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 LAWS OF ALABAMA 
 
 RELATING TO 
 
 CHILD WELFARE 
 
 ENACTED AT THE 1923 SESSION 
 OF THE LEGISLATURE 
 
 CHILD WELFARE DEPARTMENT 
 JUVENILE COURT 
 COUNTY BOARDS OF CHILD WELFARE 
 CHILD PLACING 
 MATERNITY HOSPITALS 
 THE ALABAMA HOME FOR MENTAL INFERIORS 
 
 THE LIBRARY OF THE 
 or JUL 28 1933 
 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 
 
 BROWN PRINTING COMPANY 
 State Printers and Binders 
 Montgomery, Ala. 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
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 CHILD WELFARE DEPARTMENT 
 ALABAMA GENERAL LAWS 
 
 REGULAR SESSION, 1923. 
 
 No. 275.) (H. 312. Mrs. Wilkins. 
 AN ACT 
 
 To amend the caption, and sections one, two, three, four, five, six, seven 
 and eight of “An Act to establish a child welfare department for the 
 State of Alabama, to prescribe its duties, functions, and powers, and 
 to provide for the appointment of an executive and other officers of 
 such department, to define their duties, to provide for their compensa- 
 tion and to provide for the maintenance and other expenses of such 
 department, and to confer on said department all the duties, powers, 
 and authority heretofore conferred on the State Prison Inspector in so 
 far as his duties, powers, and authority relate to children under 16 
 years of age,” approved September 25, 1919; and section (9) of said 
 Act as amended by an Act approved September 27, 1920. 
 
 Be it enacted by the Legislature of Alabama: 
 
 Section 1. That the caption, and sections one, two, three, 
 four, five, six, seven, and eight of “An Act to establish a child 
 welfare department for the State of Alabama, to prescribe its 
 duties, functions, and powers, to provide for the appointment 
 of an executive and other officers of such department, to define 
 their duties, to provide for their compensation, and to provide 
 for the maintenance and other expenses of such department, 
 and confer on said department all the duties, powers, and 
 authority heretofore conferred on the State Prison Inspector 
 insofar as his duties, powers, and authority relate to children 
 under 16 years of age,’ approved September 25, 1919; and 
 section nine (9) of said Act as amended by an Act approved 
 September 27, 1920, be and the same are hereby amended so as 
 to read as follows: “To establish a Child Welfare Department 
 for the State of Alabama, to prescribe its duties, functions, and 
 powers, to provide for a commission to control said department 
 and to outline the duties and functions of said commission, to 
 provide for the appointment of an executive and other employees 
 of the Child Welfare Department, to define their powers and 
 duties, to provide for their compensation, to provide quarters, 
 and to provide for the maintenance and other expenses of the 
 department, to prohibit. employment of paid probation officers 
 not certificated, to require reports to the department from pro- 
 bate judges and, judges of other courts exercising jurisdiction 
 over dependent, neglected, and delinquent children and from 
 executives of child-caring agencies and institutions, and to con- 
 stitute the failure to make such reports a misdemeanor.” 
 
 THE LIBRARY OF THE 
 JUL 28 1933 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF 1k! INOIS 
 
4 
 
 Section 2. That section one (1) of said Act be and the same 
 is hereby amended so that section one (1) as amended shall read 
 as follows: That, in order that the State may more effectively 
 exercise the duty and obligation which it owes to minor chil- 
 dren, who, for any cause, are in need of its care and protection, 
 there is hereby created and established for the State of Alabama 
 a Child Welfare Department, which shall be located and have 
 its offices in the State Capitol, and which shall have and exer- 
 cise the several powers, functions, and duties inherent in the 
 State for promoting the welfare of such children. 
 
 Section 3. That section two (2) of said Act be and the same 
 is hereby amended so that section two (2) as amended shall 
 read as follows: That the said department shall have the power 
 and it shall be its duty: (1) To seek out, through investigation, 
 complaints from citizens, or otherwise, the minor children in 
 the State who are in need of its care and protection and shall, 
 as far as may be possible, through existing agencies, public or 
 private, or through such other resources, aid such children to a 
 fair opportunity in life. (2) To make surveys and in other 
 ways to ascertain the facts and conditions which cause or con- 
 tribute to the need for such state care and protection of such 
 children and the extent of such need. (3) To study the facts 
 and conditions so ascertained and from time to time report same 
 to the Governor, the State Child Welfare Commission, and the 
 Legislature, together with its conclusions and recommendations. 
 (4) To present the facts so ascertained to the people of the 
 State through conferences, conventions, and addresses and 
 through these and other means to lead in the formulation and 
 development of a state-wide program for the more effective 
 care of such children and for the elimination and suppression 
 of the causes which bring about the necessity for such care. 
 (5) To advise with the judges and probation officers of the 
 juvenile courts of the several counties of the State, and to aid 
 in perfecting the organization and work of such courts. (6) 
 To exercise the right of visitation and inspection, of all state, 
 county, municipal, and other agencies and institutions, public 
 or private (including maternity hospitals), receiving, placing, 
 or caring for dependent, neglected, or delinquent minor children 
 for the purpose of ascertaining from time to time the capacity 
 and adequacy of the facilities offered by these agencies and 
 institutions for the care of such children, the manner, character 
 or way in which such children are cared for in such institutions 
 or agencies; the children who are in such institutions, the facts 
 showing their social status; the source of income and cost of 
 maintenance; and the way in which such children are received 
 into and dismissed from such institutions or agencies. Pro- 
 vided nothing in this bill shall be construed to confer on said 
 
5 
 
 child welfare department any duties or authority or powers in 
 reference to the Alabama Insane Hospitals or Alabama Home 
 for Mental Inferiors, the State Training School for Girls and the 
 Alabama Boys Industrial School. (7) To license annually all 
 institutions and agencies (including maternity hospitals) except 
 those under state ownership and control, caring for, receiving, 
 or placing minor children and to revoke such license for cause. 
 (8) To establish and maintain homes or other agencies for the 
 care of dependent, neglected, or delinquent minor children or to 
 contract with any approved agency or institution for the care 
 of such children, and, also, to receive and care for dependent, 
 neglected and delinquent minor children committed to its care, 
 to make a careful physical examination (and, if possible, a 
 mental examination) of every such child, to investigate in 
 detail the personal and family history of the child and its envi- 
 ronment, and to place such children in family homes or in ap- 
 proved suitable institutions operating in accordance with the 
 provisions of this Act and to supervise such children however 
 placed. (9) To require reports from courts and institutions, 
 public and private, to the extent and in the form and manner 
 hereinafter provided. (10) To enforce the state child labor 
 law. (11) To solicit, receive, and hold gifts, devises and be- 
 quests of money, real estate, and other things of value to be 
 used in the support, development, and carrying on of its work. 
 (12) To prepare biennially and submit to the Governor of the 
 State and the State Child Welfare Commission a full and com- 
 plete report of all the activities of the department, together with 
 a financial statement of all expenditures. 
 
 Section 4. That section three (38) of said act be and the 
 same is hereby amended so that section three (3) as amended 
 shall read as follows: That (1) The Child Welfare Depart- 
 ment shall be under the control of a commission consisting of 
 the Governor, the State Superintendent of Education, the State 
 Health Officer, ex-officio, and six persons to be appointed by 
 the Governor whose terms of office beginning from the date of 
 their appointment shall be respectively, two for two years, two 
 for four years, and two for six years, the said terms of office to 
 be designated to each appointee by the Governor in making the 
 appointment. All succeeding appointees shall be appointed by 
 the Governor and shall hold office for a term of six years and 
 until their successors are appointed and qualified. (2) The 
 said commission shall, within sixty days after the approval of 
 this Act, and at the call of the Governor, meet at the State 
 Capitol and proceed to organize the said department. It shall 
 hold at the State Capitol at least one regular meeting during 
 each year, and as many special meetings as may be necessary. 
 At such meetings five members shall constitute a quorum. The 
 
6 
 
 Governor shall be the presiding officer, but in case of his ab- 
 sence, the commission shall have authority to elect a temporary 
 presiding officer. If there be no director of the Child Welfare 
 Department as hereinafter provided for the Commission may 
 elect a secretary, pro tempore. (3) The director of the Child 
 Welfare Department hereinafter provided for shall be the sec- 
 retary of the Commission. (4) The members of the Commis- 
 sion shall receive no compensation for their services other than 
 the amount of their traveling and other expenses, actually paid 
 out while in attendance on the meetings of the Commission, or 
 on the business of the department. (5) The Commission is em- 
 powered to adopt rules for its government, and for the govern- 
 ment of the department; to elect a director of the Child Welfare 
 Department and to provide for the selection or appointment of 
 other employees as may be necessary and to fix their compen- 
 sation; to have general control of the performance of every 
 duty and the execution of the several: powers herein conferred 
 upon the department; to control and direct the expenditure of 
 all appropriations which may be made for the maintenance and 
 activities of the department; and to do and perform such other 
 acts and things as may be necessary to carry out the true intent 
 and purposes of this Act. In order to carry out the purposes 
 of this section the commission, in anticipation of the needs of the 
 minor children which may come under the care of the depart- 
 ment, is hereby empowered to authorize the director to make 
 requisition for a fund for the maintenance, transportation and 
 other care of the wards of the department. Upon the approval 
 of the Governor, the State Auditor shall draw his warrant upon 
 the State Treasury for the amount of the requisition so ap- 
 proved. 
 
 Section 5. That section four (4) of said Act be and the 
 same is hereby amended so that section four (4) as amended 
 shall read as follows: That (1) The department shall be under 
 the immediate management and control of a director to be 
 elected by the Commission to hold office at its pleasure. (2) 
 The director shall take oath of office as other public officials, 
 shall be commissioned in like manner, and shall devote his entire 
 time to the work of the department. 
 
 Section 6. That section five (5) of said Act be and the same 
 is hereby amended so that section five (5) as amended shall read 
 as follows: That it is hereby made the duty of the judges of 
 the juvenile courts of the several counties of the State to make 
 on or before the tenth day of each month a report to the Child 
 Welfare Department upon the work of the juvenile courts pre- 
 sided over by them; and it is hereby made the duty of the judges 
 of the probate courts to make at the same time reports on all 
 adoptions and on all cases of non-support and desertion handled 
 
7 
 
 by such courts during the preceding month. All reports re- 
 quired by this section shall be made. upon forms furnished by 
 the State Child Welfare Department and any such official who 
 fails or refuses to make such reports as provided for in this 
 section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. 
 
