corrections and the said board is hereby authorized, in its dis-
eretion, to place such children in homes, institutions or reforma-
tories without further process of law; provided, further, that all
commitments under this act shall be for an indeterminate peried
but no child committed hereunder shall be held or detained after
such child shall have attained the age of twenty-one years; and the
said State board of charities and corrections and said societies or
associations may place under contract children committed under thi
act until they reach the age of twenty-one years in suitable family
homes, institutions or training schools for the care of children, and
whenever such a child shall be so placed by any such society or
association » report of such action shall be made to the State board
of charities and corrections in such form as may be required by it.

The words “delinquent child” shall include a child under eigh-
teen years of age who violates a law of this State or a city or town
ordinance, or who is incorrigible; or who is a persistent truant
from school; or who associates with criminals or reputed criminals,
or vicious or immoral persons; or who is growing up in idleness or
crime; or who wanders about the streets in the night time; or who
uses intoxicating liquor as a beverage, or who uses opium, cocaine,
morphine, or other similar drug, without the direction of a com-
petent physician; or who frequents, visits, or is found in a disorderly
house, house of ill-fame, saloon, barroom or a place where intoxicat-
ing liquors are sold, exchanged or given away; or who patronizes,
visits, or is found in a gambling-house or place where a gambling-
device is operated, or in a billiard hall or poolroom; or who uses
vile, obscene, vulgar, profane or indecent language, or is guilty
of dissolute or immoral conduct. The words “dependent child”
or “neglected child” shall mean a child under sixteen years of
age who is dependent on the public for support; or who is home-
less, destitute, or abandoned; or who has no proper parental care
or guardianship; or who begs or receives alms; or who is found
living in a house of ill-fame or with a Vicious or disreputable
person; or whose home, by reason of neglect, cruelty or de-
pravity on the part of its parents, guardian, or other person
in whose care it may be, is an unfit place for such child, or whose
environment is such as to warrant the State, in the interest of the
child, in assuming its guardianship. All juvenile offenders, man-
aged or controlled under the provisions of this act, shall be deemed
not to be criminals, and shall not be treated as such.

The traveling expenses incurred by an agent of the State board
of charities and corrections or by an officer of any court in convey-
ing children committed to said board to homes, institutions or re-
formatories shall be paid by the auditor of public accounts in the
same manner and out of the same fund as the traveling expenses
of officers conveying delinquent children to Laurel industrial school
or the negro reformatory are now paid.

2. No court or justice, unless the offense is aggravated, or the
ends of justice demand otherwise, shall sentence or commit a child
under eighteen years of age charged with or proven to have been
guilty of any crime to a jail, work-house or police station, or send
_ such a child on to the grand jury, nor sentence such child to the
penitentiary; but such child may be committed after hearing is
had, as is hereinafter provided, to the State board of charities and
corrections or any society or association formed for the purpose
specified in section one of this act; or the court or the judge above
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mentioned, may commit such a child to a reformatory under the
laws now or hereinafter provided for such commitment. Nothing
herein shall prevent the imposition of such punishment as is pre-
scribed by the laws of the State of Virginia for the offense with
which such child is charged, when no society or association or re-
formatory will accept such child. ,

3. In any case in which the court, judge or justice finds a child
delinquent, dependent or neglected, it may in the same or in sub-
sequent proceedings, by summons, warrant or other proper process,
cause the parent, or parents of such child, or either of them, to be
brought before it, and may thereupon proceed to inquire into the
ability of such parent or parents to support the child or contribute
thereto, and if the court, judge or justice finds such parent or parents
able to. support the child or contribute thereto, it may then deal
with such person in like manner as is provided for in the statute
relating to neglect of wife or children.

4, Every child coming within the provisions of this act may
be subjected to a physical and mental examination by a competent
physician or physicians or other mental diagnostician, to be ap-
pointed by the court, judge or justice having jurisdiction of the
case, and the physician or mental diagnostician so appointed shall
certify to the court the condition in which he finds the child. The
court, judge or justice may, when the health or mental condition
of the child requires it, cause the child to be placed in a public
hospital school, or other institution for treatment or special care,
or in a private hospital or institution which will receive it for like
purposes.