 Section 7. That section six (6) of said Act be and the same 
 is hereby amended so that section six (6) as amended shall read 
 as follows: That it is hereby made the duty of all state, county, 
 municipal, and other agencies and institutions, public or private 
 (including maternity hospitals) receiving, placing, or caring 
 for dependent, neglected or delinquent minor children. (1) 
 To accord the department or its agents the right of entrance, 
 privilege of inspection and access to its accounts and records 
 of work for the purpose of ascertaining the kind and quality of 
 work done and of obtaining a proper basis for its recommenda- 
 tions. The department and its agents shall advise agency and 
 institution officers and workers in regard to approved methods 
 of child care, best types of housing and institutional equipment, 
 and adequate records of agency and institutional work. The 
 principal purpose of such visitation shall not be to present offi- 
 cial demands for adherences to the provisions of the law, but to 
 offer friendly counsel on child welfare problems and to advise 
 concerning progressive methods and the improvement of the 
 service rendered. (2) To make such reports to the department 
 in such manner and at such time as may be required by its 
 rules, which reports shall furnish information as to the capacity 
 and adequacy of the facilities possessed by said agencies and 
 institutions to care for children; the manner, character or way 
 in which such children are cared for by such agencies and insti- 
 tutions; the names, former addresses and such information as 
 will show the social status of such children, the way in which 
 and from whom such children are received; how and to whom 
 dismissed; the extent and source of its income; the cost of 
 maintenance; and such other facts as may be reasonably helpful 
 to the state in promoting the welfare of such children in the 
 state and in working out a general program for their care and 
 protection. All reports required by this section shall be made 
 upon forms furnished by the State Child Welfare Department 
 and any superintendent, manager or person in charge of any 
 agency or institution covered by this section who refuses or. 
 fails to make such reports or to furnish information herein pro- 
 vided for shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. It is hereby made 
 the duty of circuit and county solicitors and their assistants to 
 institute proceedings for the purpose of enforcing the provisions 
 of this Act. 
 
 Section 8. That section seven (7) of said Act be.and the 
 same is hereby amended so that section seven (7) as amended 
 
8 
 
 shall read as follows: That in order to render more effective 
 the provisions of this Act and, better to develop its objects in 
 conserving the interests of the minor children of the State and 
 in protecting the public against imposition and fraud, (1) The 
 State Child Welfare Commission is empowered to prescribe rea- 
 sonable minimum standards for the conduct of such agencies 
 and institutions, public or private, (including maternity hos- 
 pitals) receiving or caring for dependent, neglected or delin- 
 quent minor children and the State Child Welfare Department 
 is hereby empowered to license such of these as conform to the 
 standards prescribed by the Commission. All societies, agencies 
 and institutions, public or private (including maternity hospi- 
 tals), except those under State ownership and control receiving 
 or caring for dependent, neglected or delinquent minor children 
 shall be required to obtain annually a license from the State 
 Child Welfare Department, provided that no agency or insti- 
 tution shall be licensed until the department is reasonably and 
 satisfactorily assured of the following points: (a) The present 
 need for the proposed agency or institution (b) The good char- 
 acter and intentions of the applicants. (c) That the organi- 
 zations shall be adequately financed to be effective. (d) That 
 capable trained or experienced workers will be employed. (e) 
 That the methods to be used and disposition to be made of the 
 children served will be wise, altruistic, judicious, and in accord 
 with the welfare of society. (f) That there is a probability 
 of permanence in the proposed child welfare organization or 
 institution. (2) Any superintendent, manager or agent of 
 any agency or institution which does not hold a license issued 
 by the State Child Welfare Department or whose license has 
 been revoked, who solicits funds for the purposes of child care 
 in such institutions shall be guilty of a misdemeanor provided 
 that nothing contained in this sub-section shall apply to the 
 solicitation of funds for a projected institution when such solici- 
 tation is confined to the membership cf the organization which 
 shall own or control the proposed institution. Any such agency 
 or institution or any person or persons in charge of any such 
 agency or institution which shall attempt to carry on any of 
 the functions hereinabove set out without first having obtained 
 a license shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. Power is conferred 
 upon the department to cancel the license hereinabove provided 
 for upon the failure of any such organization to comply with 
 the standards herein prescribed or which may hereafter be pre- 
 scribed by the State Child Welfare Commission. 
 | Section 9. That section eight (8) of said Act be and the 
 same is hereby amended so that section eight (8) as amended 
 shall read as follows: That in order to unify and standardize 
 probation work in the juvenile courts of this State, the State 
 
9 
 
 Child Welfare Commission is hereby empowered to prescribe 
 reasonable standards of education, training and experience 
 which must be attained by any applicant for the position of pro- 
 bation officer in any of the several juvenile courts of the State. 
 That said examination shall be furnished by the State Child 
 Welfare Commission to the officer or officers employing proba- 
 tion officers in any county of. the State and the said officer or 
 officers shall require any and all applicants for said position to 
 first stand said examination so prescribed before some officer 
 designated by the employing agency of each county before any 
 probation officer shall be employed. 
 
 Section 10. ‘That Section 9 as amended by an Act approved 
 September 29, 1920, be and the same is hereby amended so that 
 Section 9 as hereby amended shall read as follows: That for 
 the maintenance of the department including the payment of 
 salaries and all expenses the sum of Fifty Thousand ($50,000) 
 Dollars is hereby appropriated annually.”’ 
 
 Approved Sept. 17, 1928. 
 
JUVENILE COURT 
 ALABAMA GENERAL LAWS 
 
 REGULAR SESSION, 1928. 
 
 No. 295.) (S. 429. Brooks. 
 AN ACT 
 
 To amend an Act entitled “An Act to amend Sections 6450, 6451, 6452, 
 6453, 6454, 6455, 6456, 6457, 6458, 6460, 6461, 6462, 6463, 6464, 6465 
 of the Code of Alabama, 1907,” approved September 16, 1915. 
 
 Be it enacted by the Legislature of Alabama: 
 
 Section 1. That An Act entitled “An Act to amend Sections, 
 6450, 6451, 6452, 6453, 6454, 6455, 6456, 6457, 6458, 6460. 6461. 
 6462, 6463, 6464, 6465, of the Code of Alabama, 1907,” approved 
 September 16, 1915, be and the same are hereby amended So as 
 to read as follows: 
 
 Section 2. DEFINITIONS. (1) That for the purposes of 
 this Act the words “‘dependent child’”’ shall mean any child, who, 
 while under sixteen years of age, for any reason, is destitute, 
 homeless, or is dependent on the public for support; or whose 
 parent or parents, for good cause, desire to be relieved of its 
 care and custody; or who is without a parent or guardian able 
 to provide for his support, training and education; or whose 
 custody is the subject of controversy. (2) That for the pur- 
 poses of this Act the words “neglected child” shall mean any 
 child, who, while under sixteen years of age is abandoned by 
 both parents, or if one parent is dead, by the survivor, or by his 
 guardian, or custodian; or who has no proper parental care or 
 guardianship; or whose home, by reason of neglect, cruelty, or 
 depravity, on the part of his parent or parents, guardian or 
 other person in whose care he may be, is an unfit or improper 
 place for such child; or who is found begging, receiving or 
 gathering alms, or who is found in any street, road or public 
 place for the purpose of so doing, whether actually begging or 
 doing so under the pretext of selling or offering for sale any 
 article or articles, or of singing or playing on any musical instru- 
 ment, or of giving any public entertainment or accompanying 
 or being used in aid of any person so doing; or for whom his 
 parent, parents, guardian or custodian, neglect or refuse, when 
 able to do so, or when such service is offered without charge, to 
 provide, or allow, medical, surgical, or other remedial care nec- 
 essary for his health, or well- being; or whose parent, parents, 
 guardian or custodian permits such child to engage in an occu- 
 pation or calling contrary to the provisions of the child labor law 
 of this State; or whose parent, parents, guardian or custodian 
 
11 
 
 fail, refuse or neglect to send such child to school in accordance 
 with the terms of the compulsory attendance law of this State; 
 or who is in such condition or surroundings, or is under such 
 improper or insufficient guardianship or control as to endanger 
 the morals, health or general welfare of such child; or who is 
 not being reared or cared for in accordance with the provisions 
 of any law, regulation or ordinance, for the education, care and 
 protection of children; or who for any other cause is in need of 
 the care and protection of the State. (38) That for the purposes 
 of this Act the words ‘delinquent child’’ shall mean any child 
 who while under sixteen years of age violates any penal law of | 
 the United States or of this State, or any regulation, ordinance 
 or law of any city, town or municipality, or who commits any 
 offense or act for which he could be prosecuted in a method par- 
 taking of the nature of a criminal action or proceeding; or who 
 is beyond the control of his parent, parents, guardian, or custo- 
 dian, or who is otherwise incorrigible, or who is guilty of im- 
 moral conduct; or who is leading or for any cause is in danger 
 of leading an idle, dissolute, lewd or immoral life; or who en- 
 gages in any calling, occupation or exhibition punishable by law 
 or is found in any place for permitting which an adult may be 
 punished hy law; or who so deports himself as to endanger his 
 health, morals, or general welfare; or any child who has been 
 brought before any other court charged with a crime and which 
 court has by proper order transferred said child to the juvenile 
 court to be dealt with under the terms of this act. All such 
 children, hereinabove described dependent, neglected or delin- 
 quent, shall be deemed wards of the State and entitled to its care 
 and protection. The State shall exercise its right of guardian- 
 ship and control over such children in the manner and form 
 hereinafter provided. This Act shall be liberally construed in 
 order to accomplish the beneficial purposes herein declared. 
 (4) The word “Court” and the words “Juvenile Court”? when 
 used in this Act shall, unless otherwise qualified, mean the Pro- 
 bate Court of the County, sitting as the Juvenile Court, for the 
 hearing of cases or the disposition of any matter arising under 
 the provisions of this act. The word “Judge” or the words 
 “Judge of the Juvenile Court’ shall when used in this Act, un- 
 less otherwise qualified, mean the Judge of the Probate Court of 
 the County, sitting as the Juvenile Court for the hearing of cases 
 or the disposition of any matter, arising under the provisions 
 of this act. (5) The words “him” and “his” when used in this 
 Act with reference to children coming under the provisions of 
 this act shall apply to boys and girls alike. 
 
 Section 3. COURTS HAVING JURISDICTION OF CHIL- 
 DREN, WARDS OF THE STATE. The probate courts of the 
 several counties of the State, except in those counties in which 
 
12 
 
 special courts having exclusive jurisdiction over children under 
 16 years of age or over and for the purposes declared in this 
 Act have been or shall hereafter be established by special acts of 
 the Legislature, shall have original and exclusive jurisdiction of 
 all proceedings coming within the provisions and terms of this 
 Act and shall have original and exclusive jurisdiction to hear, 
 determine and adjudicate all questions and cases coming within 
 said provisions and terms and each such court shall in the exer- 
 cise of the jurisdiction herein conferred by this Act, be known 
 as the Juvenile; Gourboores........ meee 2 eee County. The 
 
 (Name of County) 
 Juvenile Court shall have power, under the terms of this Act, to 
 determine the question of the dependency, neglect or delinquency 
 of any child, and when such question is so determined and 
 adjudicated, to declare such child to be, for the purposes of this 
 Act, a ward of the State and to make and enter such judgment 
 and orders for his custody, discipline, supervision, care, protec- 
 tion and guardianship, as, in the judgment of the court, will 
 properly conserve and protect the welfare and best interests of 
 such child. If it appears to the court from the evidence that 
 any person, or persons, is, or are, in any way, contributing to 
 the delinquency of any such child, or exerting an evil or harmful 
 influence over any such child, the court may by an injunctive 
 order directed against such person or persons protect such child 
 against such influence in the way that shall seem most condu- 
 cive to such end, and may prohibit all future relations between 
 the parties; provided that nothing in this paragraph shall be so 
 construed as to interfere with the prosecution of offenders as 
 elsewhere provided for in this Act. Juvenile Courts shall have 
 full power and authority to issue all other writs and processes 
 necessary to the exercise of such jurisdiction and to the carrying 
 out of the purposes of this Act. The judge of the court shall 
 have power to issue writs of arrest and of habeas corpus to 
 have brought before it children alleged to be dependent, 
 neglected, or delinquent, as herein defined, to be dealt with by 
 said court under the terms of this Act. The court, as to such 
 dependent, neglected, and delinquent children, shall have and 
 exercise the jurisdiction and power possessed by chancery courts 
 in this state, but shall not have power to adjudicate any matter 
 or make any order affecting any property rights of such chil- 
 dren. Nothing contained herein shall deprive courts of general 
 jurisdiction of the right to determine the custody of children 
 upon writs of habeas corpus, or the right to determine the 
 custody of children when custody is incidental to the determina- 
 tion of causes pending in such courts. Such courts of general 
 jurisdiction may, however, decline to pass upon such questions 
 of custody or to issue such writs and may certify said questions 
 
13 
 
 or writs to the juvenile court for hearing and determination. 
 The courts shall have the power to determine the form and char- 
 acter of its records and to devise and publish rules, not incon- 
 sistent with the provisions of this act nor the laws of this State, 
 to regulate proceedings in all cases coming within the provisions 
 of this act, and for the conduct of probation and other officers 
 of the court. Such rules shall be enforced and construed lib- 
 erally for the remedial purposes embraced herein. The court 
 may adopt and cause to be printed for the use of the public and 
 for the use of the court such forms as may be found necessary 
 and convenient for use in cases arising under this act; provided, 
 that such forms shall be approved by the State Child Welfare 
 Department. All expenses necessary or appropriate to the 
 carrying out of the purposes and intent of this act and all 
 expenses of maintenance and care of wards of the court that 
 may be incurred by order of the court in carrying out the pro- 
 visions and intent of this Act, shall be valid charges and pre- 
 ferred claims against the county and shall be paid by the county 
 treasurer when itemized and sworn to by the creditor or other 
 persons knowing the facts in the case, and approved by the 
 judge. 
 
 Section 4. ISSUANCE AND SERVICE OF SUMMONS 
 ON CHILD AND PARENT. The style or title of the proceed- 
 ings herein provided for shall be State of Alabama, in the mat- 
 Devo tL aiegts, 6) eee TO 2 (Inserting name of child), a child under 
 Sixtecnavears, ol age winter) uvenile’ Court! of i 
 County (Inserting name of county). Any person having knowl- 
 edge or information that a child, residing in or who is actually 
 within a county of this State, is within the provisions of this 
 Act, or subject to the jurisdiction of the juvenile court, may, 
 and any probation officer of such court having such knowledge 
 or information shall, file with the court of said county a verified 
 petition, setting forth the name, residence and age of the child, 
 the name and residence of the parent or parents, if known to 
 the petitioner, and the name and residence of the person or per- 
 sons having guardianship, custody, control or supervision of 
 such child, if such facts be known, or can be ascertained by the 
 petitioner, or that such facts are unknown or cannot be ascer- 
 tained, if that be the fact. The petition shall state the facts 
 which bring the child within the provisions and terms of this 
 Act, and it shall be sufficient for that purpose to aver that the 
 child named therein is dependent, neglected, or delinquent, as 
 the case may be, and in need of the care and protection of this 
 State (here stating succinctly the facts which bring said child 
 within the terms and provisions as herein defined). The peti- 
 tion shall be sworn to by the petitioner, but affidavit may be 
 made upon information and belief of the affiant. Upon the fil- 
 
14 
 
 ing of the petition with the juvenile court, or upon receipt of an 
 order of transfer from any other court, as hereinafter provided, 
 the judge or clerk or chief probation officer of the court shall 
 forthwith, or after causing an examination to be made by an 
 officer or other person, cause 2 summons to be issued, signed by 
 the judge or clerk of said court, requiring the child to appear 
 before the court, and requiring the parents, guardian, or the 
 person having the custody, control or supervision of the child, 
 or the person with whom the child may be found, to appear with 
 the child, at such time and place as may be stated in the sum- 
 mons, to show cause why the child should not be dealt with ac- 
 cording to the provisions of this Act. Provided, however, that, 
 if after investigation is made, the chief probation officer is of 
 the opinion that such cause is not a meritorious one, he may de- 
 cline to ask the judge or clerk for a summons, and the court may 
 upon his motion dismiss such petition, or order a summons 
 issued as to the court may seem just. Said summons shall set 
 forth the charges contained in said petition, or order of transfer. 
 If it appears from the petition that the child is violating any 
 penal law of the United States or of this State, or any law or 
 ordinance of any municipality for which said child could be 
 prosecuted, or that the child is in such condition that its welfare 
 requires that custody be immediately assumed, the judge of the 
 court may indorse upon the summons a direction that the officer 
 serving said summons shall at once take said child into his cus- 
 tody. When any child is taken into custody under such sum- 
 mons, or is in the custody of the court under any order of trans- 
 fer from any other court, such child may, if in the judgment of 
 the judge of said court it is not inconsistent with the child’s 
 welfare, be admitted to bail, or be released on his own recogni- 
 zance, or be released into the custody of a probation officer, or 
 of the parent or parents or of any other person or approved 
 agency designated by the judge of said court. If in the discre- 
 tion of the judge of said court, it is deemed inexpedient to admit 
 such child to bail or to release it in the manner above set out, 
 and if in the judgment of the court it is absolutely necessary, 
 such child may be detained in such manner as the judge may 
 order pending the hearing of the case. Service of such sum- 
 mons upon the child mentioned therein shall be made by delivery 
 to and leaving with the father or mother of such child, or with 
 the parent with which such child is living, or with the person 
 in whose custody the child may be, a true copy thereof and when 
 the summons so directs, by taking said child into custody by 
 the officers serving same. When the summons is directed to 
 the child and to such child’s father or mother, or both, service of 
 one copy on either parent if they be living together shall be suf- 
 ficient service on all of them; or on the child and the parent 
 
15 
 
 with which such child is living. When such child has no parent 
 or custodian upon whom such summons can be served, the court 
 shall appoint a guardian ad litem for said child upon whom such 
 summons must be served, unless such service be waived in writ- 
 ing by said guardian ad litem. Service of such summons on 
 the person, or persons, mentioned therein, other than the child, 
 if residents of this State, and their place of residence is known, 
 shall be made by delivery to and leaving with such other person, 
 or persons, a true copy thereof. In the event that such other 
 person or persons are non-residents of the state, and their place 
 of residence is known, it shall be sufficient service to deposit in 
 a United States Post Office in such county a true copy of such 
 summons, in a post paid, sealed envelope addressed to such per- 
 son or persons, at such address or addresses; but such service 
 shall not be held to have been perfected, nor shall such case be 
 called for trial until a reasonable time has elapsed from the time 
 of the posting of such summons, unless with the consent of such 
 other person or persons, which consent may be shown by letter, 
 telegraph, telephone, or in any other way satisfactory to the 
 court. In the event that the names of the parent or parents, 
 guardian, or those legally entitled to the custody of such child 
 cannot be ascertained; or if their names being known their place 
 or places of residence cannot be ascertained; or if for any other 
 cause they cannot be found, or if for any other reason it shall ap- 
 pear that service of such summons cannot be had on such per- 
 sons, as provided above—this being a proceeding on the part of 
 the State to protect and care for such children—no service of a 
 summons shall be necessary in such cases to give the court juris- 
 diction thereof. In the event that no service of summons is had 
 for the reason set out above, it shall be the duty of the Judge of 
 such court, hearing such cases to satisfy himself that diligent ef- 
 fort has been made to ascertain the names and places of resi- 
 dence of the parent, parents, guardian or person or persons 
 legally entitled to the custody of such children, before hearing 
 such cases; and such judge may in any event order service by 
 publication, as in other chancery cases if in his opinion the cause 
 of justice require, in which case, if there be no other means of 
 meeting such expense, same shall be paid by the county in which 
 such proceedings are had. If the child mentioned in the sum- 
 mons be present in court at the time of the hearing, no summons 
 to said child shall be necessary to give the court jurisdiction of 
 such child. When the person named in the summons other than 
 the child is present in court at the hearing, or for any of the rea- 
 sons set out above has not been served with a copy of the sum- 
 mons, or when said child is in court, by reason of the violation of 
 any law, Federal, State or municipal, service of the summons 
 upon such other person named in the summons shall not be nec- 
 
16 
 
 essary to give the court jurisdiction; but if such other person be 
 not present in court, and if for any of the reasons set out above 
 has not been served with the summons, the court must appoint a 
 probation officer, or some other discreet person, to act as 
 guardian ad litem, to represent the interests of such child, and 
 such guardian ad litem shall be present at the hearing of said 
 case to represent said child. The summons herein provided for 
 Shall be considered a mandate of the court, and wilful failure to 
 obey its requirements shall subject any person guilty thereof to 
 liability for punishment as for a contempt of court. The sheriff 
 of the county shall serve all papers directed by the juvenile court 
 or judge thereof to be served by him, and a suitable allowance 
 shall be made to him by the court of county commissioners, or 
 board of revenue of such county for his actual and necessary 
 disbursements in effecting such service. However, all papers, 
 summons, and processes issued from the juvenile court in such 
 proceedings may be served by the police of any municipality or 
 by any person selected by said court or by the judge thereof for 
 that purpose. When engaged in serving such papers, summons, 
 and processes, such persons so selected by the court or by 
 the judge thereof shall have the authority of a sheriff. Should 
 any person, who by reason of not having had any legal notice of 
 such proceeding, have a legal right to be heard in such cause, 
 such person shall, or must, assert such right by filing a petition 
 in such cause setting out such right, and asking to be heard 
 thereon, within ninty days from the rendition of the decree 
 adjudging such child a dependent, neglected, or delinquent child, 
 and a ward of the court, and such right, if any there be, shall or 
 must be so asserted and within such time, or same shall be for- 
 ever barred. 
 