5. That for the purpose of aiding the court in a proper dis-
position of cases and matters arising under this act, the judge or
justice may, upon the recommendation of any society, association
or reformatory referred to in section one of this act, or upon the
recommendation of the State board of charities and corrections,
appoint one or more suitable persons probation officers for the court,
whose duty it shall be to make such investigation of cases involving
children under eighteen years of age as the court may direct, to be
present in court in order to represent the interests of the child
when the case is heard, to furnish the court such information and
assistance as it may require, and to take charge of any such child
before and after the trial as may be directed by the court, and to
perform such other duties as the court may confer upon him. No
probation officer shall receive any compensation for his services from
the treasury of the State, except when traveling by order of the
court, judge, or justice having jurisdiction of the case or child
involved, when he shall, upon the certificate of such judge or
justice, be paid the actual expenses incurred by him in carrying
out said order. Every probation officer appointed as aforesaid is
hereby invested with all the powers and authority of a police officer
or of a constable,
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6. The judge of the corporation court or of the juvenile and
domestic relations court, of any city, may, upon the recommenda-
tion of the State board of charities and corrections, appoint and
deputize any member or members of the police of such city, not
exceeding three in number, to act and serve as probation officer or
officers as long as the judge of such court may deem desirable. Such
police designated shall, while acting as such probation officer or
officers, be relieved of ordinary detail duties of the police; but shall
remain subject to suspension or removal by the proper officers of
suich cities as are the other police therein. The judge of a circuit
court having jurisdiction may, upon the recommendation of the
State board of charities and corrections, appoint and deputize a
member of the police force in incorporated towns within his juris-
diction, and constables or other suitable persons of the magisterial
districts within such jurisdiction to serve as such probation officers;
provided, however, that such officer shall not be relieved of the
ordinary detail duties of his office while acting as such probation
officer. Where no such appointment is made, the chief of police of
the city or town and the sheriff of the county shall be, and is hereby
authorized and required to act as such probation officer. Every
probation officer appointed as aforesaid is hereby invested with all
the powers and authority of a police officer or of a constable.

All persons so selected shall faithfully perform the work and
duties which may be prescribed for them by the court or judge above
mentioned, or by said State board of charities and corrections or its
secretary under authority from said board. Such officer or officers
so appointed shall receive no extra compensation over his or their
regular pay, except that the local authorities of a city, town or
county may, if they see fit, pay to such officer so appointed such com-
pensation as they may deem to be reasonable. Each probation
officer shall promptly make all reports which may be required of
him by the State board of charities and corrections, or by the court
or judge above-mentioned.

7. That every court of record of general criminal jurisdiction
or the judge thereof in vacation, and the police and justice courts
are hereby authorized and empowered in their discretion to release
any juvenile charged with delinquency under the care of a proba-
tion officer for a probationary period not exceeding the period of
such child’s minority; such probationed child shall be under the
jurisdiction of the court for such period, and shall be subject to
such rules and regulations touching his welfare as may be prescribed
by the court. In case such probationed child shall fail to keep or
shall disregard the terms of his probation, the court or the judge
thereof in vacation shall have the power to cause such child to be
brought before it for further proceedings; and may thereupon con-
tinue or extend the child’s probation, or may sentence or commit
such child on the original charge in like manner as if no probation
period had intervened, or may punish such child as for contempt
of court. At the end of such probationary period the probation
officer shall cause such child to return to court, and shall make a re-
port upon the child’s conduct during said period; and the court
may thereupon dismiss said child, or, if his probation record does
not justify his dismissal, may deal with said child as is provided
above in cases of violation of probation.

8. Whenever a child under eighteen years of age shall be
charged before any police justice or juvenile and domestic relations
court of any city, or before a justice of the peace, with any offense
embraced in section one of this act, a hearing shall be had of the
evidence bearing upon the guilt and innocence of the child. If the
court shall deem the evidence insufficient for a conviction or in-
sufficient to justify the child being sent on to a grand jury or being
required to give security for good behavior, it shall discharge the
child. If sufficient to justify a conviction or to send the child on to
a grand jury or to require the giving of security for good behavior,
then the court is empowered to act under the provisions of this
statute as to the disposition of said child; provided, that the child
shall have the same right of appeal from any order entered by such
court or police justice or justice of the peace as is provided by law
or an appeal from any judgment of conviction entered by any
such court. In case of any such appeal the court to which such
appeal is taken, or in case of any such child being sent on to a grand
jury, the court to which the child is so sent shall. after the trial is
had in conformity with the requirements of law, have, if the child
is held guilty of crime, the power to act under the provisions of
this statute as to the disposition of the child.

Whenever any probation officer or other reputable person has
knowledge or information that a child within his city, town or
county is dependent or neglected, he may file with the proper court
or justice of the peace a petition in writing, setting forth the facts,
verified by oath. It shall be sufficient that the facts stated in such
petition are upon information and belief.

Upon the filing of the petition, a summons shall issue requiring
the person having the custody or control of the child, or with whom
the child may be, to appear immediately with the child at a place
stated in the summons. The parent or guardian, or if there be
neither, then a relative of such child, if the residence of such rela-
tive be known, shall be notified of the proceedings, and, in any
case, the judge may appoint some suitable person to act in behalf
of the child. If the person summoned as herein provided fails,
without reasonable cause, to appear and abide the order of court,
or bring the child, he may be proceeded against as for a contempt
of court. In case the summons cannot be served or the party served
fails to obey the same, or in any case, when it is made to appear to
the court that such summons will be ineffectual, a warrant may issue
on the order of the court, judge or justice, either against the parent
or guardian, or the person having custody of the child, or with
whom the child may be, or against the child itself. On the return
of the summons or other process, or as soon thereafter as may be,
the court shall proceed to hear and dispose of the case in a sum-
mary manner. Pending the final disposition of a case, the child
may be retained in the possession of the person having charge of
the same, or may be kept, in the discretion of the court, in some
suitable place provided by the city, town or county authorities or
by some private individual or association, or placed in charge of a
probation officer.

9. It shall be unlawful for any person to interfere with or to
obstruct any probation officer, policeman, constable or other offi-
cer in the discharge of his duty under this act, or for any person to
remove or conceal or cause any child to be removed or concealed in
order that it may not be brought before court, or for anv person
to interfere with or remove or attempt to remove anv child who is
in the custody of the court or of an officer or who has been com-
mitted to any organization by any court or justice of the peace
under the provisions of this act; and any person committing any
one of the offenses herein enumerated shall be deemed guilty of
contempt and may be punished by a fine not exceeding fifty dollars
or by imprisonment not exceeding three months, or both.

10. Any juvenile or other person whose rights or interests are
affected by any order of a court or justice entered under or by
virtue of the provisions of this act shall have the same right of
appeal as is now provided by law for appeals in other similar cases.

11. All societies and associations receiving children under this
act shall be subject to the visitation, inspection and supervision of
the State board of charities and corrections, and it shall be the duty
of said board to pass annually upon the fitness of every society or
association that may receive or desire to receive children under the
provisions of this act. and everv society or association shall annually
as said board may direct, make report thereto showing its condi-
tion, management and competencv adequately to care for such
children as are, or may be, committed to it, and such other facts
as said board may require, and when said board is satisfied as to
the care given such children, it shall issue to the society or asso-
ciation a certificate to that effect, which shall continue in force
until revoked by said board, and no such child shall be committed
to any society or association which shall not have received such
a certificate, and shall hold same unrevoked at the time of such
committal. Any court of record named in section one of this act,
or the judge thereof in vacation, may at any time require from any
society or association receiving or desiring to receive children under
the provisions of this act such reports, information and statement
of its condition and management as the court, or the judge thereof
in vacation may deem proper or necessary.

12. Upon petition of any reputable citizen under oath that any
of the provisions of this act have been or are being, violated by
anyone, or by any institution, the court, or the judge thereof in
vacation, having jurisdiction over the locality where such persons
reside or such institution is located may cause such person or insti-
. tution by proper process to appear before the court, or the judge
thereof in vacation, at such time, and at such place within such
locality as the process may name, and may enter judgment or order
ac the ends of justice may require.

13. The court, or any judge authorized to act hereunder in va-
cation, and all officers performing any act or executing any process
under this act, are vested with all incidental powers necessary tq
the effectual execution of the object and purposes of this act.

14. This act: shall be construed liberally as to its objects and
powers, to the end that its purpose may be carried out, to-wit: that
the care, custody and discipline of the child may approximate as
nearly as may be that which should be by its parents, and protect
the child, where possible, from the stigma of jail and the contami-
nating influences of associating with criminals.

15. Words in this act importing the masculine gender shall
be construed to include females whenever such construction is nec-
essary or proper.

16. All acts and parts of acts in conflict with this act are
hereby repealed.