 Section 5. JUVENILE COURTS; PRACTIGE ANP 
 RULES OF. (1) PRIVACY. The juvenile court shall keep 
 for the trial of cases involving children under the age of 16 years 
 a docket which shall be separate and distinct from any other 
 docket kept in said court; and the orders and decrees of the 
 court relating to such cases shall be entered in a separate min- 
 ute book. The court shall have the power, in the hearing of any 
 case involving any child under the age of 16 years, to exclude 
 the general public from the room where said hearing is held, 
 but shall admit thereto such persons as, in the judgment of the 
 court, have a direct interest in the case. The records of all 
 such cases shall be withheld from indiscriminate public inspec- 
 tion but such records shall, in the discretion and under orders 
 of the judge, be at all reasonable times open to inspection by the 
 child, its parents, or guardian, its attorney, or attorney for its 
 parent or guardian, and the Child Welfare Department or its 
 accredited agents. The trial of all cases where children are in- 
 
17 
 
 volved shall be held at a different time from the hearing of other 
 cases in the probate court. It shall be the duty of the judge of 
 the court so to conduct the hearing as to disarm the fears of the 
 child and to win its respect and confidence. (2) PROCED- 
 URE. The hearing and proceedings herein provided for may 
 be conducted in the judge’s chamber or in any other room that 
 may be provided for such cases, or in such other place within 
 the county as may be convenient for the court and all parties 
 concerned. Upon the return of the summons or at the time set 
 for the hearing, the judge of the court or the referee or referees 
 hereinafter provided shall proceed to hear and determine the 
 case. At such hearing the nature of the proceeding shall be 
 carefully explained to the child and to his parent, custodian or 
 guardian. The judge of the court or the referee or referees 
 may conduct the examination of witnesses and may take testi- 
 mony for the purpose of inquiring into the habits, surroundings, 
 conditions, tendencies and guardianship of the child in order to 
 enable the court to determine whether such child is dependent, 
 neglected or delinquent, and, if dependent, neglected or delin- 
 quent what order or judgment will best conserve the welfare of 
 the child and carry out the objects of this act. If said child is 
 found by the court to be dependent, neglected, or delinquent, the 
 court shall so adjudicate, and, thereafter, said child shall, during 
 his minority be considered a ward of the State and subject to the 
 guardianship of the juvenile court as herein provided unless 
 sooner discharged by order and decree of the juvenile, or other, 
 court of competent jurisdiction. Any order or judgment of the 
 court in the case of any such child within its custody and guard- 
 ianship shall be subject to modification from time to time as the 
 court may consider best for the welfare of such child. (3) 
 REFEREES. The judge of the court shall have authority to 
 appoint and he may appoint a probation officer or other suitable 
 person to act as referee, in the first instance, to hear any case 
 coming under the jurisdiction of the court and to make report 
 thereof together with said referee’s conclusion and recommen- 
 dations. If no exception be taken to said report, and no review 
 be asked thereof, such report and recommendations, if and when 
 confirmed by the court, shall become the judgment of the court. 
 A review of the conclusions and recommendations of such 
 referee may be had by any child, his parent, guardian, or cus- 
 todian by filing a petition for a review thereof with the court at 
 any time within five days after the entry upon the records of the 
 court of the finding of the referee. No case of a female child 
 shall be heard in the court unless there be present a woman of 
 good character. (4) MENTAL AND PHYSICAL EXAMINA- 
 TION AND TREATMENT OF WARDS. The juvenile court, in 
 its discretion may, either before or after hearing, cause any child 
 
18 
 
 within its jurisdiction to be given a physical or mental examina- 
 tion or both by a competent physician or physicians or an ap- 
 proved mental examiner to be designated by the court having 
 jurisdiction of the child and the physician or physicians or 
 mental examiner shall certify to the court the conditions in 
 which the child is found. If, with or without such examination, 
 the court has reason to believe that the child is within the class 
 defined by Act 704, approved September 29, 1919, General Acts, 
 1919, as mentally inferior, defective, or feeble-minded, it may 
 proceed in the manner set out in said Act approved September 
 29, 1919, General Acts 1919, to commit said child to the Alabama 
 Home or other approved institution for children of his class, or 
 to make such other disposition of such child as the court in its 
 wisdom may order. Or if, upon examination, it appears that 
 the child is in need of medical treatment or care, the court may 
 cause the child to be treated by a competent physician or physi- 
 cians or placed in a public hospital or other institution for train- 
 ing or care or in an approved private hospital or institution 
 which will receive it for like purposes. The expense of such 
 treatment shall be a valid charge against the county unless 
 otherwise provided for. 
 
 section 6..: SOLICITORS TO ASSIST SUCH COURTS: 
 The juvenile court may, in its discretion, call upon the solicitor 
 of the circuit court of the county or of the judicial district in 
 which the case is pending or upon the county solicitor, to assist 
 the court in any proceedings under this act. It shall be the duty 
 of such solicitor to render such assistance when so requested, 
 and said solicitor shall represent the State in all cases arising 
 under this act appealed from the juvenile to the circuit court. 
 In every case the court may, in its discretion, appoint an attor- 
 ney to represent the child. 
 
 Section 7. PROBATION OFFICERS, DUTIES AND COM- 
 PENSATION OF. The Juvenile Court may appoint probation 
 officers, who may be either men or women, of good moral char- 
 acter, intelligent and sympathetic with the aims and purposes of 
 this act, from the candidates who have been certified by the 
 State Child Welfare Department. ‘Provided, that nothing in 
 this bill shall be construed as empowering the State Child Wel- 
 fare Department to pass upon or hold examinations for proba- 
 tion officers in the several counties of this State. Said exami- 
 nations shall be prepared by the State Child Welfare Depart- 
 ment, and upon application of any officer of any county in this 
 State, the same shall be furnished said officer or officers, who 
 shall thereafter hold said examinations and pass upon the quali- 
 fications and fitness of any and all applicants, before any proba- 
 tion officer shall be employed. The number of probation offi- 
 cers necessary for any juvenile court shall be determined by the 
 
19 
 
 judge and the advisory board of such court. The Court of 
 County Commissioners or board of revenue of the county shall 
 pay such probation officers so appointed a reasonable salary to 
 be determined by the judge, the advisory board, and the court of 
 county commissioners or board of revenue of the county, acting 
 jointly, but no paid probation officer shall be employed after 
 the approval of this act unless such probation officer shall have 
 been certificated by the State Child Welfare Department. Vol- 
 unteer probation officers may be appointed in the same manner 
 as paid probation officers. Such volunteer probation officers, 
 when so appointed, shall have and exercise such powers and 
 authority of paid probation officers as may be authorized by 
 the court. Provided that volunteer probation officers shall 
 work subject to the direction of a paid probation officer (or the 
 chief probation officer if there be such) if one be employed. 
 No salary shall be paid out of public funds to any volunteer 
 probation officer. Probation officers shall be reimbursed for 
 actual expenses incurred in making investigations and in trans- 
 porting and caring for children who are wards of the Court 
 when such accounts are approved by the judge of said court. 
 Probation officers shall make investigations, as the court may 
 direct, either before or after hearing and such child between 
 the ages of 16 and 18 as may be transferred from a court 
 of criminal jurisdiction as hereinafter provided for; shall be 
 present in the court in order to represent the interests of the 
 child and to aid the court, when the case is heard; shall have 
 under orders of the court the oversight and care of such chil- 
 dren as may be committed by said court to their charge or super- 
 vision; and shall perform such other duties as the court may 
 direct. Probation officers may file petitions in the court in 
 cases of any children alleged or believed to be dependent, neg- 
 lected, or delinquent, or in need of the State’s care and protec- 
 tion, and may bring charges against any person who aids or 
 encourages any child to violate any law or ordinance, or any 
 order of the court, or who contributes to the neglect, depend- 
 ency, or delinquency of any child, or causes any child to become 
 dependent, neglected, or delinquent. Probation officers shall 
 serve during the pleasure of the court and shall be removable 
 by said court at any time. Paid probation officers shall have 
 the power of sheriffs, and police officers, school attendance of- 
 ficers and child labor inspectors, anywhere within the State, for 
 the purposes of this Act, may serve any process authorized to be 
 served by this Act, and may make arrests in the execution of 
 processes issued from the court. Such probation officers shall 
 take and subscribe to the oath of office now required of other 
 public officers before entering upon the discharge of their 
 duties. It is hereby made the duty of every county or municipal 
 
20 
 
 officer to render to the court, its judges, and officers, such as- 
 sistance and co-operation as shall be within his jurisdiction or 
 power to further the objects of this Act. All institutions, asso- 
 ciations, or other custodial agencies, receiving or having in 
 charge any child coming within the terms and provisions of this 
 Act, or to which any child may be committed under the provis- 
 ions of this Act, are hereby required to give to the court and to 
 its officers any information, which, for the purposes of this Act, 
 may be required or requested by said court or the officers 
 thereof. 
 
 Section 9. COMMITMENT OF CHILDREN; WARDS OF 
 THE STATE. If, after hearing the case of any child, the court 
 shall find the child dependent, neglected, or delinquent and shall 
 so adjudge, the judge may commit the child to the home of its 
 parents, guardian, or persons having control of the home in 
 which said child resides, provided that the character or condi- 
 tion of said home, parents, guardian or persons in said home is 
 not such as to be injurious to the best interests of the child, 
 and may permit such child to remain in its home subject to the 
 visitation and supervision of a probation officer and to such 
 other conditions as the court may deem for the best interests of 
 such child, and to be returned to the court by such guardian, 
 parent, or probation officer when such return may appear to the 
 judge necessary and an order therefor is made by him. Or, the 
 child may be placed by the court in any suitable family home, 
 subject to the visitation and supervision of a probation officer 
 and to further orders of the court. Or, the court may authorize 
 the boarding out of the child in some suitable family home in 
 such manner as is now, or may hereafter be provided by law, or 
 may arrange by voluntary contribution or otherwise for the 
 board and care of the child until suitable provision can be made 
 for the placing of such child elsewhere. Or, the child may be © 
 committed by the court to any orphanage, institution, associa- 
 tion, or agency approved by the State Child Welfare Department 
 for the care of such children in the State of Alabama and which 
 is willing to receive such child. The court may commit any de- 
 linquent child coming within its custody and control to any ap- 
 propriate State institution which is now or which may hereafter 
 be established to receive and care for delinquent children, or, 
 make such other order or judgment as the court, in its discre- 
 tion, shall deem to be for the best interests of the child; no child 
 shall be committed to any orphanage, institution, association, or 
 agency except State institutions or agencies, unless such orphan- 
 age, institution, association or agency is approved by the 
 State Child Welfare Department for the care of children of his 
 class. During the probation period and during the time when 
 such child shall be in the custody of any institution other than a 
 
21 
 
 State Institution, or of any society, association, or person, the 
 child shall be subject to the visitation of probation officers or 
 other duly appointed agents of the court. No commitment of 
 any child to any institution or other custodial agency, other 
 than State Institutions or the State Child Welfare Department 
 shall deprive the court of the jurisdiction or authority to change 
 the form of commitment or to transfer the custody of the child 
 to some other institution or agency. The court may release the 
 child from its custody or control, subject to be recalled and held 
 in its control and custody on failure to comply with the terms 
 and conditions of its order, or finally discharge the child. State 
 institutions for delinquents shall not release any child committed 
 to them under the provisions of this Act without first giving 
 ten days’ notice in writing to the court making the commitment. 
 In committing any child to any custodial agency or in placing 
 any child under any guardianship other than that of its natural 
 guardian, the court shall, as far as practicable, select as custo- 
 dial agency or an individual of the same general religious belief 
 as that of the parents of such child, or if there be no parents, 
 as that of the child itself, or an institution or association gov- 
 erned by persons of the same general religious faith as that of 
 the parents or of such child, unless said institution be a State, 
 county, or municipal institution. Female children, when being 
 transported by order of the court to State institutions for delin- 
 quents, shall be accompanied by a woman of good character. 
 When any child is committed by the court to any home, institu- 
 tion, or person, and the parents of such child shall have the 
 means, such parents may be required by the court to pay for the 
 support and care of the child such sums and at such times as the 
 court may order, or, if the child shall have an estate in the hands 
 of a guardian or trustee, such guardian or trustee may be re- 
 quired by the court to pay for the support and care of the child 
 in the same manner. In case of such order to pay, the court 
 shall designate the person, officer, institution or agent to whom 
 such payment shall be made. If said person, guardian, or trus- 
 tee so adjudged and ordered to pay such sums for the sup- 
 port and care of the child, wilfully, and without just excuse, 
 fails or refuses to make payments in accordance with the order 
 of the court, such person, guardian, or trustee so failing or re- 
 fusing to pay may be adjudged in contempt of court. From any 
 such order to pay for the support and care of such child, an 
 appeal may be taken by the person, guardian or trustee so 
 ordered, as hereinafter provided for, and upon the taking of 
 such an appeal, said order shall be suspended until the determi- 
 nation of said appeal. The expenses of transporting a child to 
 an institution, home, or other custodial agency, shall, unless 
 otherwise provided for, be borne by the county of the residence 
 
22 
 
 of the child and shall be paid by the court of county commis- 
 sioners or board of revenue upon presentation of a bill for such 
 expenses approved by the judge of said court. The policy of 
 the court shall be, as far as possible, to exercise its supervisory 
 care by the retention of children in their own homes under the 
 supervision of a probation officer. No child shall be committed 
 to any home of a race other than its own. Every child commit- 
 ted to any home shall be treated in such home as a member of the 
 family, and the home receiving such child shall be under agree- 
 ment to rear and educate such child as a member of the family. 
 When jurisdiction and custody of any child has been assumed by 
 the court, pending disposition of the child by commitment or 
 otherwise, the court of County Commissioners, or Board of 
 Revenue of the county of the residence of said child shall, unless 
 support shall be otherwise provided, provide for the reasonable 
 and proper support of the child while in the custody of the 
 court. No child coming within the provisions of this act shall 
 hereafter be committed to any institution at the public charge 
 unless his status shall have been first determined by such court 
 in accordance with this act. 
 
 Section 10. APPEALS. Any party aggrieved may take an 
 appeal from any judgment or order of the court arising under 
 provisions of this act to the circuit court of the county sitting 
 as a court of equity. Such appeal shall be taken within ten 
 days after the entering of the judgment or order. An appeal 
 bond may, in the discretion of the court, be required. Such 
 bond shall be payable to the State of Alabama and conditioned 
 upon the child’s appearance to answer such judgment as may be 
 rendered on appeal, as well as to secure such costs as may accrue. 
 If such appeal be taken by a guardian ad litem appointed for 
 the child by the court, the court may, in its discretion, make 
 an order allowing to such guardian ad litem the actual expenses 
 incurred on appeal, and the amount so allowed shall be a valid 
 charge against the county when approved by the judge. An 
 appeal, with or without bond, shall not suspend the judgment 
 appealed from, nor shall it discharge the child from the custodv 
 of the court or from the custody of the officer or person to whose 
 care such child shall have been committed, unless the court shall 
 so order. All appeals under this Act shall take precedence over 
 all other business of the court to which the appeal is taken. 
 Upon appeal, the circuit court shall try the case de novo and 
 shall proceed, under and in pursuance of the intent and terms 
 of this act, to render such judgment as to it shall seem just and 
 for the best interests of the child. Upon the rendition of such 
 judgment, the circuit court shall cause to be filed with the juve- 
 nile court a copy of its judgment which shall thereupon become 
 the judgment of the juvenile court. If the circuit court does 
 
23 
 
 not dismiss the proceedings and discharge the child, it shall 
 remand the child to the jurisdiction of the juvenile court for 
 supervision and care under the terms of the judgment of the 
 circuit court, and thereafter, the child shall be and remain 
 under the jurisdiction of the juvenile court in the same manner 
 as if said juvenile court had rendered said judgment in the first 
 instance, 
 
 Section 11. TRANSFERRING JURISDICTION. (1) 
 Transfers to the Juvenile Court. Nothing in this Act shall be 
 construed as forbidding the arrest, with or without warrant, of 
 any child as is now or may hereafter be provided by law, or as 
 forbidding the issuance of warrants by magistrates as provided 
 by law. Whenever a child under sixteen years of age is brought 
 before a magistrate of any court in the county other than the 
 juvenile court, charged with any offense, such magistrate or 
 court shall forthwith, by proper order, transfer the case to the 
 juvenile court of the county. Provided, however, that any crim- 
 nial court or any court exercising criminal jurisdiction in any 
 county coming under the provisions of this act before which 
 any child between the ages of 16 and 18 years is brought, 
 charged with the commission of a crime, shall have authority, if 
 such court shall deem it to be in the interest of justice and of the 
 public welfare, to in like manner transfer such child by proper 
 order to the jurisdiction of the juvenile court of said county to 
 be dealt with as a delinquent child under the terms of this Act 
 and when so transferred such child shall come under all terms 
 and conditions of this act and be so dealt with as other children 
 are dealt with under this Act. All information, depositions, 
 warrants, and other processes in the hands of such magistrate 
 or court shall be by him or by the judge of said court forthwith 
 transmitted to the juvenile court and shall become a part of the 
 records of the juvenile court. The juvenile court shall there- 
 upon have jurisdiction of the cause and shall proceed to hear 
 and determine the case, so transferred to it, in the same manner 
 as if the proceedings had been instituted in the juvenile court. 
 by petition as hereinbefore provided. (2) TRANSFER 
 FROM THE: JUVENILE “COURT. If, at: any time, after 
 thorough investigation or trial of its disciplinary measures, the 
 juvenile court or judge thereof shall be convinced that a delin- 
 quent child, more than fourteen years of age, brought before it 
 under the terms of this act, cannot be made to lead a correct life 
 and cannot be properly disciplined under the provisions of this 
 act, the juvenile court or judge thereof shall have authority to 
 transfer the care of such delinquent to the jurisdiction of any 
 other court in the county having jurisdiction of the offense with 
 which said child is charged, there to be proceeded against ac- 
 cording to law. When such order of transfer is made, the child 
 
24 
 
 so transferred may be committed to the county jail pending the 
 proceedings in the court to which said case is transferred, or 
 may be released on bail by the judge of the juvenile court to 
 answer such proceedings in the court to which said case has 
 been transferred. The judge or clerk of the juvenile court shall 
 at once, upon making such order of transfer, file with the clerk 
 of the court to which the transfer is made copy of the order of 
 transfer and any warrant or other paper which has been filed 
 in the juvenile court charging the child with the commission of 
 any offense. In the trial in the court to which transfer is made, 
 neither the fact that the case has been transferred from the 
 juvenile court nor any of the proceedings had in the juvenile 
 court shall be given in evidence against the child. All bonds 
 and undertakings taken and approved by the judge of the juve- 
 nile court for any purpose shall be valid and enforceable even if 
 the principal in said bond shall be a minor. In the event of the 
 failure of the principal or sureties faithfully to carry out and 
 discharge the undertakings of said bond, the judge of the juve- 
 nile court shall transmit said bond, together with his certificate 
 of the failure of the said principal and sureties therein to carry 
 out and discharge their undertakings in said bond, to the clerk 
 of the circuit court of the county. Thereupon, it shall be the 
 duty of the clerk of the circuit court at once to bring said mat- 
 ter to the attention of the judge of said court who shall proceed 
 to enter a forfeiture of said bond, so transmitted, in the manner 
 and form now provided for the forfeiture of bonds in the circuit 
 court. Thereafter, writs of scire facius and execution shall 
 issue thereon as now provided by law upon the forfeiture of 
 bonds in criminal cases in the circuit court. (3) TRANSFERS 
 BETWEEN COURTS OF JUVENILE JURISDICTION. 
 When it shall appear to the Judge of the juvenile court that it 
 will be for the best interests of a child in its custody the case 
 of such child be transferred to the juvenile court or other court 
 of similar jurisdiction of another county, said case may be trans- 
 ferred, upon petition to the judge of the court into whose juris- 
 diction the child is thus to be transferred and his acceptance of 
 the jurisdiction of such child. The notice of such transfer shall 
 be accompanied by duly certified copies of all papers and pro- 
 ceedings in the case. Upon the acceptance of the transfer and 
 the papers, the court to which said transfer is made shall imme- 
 diately assume jurisdiction and control of the child in like man- 
 ner as if the case had originated within its jurisdiction. 
 Section 12. CAUSING DEPENDENCY, NEGLECT OR 
 DELINQUENCY OF CHILDREN. It shall be unlawful for 
 any parent, guardian, or other person to aid, encourage, or 
 cause any child under sixteen years of age to become or remain 
 dependent, neglected or delinquent, or by words, acts, threats, 
 commands or persuasions, induce or endeavor to induce, aid or 
 
25 
 
 encourage any child under sixteen years of age to do or perform 
 any act or to follow any course of conduct which would cause or 
 _ manifestly tend to cause such child to become or remain depen- 
 dent, neglected, or delinquent, or by the neglect of any lawful 
 duty or in other manner contribute to the dependency, neglect 
 or delinquency of a child under sixteen years of age. The em- 
 ployment of any child under sixteen years of age in violation of 
 any of the provisions of the child labor law, or suffering, per- 
 mitting, conniving at, aiding or abetting such employment shall 
 be held to be encouraging, causing and contributing to the de- 
 pendency, neglect or delinquency of such child. Failure on the 
 part of any parent, guardian, or other person having custody of 
 the child to cause such child to attend school as required by the 
 compulsory attendance law shall be held to be encouraging, 
 causing and contributing to the dependency, neglect or delin- 
 quency of such child. Whoever violates any provision of this 
 section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and punished as herein 
 set out in this section. Whenever, in the course of any proceed- 
 ings under this act, or when, by affidavit as hereinafter pro- 
 vided, it shall appear to the juvenile court that a parent, guard- 
 ian, or other person having custody, control, or supervision of a 
 child under sixteen years of age, or any other person not stand- 
 ing in any such relation to such child, has aided, encouraged, or 
 caused such child to become dependent, neglected, or delinquent 
 as defined herein, or has by word, act or omission contributed 
 thereto, or has, by threats, commands, or persuasion, induced or 
 endeavored to induce, aided or encouraged, such child to do or 
 perform any act or to follow any course of conduct which would 
 cause or manifestly tend to cause such child to become or re- 
 main dependent, neglected or delinquent, the court shall, for the 
 protection of such child from such influences, have jurisdiction 
 in such matters, as provided herein. The court shall cause such 
 parent, guardian, or other person to be brought before it upon 
 either a summons or a warrant, affidavit of probable cause hav- 
 ing first been made, for such order or judgment in the premises 
 as the court may see fit to make or render in accordance with 
 the provisions of this section. Such accused person shall have 
 the right to bail in such reasonable sum as may be fixed bv the 
 court. the bond to be approved by the judge of said court or by 
 the sheriff. In default of bail the person so accused may be 
 committed to the county jail, pending the trial and disposition 
 of the cause. The court shall have full power and authority to 
 hear and determine such charge so brought against such parent. 
 guardian, or other person, and to determine his guilt or inno- 
 cence. In the event such parent, guardian, or other person 
 shall be adjudged guilty by the court, the court shall. have the 
 power to impose a fine of not more than one hundred dollars, or 
 
26 
 
 a sentence of hard labor for the county for not more than twelve 
 months, or of imprisonment in the county jail for not more than 
 twelve months, or both such fine and sentence. In the trial of 
 such cases, the juvenile court shall determine both the law and 
 the facts without the intervention of a jury and shall award such 
 judgment under the terms of this section as shall seem just. 
 The judge of such court shall have authority, in his discretion, to 
 suspend the payment of any fine, or the serving of any term of 
 imprisonment, whether in jail or at hard labor, or both such fine 
 and sentence, and to place such accused person on probation, 
 for a period of time not to exceed twelve months, and upon such 
 terms and conditions as to the judge may seem proper. The 
 judge of such court may, further, in his discretion, and as part 
 of the judgment, require such person to enter into a bond, with 
 or without surety, in such terms as the court may direct, to 
 comply with the orders of the court. The judge shall have 
 authority, in his discretion, and upon such information as he 
 may deem sufficient, to revoke such suspension of fine, of im- 
 prisonment, or both, upon the violation by the probationer of the 
 conditions and terms upon which such suspension was made. 
 Such revocation by the judge shall immediately put into effect 
 the original fine, or original term of imprisonment, or hard 
 labor, or both such fine and term; and the judge may thereupon 
 issue warrant of arrest and order of commitment to enforce the 
 judgment as if there had been no suspension. The defendant, 
 if convicted, shall have the right to appeal to the next ensuing 
 term of the circuit court of the county, where he may have trial 
 by jury. Pending such appeal, upon his entering into bond with 
 sufficient sureties in such sum as the court may require, condi- 
 tioned that he will appear at said circuit court until discharged 
 by due course of law, he shall be released from custody. If he 
 fails to make the required bond, he may be confined to the 
 county jail until the time of his trial. Upon the taking of such 
 appeal, the judge or clerk of the juvenile court shall at once 
 certify to the clerk of the circuit court of the county all papers 
 in the cause together with a transcript of all proceedings in the 
 matter had in the juvenile court. The clerk of the circuit court 
 shall set all such cases appealed from the juvenile court as pre- 
 ferred cases in said circuit court. Upon such appeal the circuit 
 court shall try the case de novo. If the defendant be found 
 guilty by the circuit court, such court shall have all the discre- 
 tionary powers herein given to the juvenile court in rendering 
 judgment against said defendant. If, upon the rendition of its 
 judgment, the circuit court shall suspend payment of any fine 
 or the serving of any term of imprisonment, whether in jail or 
 at hard labor, and shall place such convicted person upon proba- 
 tion under the terms of this section, the circuit court shall cause 
 
27 
 
 to be filed with the juvenile court a copy of its judgment which 
 shall thereupon become also the judgment of the juvenile court, 
 in said case. Upon the rendition by said circuit court of an 
 order suspending such sentence, the circuit court shall remand 
 such convicted person to the jurisdiction of the juvenile court 
 for its supervision and care under the terms of order or judg- 
 ment of the circuit court, and thereafter the convicted person 
 shall be and remain under the jurisdiction of the court in the 
 same manner as if such juvenile court has rendered the judg- 
 ment of the circuit court in the first instance. An affidavit in 
 the following form shall be sufficient to charge the offense de- 
 scribed in this section, to-wit: State of Alabama, County, 
 (Name of County.) In the Juvenile Court of present term. 
 County, (name of county). Personally appeared before me, 
 CS TOL Ae wy Judge or clerk of the juvenile court of 
 Uy” te £5 Vg Sp eee cade eee (name of county). County, (name of 
 SA TES DE) ey - ON 2 Sa ae iy ae eee , who being by me first duly 
 sworn deposes and says, that (name of person charged with 
 Sid?) SI aRYSY heey) gh tO SU ae aed ne , has, within twelve months be- 
 fore the making of this affidavit, in said county, aided, enecour- 
 OO Tea eCUMaIMecOLaChiidl ) Mw tukise de lied hin , a child 
 under sixteen years of age, to become dependent, neglected, or 
 delinquent, (as the case may be), or has, by word, act or omis- 
 sion, contributed thereto; or has, by word, conduct, act, omis- 
 sion, threats, commands or persuasion, induced or endeavored 
 to induce, aided or encouraged such child in such county to do or 
 perform an act, or to follow a course of conduct which would 
 cause or manifestly tend to cause such child to become or remain 
 dependent, neglected or delinquent (as the case may be), in that 
 Pierce NaneOlsaccused:) Ui 2001. Wen Nols Hil , did, within said 
 twelve months, within said county, (here set out succinctly the 
 facts, acts, words, conduct, omissions, etc., which affiant avers 
 were done or omitted by accused constituting said offense), 
 against the peace and dignity of the State of Alabama. Sub- 
 
 scribed and sworn to before me this... GayhOb a Aart MO , 
 1 OA ene Py bie Se ae rd ea ee CTT Tel Tim oe ne et Se et, BY) , Judge 
 Pracuericnory uvenilexGourtjol oe ir Wot ens yt County, Ala- 
 
 bama. If merely injunctive relief is sought against one or 
 more defendants or persons, as hereinabove provided, petition 
 may be made therefor by a bill of complaint addressed to the 
 juvenile court, or to the judge thereof, and such proceeding 
 governed by the rules of chancery pleading and practice; except 
 that ten days shall be the limit of time allowed for appearance 
 and answer to summons in such proceedings. 
 
 Section 13. DISOBEYING ORDERS OF COURT, PUN- 
 ISHMENT FOR. Any person who knowingly and wilfully dis- 
 regards or fails to obey any lawful order made by the judge of 
 
28 
 
 the juvenile court under the provisions of this Act or in the 
 conduct of such court, or who knowingly and wilfully interferes 
 with the custody of any child under the jurisdiction of said court 
 shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction thereof 
 shall be fined not more than one hundred dollars or sentenced to 
 hard labor for the county not to exceed twelve months, or both. 
 
 Section 14. OBSTRUCTING OFFICERS IN PERFORM- 
 ANCE OF DUTIES. It shall be unlawful for any person in 
 such counties to remove, conceal, or cause to be removed or con- 
 cealed, or attempt so to do, any dependent, neglected, or delin- 
 quent child, as defined in this act, or one alleged in a petition or 
 order of transfer filed in said court, to be so, or any child whose 
 custody is the subject of controversy in said courts, in order that 
 such child may not be brought before the court; or for any per- 
 son to interfere with the custody of, or remove, or attempt to 
 remove any dependent, neglected or delinquent child, or one 
 alleged so to be, or any child whose custody is the subject of con- 
 troversy in said court who is in the custody of the court, or of a 
 probation officer or any other officer, or person designated by 
 the court as a special officer, or any such child who has been by 
 said court committed to any person, persons, institution, associa- 
 tion, or corporation, under the terms of this Act, or by virtue of 
 its general chancery jurisdiction. And it shall be unlawful for 
 any person to interfere knowingly with or oppose or otherwise 
 obstruct any probation officer in the performance of his duties 
 under this Act, or to knowingly make false statement to any 
 such probation officer about any matter or person as to which 
 or whom such officer is making inquiries in the discharge of the 
 - duties of such officer. Any person violating any of the pro- 
 visions of this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon 
 conviction thereof shall be fined not more than one hundred 
 dollars or sentenced to hard labor for the county not to exceed 
 twelve months, or both. 
 
 Section 15. ADVISORY BOARD. The Judge of the Juve- 
 nile Court may appoint not less than five nor more than ten citi- 
 zens of the county, known for their interest in the welfare of 
 children, who shall serve without compensation, to constitute 
 and be The Advisory Board of the Juvenile Court of... 
 (inserting name of county) County, Alabama, in matters relat- 
 ing to the welfare of children. Such advisory board shall or- 
 ganize by electing such officers, and by adopting such by-laws, 
 rules and regulations for its government as it shall deem best 
 for the purposes of this Act. Such board shall hold office dur- 
 ing the pleasure of the court or of the judge thereof. Women 
 shall be eligible for appointment on said Board. The duties of 
 the advisory board shall be as follows: To advise and co-operate 
 with the judge of the juvenile court and the Court of County 
 Commissioners or Board of Revenue in the appointment of pro- 
 
29 
 
 bation officers and in fixing the salaries to be paid such offi- 
 cers; to assist the courts in securing the services of volunteer 
 probation officers when the services of such officers shall be 
 deemed necessary or desirable; to visit institutions caring for 
 children in the county, and whenever practicable, other institu- 
 tions to which the court, from time to time, may make commit- 
 ments; to advise and co-operate with the courts upon all matters 
 relating to the welfare of children; to recommend to the court 
 any and all needful measures for the purpose of carrying out the 
 provisions and intent of this Act; and to make themselves 
 familiar with the work of the courts under this Act; and to 
 make, from time to time, a report to the public of the work of 
 such court. Provided, that in any county wherein a county board 
 of child welfare, as may be provided by law, may hereafter be 
 established, such county board of child welfare, when so estab- 
 lished, shall constitute and be the Advisory Board of the Juve- 
 TIORMO I Ol, eee tee a , (inserting name of county) 
 County, in matters relating to children. 
 
 Section 16. CONFESSIONS AND ADMISSIONS OF 
 CHILDREN. The voluntary admissions or confessions of any 
 dependent, neglected or delinquent child, as described herein, or 
 of the parent or parents of such child, made to the probation 
 officer, or any other person, in reference to any cause or matter 
 in such court, if otherwise competent, shall be received in such 
 court as legal evidence; and the written or verbal report of facts 
 or conditions, in reference to any child, or in reference to such 
 child’s manner of life, or condition, or environment which show, 
 or tend to show, the social condition or status of such child, 
 made by a probation officer of said court, after an investigation 
 in pursuance of any rule or order of court, shall be received in 
 evidence in such court, in such case as prima facie evidence of 
 such facts or conditions, and may be used by any party in in- 
 terest, in such case; provided, however, that no disposition of 
 the case of a child dealt with for delinquency under this act nor 
 any admission or confession of such child or of such parent, or 
 parents, to the probation officer, or court; nor any report of a 
 probation officer, made or given in pursuance of any rule or 
 order of such courts; nor any statement by any parent, or par- 
 ents, of such child, in such proceeding, shall be given or heard in 
 any civil, criminal, or other cause or proceeding whatever, or in 
 any other court, be lawful or proper evidence against such child 
 or parent, or parents, for any purpose; provided further that 
 such matters may be received and heard in subsequent proceed- 
 ings in such cause in said juvenile court. 
 
 Section 17. JUVENILES NOT CRIMINALS. No adjudi- 
 cation, nor judgment under the provisions of this act shall oper- 
 ate to disqualify any child for any office in any state, county, 
 or municipality, or from employment in any civil service under 
 
30 
 
 any branch of the government. No child shall be denominated 
 nor held to be a criminal by reason of any such adjudication, 
 nor shall such adjudication be held to be or denominated a con- 
 viction. 
 
 Section 18. WHEN CHILD MAY BE COMMITTED TO 
 JAIL. Whenever a child is arrested for the violation of any 
 law or ordinance, or is taken into custody under the terms and 
 provisions of this act, and it shall appear to the court before 
 which he is brought to be absolutely necessary to hold said child 
 in custody until the time set for hearing of said cause in the 
 juvenile court, said child may be placed in jail for safe keeping 
 until the time of said hearing. If upon hearing the juvenile 
 court deems it necessary for the best interests of the child, it 
 may commit such child to the county jail for safe keeping, pro- 
 vided that in no case shall any child be confined in the same 
 room with an adult prisoner. When any child coming under 
 the provisions of this act, or any child under sixteen years of 
 age, shall be committed to jail, it shall be the duty of the sheriff 
 or other officer having charge of such jail to take all precau- 
 tionary measures necessary to protect said child from improper 
 influences and injurious associations. Provided that no child 
 shall be committed to jail under any sentence of any judge ex- 
 cept to hold pending a final disposition of his case. It being the 
 spirit and intent of this law not to incarcerate children in jails 
 under sentence, but merely for safe keeping where it becomes 
 imperative pending a final dispositon of their case. 
 
 Section 19. CLERKS. The judge of the juvenile court may 
 appoint as clerk of the court any probation officer or a clerk of 
 the probate court. The judge may also appoint as deputy clerk 
 of the court any other probation officer or clerk of the probate 
 court. Such clerk and deputies shall receive no additional re- 
 muneration for their services to the juvenile court. 
 
 Section 20. COUNTIES EXCEPTED. This act shall not 
 apply or be operative in any county in the State in which there 
 is or may hereafter be established by act of Legislature, a special 
 juvenile court or other special court having jurisdiction over 
 the classes of persons and for the purposes declared in this act. 
 
 Section 21. CONSTITUTIONALITY. This act being rem- 
 edial in its nature and purposes shall be liberally construed in 
 order to accomplish the beneficial purposes herein sought. 
 Should any clause, paragraph, or section of this act be declared 
 unconstitutional by any court of competent jurisdiction, such 
 decision shall not affect the remainder thereof. 
 
 Section 22. All laws and parts of laws in conflict with or 
 inconsistent with the provisions of this Act are hereby repealed. 
 
 Section 23. This Act shall take effect immediately upon be- 
 ing signed by the Governor. 
 
 Approved Sept. 18, 19238. 
 
COUNTY BOARDS OF CHILD WELFARE 
 ALABAMA GENERAL LAWS 
 
 REGULAR SESSION, 1923. 
 
 No. 369.) (eesti Lnzer. 
 AN ACT 
 
 To provide for the establishment of county boards of child welfare; to de- 
 fine the duties, powers and functions of such boards; to provide for 
 the employment of county superintendents of child welfare and assist- 
 ants, to prescribe their duties, powers and functions, and to provide 
 for their compensation and expenses; to provide for an office for the 
 county board and superintendent of child welfare; to provide for the 
 co-operation of county boards of child welfare with city boards or de- 
 partments of public or child welfare; to authorize the governing body 
 
 ' of any city, town or municipality in the county to make appropriation 
 to aid in the payment of the salary and expenses of the county super- 
 intendent of child welfare and his assistants. 
 
 Be it enacted by the Legisiature of Alabama: 
 
 Section 1. The judge of the juvenile court of any county 
 having exclusive jurisdiction of dependent, neglected and delin- 
 quent children shall, whenever the court of county commis- 
 sioners or board of revenue of the county shall by resolution 
 declare that a county board of child welfare should be estab- 
 lished in said county and shall designate one of its members to 
 serve aS a member of such county board of child welfare, and 
 whenever, the county board.of education shall by resolution de- 
 clare that a county board of child welfare should be established 
 in said county, appoint three citizens, two of whom shall be 
 women, who together with the judge of the juvenile court, the 
 chairman of the county board of education, the county superin- 
 tendent of education, and the member designated by the court 
 of county commissioners or board of revenue of the county, shall 
 constitute the county board of child welfare. The term of the 
 member of the county board of child welfare designated by the 
 court of county commissioners or board of revenue of the county 
 shall expire on January 1 of the next ensuing year. His suc- 
 cessors shall be appointed by the court of county commissioners 
 or board of revenue of the county, each to serve for a term of 
 two years. The term of the members of the county board of 
 child welfare appointed by the judge of the juvenile court shall 
 be designated to expire as follows: one on January 1 of the 
 next ensuing year; one on January 1 one year after the expira- 
 tion of the term of the first year; and one on January 1 two 
 years after the expiration of the term of the first. All their 
 successors Shall be appointed by the judge of the juvenile court 
 for terms of two years each. Appointments to fill vacancies 
 
o2 
 
 shall be made for unexpired terms in the same manner as the 
 member whose vacancy is to be filled was appointed. Members 
 of the county board of child welfare shall serve without com- 
 pensation for their services as members. Office space and sup- 
 plies shall be provided for the county board-of child welfare and 
 its executive agent or agents and the expense of such provision 
 shall be a valid charge against the county. 
 
 Section 2. The judge of the juvenile court shall be the 
 chairman of the county board of child welfare. It shall be his 
 duty: 1. ‘To call the first meeting of the board at any place 
 designated by him; 2. To transmit to the State Department of 
 Education and the State Child Welfare Department the names 
 and addresses of every appointed member of the board; 3. To 
 call a meeting of the board not less than once every six months 
 and at such other times as he may deem necessary, and to de- 
 termine the place of every such meeting; provided, however, 
 that any three members may, by giving ten days notice in writ- 
 ing to the other members, call a meeting and fix the place there- 
 of; 4. To preside at all meetings of the board; provided that in 
 case the judge is absent the board may select a temporary chair- 
 man. 
 
 Section 8. It shall be the duty of the county board of child 
 welfare: 1. To advise with and to assist the State Child Wel- 
 fare Department in its work in said county; 2. To make in- 
 vestigations and reports and perform such other duties as may 
 be required by the State Child Welfare Department; 3. To co- 
 operate with all educational and social agencies, public and 
 private, in the county; 4. To co-operate with the county and the 
 city board of education in the enforcement of the compulsory 
 school attendance law, and in all other matters relating to the 
 welfare of children; 5. To co-operate with the county board of 
 health, and county “health officers, in matters relating to the 
 welfare of childr en; 6. To perform all duties hitherto assigned 
 by law to advisory boards of juvenile courts having exclusive 
 jurisdiction over children under sixteen years of age. Upon the 
 establishment of a county board of child welfare in any county, 
 the advisory board of the juvenile court, if heretofore estab- 
 lished, as provided by law, shall be abolished; 7. To make rules 
 and regulations not inconsistent with any of the provisions of 
 this Act, or other law, for the conduct of its meetings, the dis- 
 charge of its duties, the exercise of its powers, and for the direc- 
 tion of the work of the county superintendent of child welfare, 
 and his assistants. 
 
 Section 4. The county board of child welfare shall have 
 power: 1. To employ an executive agent to be known as the 
 county superintendent of child welfare, who shall serve at the 
 pleasure of the board and whose salary shall be fixed by said 
 board by and with the consent of the county board of education 
 
30d 
 
 and the court of county commissioners, or board of revenue of 
 the county, one-half of which shall be paid out of public school 
 funds of the county and one-half out of the public funds of the 
 county; or in such other proportion as may be agreed upon by 
 the boards authorized to make payments by this Act; provided 
 that the county board of child welfare, the court of county com- 
 missioners or board of revenue of a county, and the county 
 board of education, shall be and are hereby authorized to accept 
 from the governing body of any city, town or municipality in the 
 county, or from any other source, funds to aid in the payment 
 of the salary and expenses of the county superintendent of child 
 welfare and his assistants as herein provided, and the governing 
 body of any city, town or municipality in the county and the 
 board of education of any city, town or municipality in the 
 county shall be and are hereby authorized to make appropria- 
 tion for the purpose of aiding in the payment of the salaries and 
 expenses of the county superintendent of child welfare and his 
 assistants; and provided further that no person shall be em- 
 ployed as county superintendent of child welfare of any county 
 or assistant thereto, unless he shall have been certified as a per- 
 son having met the requirements for such officer as prescribed 
 in the act establishing the State Child Welfare Department. 
 2. To employ an assistant or assistants to the county superin- 
 tendent of child welfare when necessary, and to provide for the 
 compensation of such assistant or assistants in the manner as 
 herein provided in the case of county superintendents of child 
 welfare. | 
 
 Section 5. The county superintendent of child welfare shall 
 have power and it shall be his duty: 1. Under the direction of 
 the county or city board of education or both and the Depart- 
 ment of Education, to perform all the duties imposed by law 
 upon the school attendance officer and to enforce the compul- 
 sory education law; 2. To co-operate with the State Child Labor 
 Inspector in the enforcement of all laws relating to the employ- 
 ment of children; 3. To serve as county probation officer when 
 appointed by the judge of the probate court; 4. To co-operate 
 with the State Child Welfare Department and all other agencies, 
 public or private, having the care of, or giving relief to children, 
 and to make such investigations into the conditions, life or sur- 
 roundings of any child in the county as the State Child Welfare 
 Department or the county child welfare board may direct; 5. To 
 act as parole officer under the direction of superintendents of 
 State institutions for any child paroled from such institution 
 and living in said county; 6. To promote and aid in promoting 
 wholesome recreation and other activities for the welfare of 
 children; 7. To co-operate with the county board of health, its 
 agents, officers and nurses, in all matters relating to the estab- 
 
34 
 
 lishment and carrying out of public health program; 8. To re- 
 port monthly in such form as may be determined by the State 
 Child Welfare Department to the county board of child welfare 
 and to the State Child Welfare Department; provided, that re- 
 ports of school attendance work shall also be made as directed by 
 the county or city board of education and the State Superinten- 
 dent of Education; 9. To keep records of all cases handled and 
 business transacted in such manner and form as may be pre- 
 scribed by the State Child Welfare Department and to make 
 report to the Child Welfare Department in such form and at 
 such time as it may require; 10. Assistants of the county super- 
 intendents of Child Welfare shall have power and it shall be 
 their duty to exercise any of the powers and discharge any of 
 the duties prescribed for the county superintendent of child 
 welfare. 
 
 Section 6. In any county in which a special court (other 
 than a juvenile court) having exclusive jurisdiction over de- 
 pendent, neglected, or delinquent children may have been estab- 
 lished, a county board of child welfare may be established in 
 such county in the same manner as provided in this Act, the 
 judge of such special court having exclusive jurisdiction over 
 dependent, neglected and delinquent minor children, taking the 
 place of the judge of the juvenile court as herein set out. In 
 counties in which there is a city in which a city board or depart- 
 ment of public welfare or child welfare has been established, the 
 county board of child welfare may arrange with such city board 
 or department of public welfare or child welfare to consolidate 
 and co-ordinate city and county child welfare work in such man- 
 ner as may be agreeable to the county board of child welfare 
 and the city board or department of public welfare or child wel- 
 fare and with such division of expenses as may to both seem 
 equitable; provided, that every such agreement shall be ap- 
 proved by the court of county commissioners or board of revenue 
 of the county and by the county board of education. 
 
 Section 7. All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this 
 Act are hereby repealed. 
 
 Section 8. If any section of this Act shall be held unconsti- 
 tutional, in whole or in part, the fact shall not affect any other 
 section of this act, it being the intention of the Legislature in 
 enacting this Act to enact each section separately. 
 
 Section 9. This Act shall take effect immediately upon its 
 approval by the Governor. 
 
 Approved Sept. 26, 1923. 
 
CHILD-PLACING 
 
 ALABAMA GENERAL LAWS 
 
 No. 5438.) (H. 313. Mrs. Wilkins. 
 AN ACT 
 
 REGULAR SESSION, 1923. 
 
 To regulate child-placing, and to provide for the licensing, visitation, super- 
 vision, inspection and regulation of agencies and institutions within 
 the State of Alabama that are engaged in the business of receiving 
 and caring for children or of placing them or boarding them in private 
 homes. 
 
 Be it enacted by the Legislature of Alabama: 
 
 Section 1. That it shall be the duty of the State Child Wel- 
 fare Department to pass annually on the fitness of every agency, 
 public, semi-public or private, which engages in the business for 
 gain or otherwise, of receiving and caring for children or plac- 
 ing or boarding them in private homes. Annually and at such 
 times as the department shall direct, every such agency shall 
 make a report, showing its condition, management and com- 
 petency to care adequately for such children as are or may be 
 committed thereto or received thereby, the system of visitation 
 employed for children placed in private homes, and such other 
 facts as the department may require. When the department is 
 satisfied that such agency is competent and has adequate facili- 
 ties to care for such children, and that the requirements of the 
 statutes covering the management of such agencies are being 
 complied with, it shall issue to the agency a license which shall 
 continue in force for one year unless sooner revoked by the de- 
 partment. No agency which does not hold such license shall 
 receive a child for care or placing out, or place a child in an- 
 other home or solicit money in behalf of such agency. All such 
 agencies shall be subject to visitation and inspection by the 
 county board of health, and visitation, inspection and super- 
 vision by the State Child Welfare Department. The word 
 “agency” where used in this Act shall include individuals, part- 
 nerships, voluntary associations and corporations. 
 
 Section 2. That every agency permitted by law to receive, 
 secure homes for, or otherwise care for children, shall keep a 
 record containing names, ages, present and former residences of 
 all children received; the names, former residences, occupations 
 and character so far as known of the parents; the dates of recep- 
 tion, placing out or adoption, together with the names, occupa- 
 tions and residences of the person with whom the child is placed: 
 the date and cause of cancellation of any contract, the date and 
 
36 
 
 cause of any removal to another home; the date and cause of 
 termination of custody, and a brief history of each child until 
 he shall have reached the age of eighteen years, or shall have 
 been legally adopted or discharged according to law. 
 
 Section 3. That every such agency shall report at such time 
 prescribed by the Child Welfare Commission to the State Child 
 Welfare Department on forms supplied by it, giving the in- 
 formation contained in the record and such other information 
 as the board may require. 
 
 Section 4. That the State Child Welfare Department may, 
 within ninety days of the receipt of the notice of placement of 
 any child, cause such child to be visited by one of its agents for 
 the purpose of ascertaining whether the home is a suitable one | 
 for the child, and whether the child is contented. The depart- 
 ment may continue to visit and supervise the care of such child 
 as though the child were placed out by the department. When- 
 ever satisfied that a child has been placed in an unsuitable home, 
 or that the child continues to be discontented, the department 
 may order its transfer by the agency which placed it, and if said 
 order is not obeyed within thirty days or such shorter time as 
 is named in the order, the department itself shall take charge 
 of and provide for such child. 
 
 Section 5. That every agency placing a child in a home 
 shall enter into a written agreement with the person taking the 
 child, which agreement shall provide that the agency shall have 
 access at all times to such child and to the home in which he is 
 living, and for the return of the child by the person taking him 
 whenever in the opinion of the agency or in the opinion of the 
 State Child Welfare Department, the best interests of the child 
 shall require it. The provisions of this section shall not apply 
 to children who have been legally adopted upon written permis- 
 sion of the agency making the placement if such agency holds a 
 license from the State Child Welfare Department or held such 
 a license at the time the placement was made. 
 
 Section 6. That no agency shall bring or send into the State 
 any child for the purpose of placing him out or procuring his 
 adoption without first obtaining the consent of the State Child 
 Welfare Department. Such agency shall conform to the rules 
 of the State Welfare Commission, and shall enter into a written 
 agreement with the department: (a) to remove such child 
 from the State when requested so to do by the said department, 
 prior to the child’s adoption or becoming of age; (b) that it 
 will place the child under written contract approved by the de- 
 partment; (c) that the person with whom the child is placed 
 shall be responsible for his proper care and training; (d) that 
 the department shall have the same right of visitation and 
 supervision of the child and the home in which it is placed as in 
 
37 
 
 the case of a child placed out by the department. Before the 
 child shall be brought or sent into the State for the purpose of 
 placing him in a home, the agency so bringing or sending such 
 child shall first notify the State Department of its intention and 
 shall obtain from the State Department a certificate stating that 
 such home is, in the opinion of the said department, a suitable 
 home for the child. The agency bringing or sending the child 
 into the state shall report once a year, or when the child is placed 
 in another home, or at such times as the department may direct, 
 as to the location and well-being of the child so long as he shall 
 remain within the State and until he shall have reached the 
 age of eighteen years or shall have been legally adopted. 
 
 Section 7. That no child shall be taken or sent out of the 
 State for the purpose of placing him in a home, otherwise than 
 by a parent or guardian, unless the agency so taking or sending 
 him shall give the State Child Welfare Department notice of its 
 intention and furnish such information as the department may 
 require. Such agency shall place the child under written con- 
 tract approved by the department that the person with whom 
 the child is placed shall be responsible for his proper care and 
 training, and thereafter shall report to the department once a 
 year and at such other times as the department may direct, as 
 to the location and well-being of such child until he shall have 
 reached the age of eighteen years or shall have been legally 
 adopted. 
 
 Section 8. That the records herein provided for, or the facts 
 learned about the children, their parents or relatives, or other 
 persons having custody or control of them shall be held in strict 
 confidence by the State Child Welfare Department, the Board 
 of Health, and the agencies which may be caring for or co- 
 operating in the care of such children; provided, that any person 
 who has arrived at the age of majority and who knows or be- 
 lieves himself to have been placed out by an agency reporting to 
 the department, shall have the right to demand and receive from 
 the department such information as the department may have 
 concerning his own parents or relatives. 
 
 Section 9. That no person other than the parents or rela- 
 tives of the second degree may assume the permanent care, cus- 
 tody or control of a child under 16 years of age unless author- 
 ized so to do by an act or decree of the Court. Except in pro- 
 ceedings for adoption, no parent may assign or otherwise trans- 
 fer to another his rights or duties with respect to the permanent 
 care, custody and control of a child under 16 years of age, and 
 any such transfer hereinafter made shall be void. Provided 
 that nothing contained in this section shall operate to prevent 
 the transfer of custody of children to the State Child Welfare 
 Department or agencies or institutions holding license from the 
 
38 
 
 State Child Welfare Department or to prevent the Child Welfare 
 Department and such licensed agencies from placing such chil- 
 dren under the rules and regulations of the State Child Welfare 
 Commission. | 
 
 Section 10. Every person, acting for himself or for an 
 agency, and every officer, agent or employee of the State Child 
 Welfare Department, who violates any of the provisions of this 
 Act, or who shall intentionally make any false statements to the 
 State Child Welfare Department shall, upon conviction thereof, 
 be punished by a fine of not more than one hundred dollars, or 
 by imprisonment for not more than one year, or by both such 
 fine and imprisonment, at the discretion of the Court. 
 
 Section 11. All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this 
 Act are hereby repealed. . 
 
 Section 12. This Act shall be liberally construed in order 
 to accomplish the beneficent purposes herein provided for; and 
 should any section or part thereof be held to be unconstitutional 
 it shall not affect the remaining portion thereof. This Act shall 
 take effect immediately upon being signed by the Governor. 
 
 Approved Oct. 1, 1928. 
 
MATERNITY HOSPITALS 
 ALABAMA GENERAL LAWS 
 
 REGULAR SESSION, 1923. 
 
 No. 560.) ° CEUG814°olirsai Wilkins, 
 : AN ACT 
 
 To define maternity hospitals and to provide for the licensing, regulation 
 and supervision of such hospitals. 
 
 Be it enacted by the Legislature of Alabama: 
 
 Section 1. That any person who receives for care or treat- 
 ment during pregnancy or during delivery, or within ten days 
 after delivery, more than one woman within a period of one 
 year, except women related to such person by blood or mar- 
 riage, shall be deemed to maintain a maternity hospital. The 
 fact that such hospital receives other types of patients shall 
 not operate to except it from the provisions of this Act. The 
 word “person,” where used in this Act shall include individuals, 
 voluntary associations, corporations, partnerships, and munic- 
 ipal or county institutions. 
 
 Section 2. That the Child Welfare Department may grant 
 a license for the conduct of any maternity hospital that is for 
 the public good and is conducted by a respectable and respon- 
 sible person and it shall be the duty of the Child Welfare Com- 
 mission to prescribe such general regulations and rules for the 
 conduct of all such hospitals as shall be necessary to effect 
 purposes of this Act and all other laws of the State relating to 
 children so far as the same are applicable, and to safe-guard 
 the well-being of all infants born therein and the health, moral- 
 ity and best interests of the parties who are inmates thereof. 
 No maternity hospital shall receive a woman for care therein 
 without first obtaining from the State Child Welfare Depart- 
 ment a license to conduct such maternity hospital. No such 
 license shall be issued unless the medical staff of the hospital 
 includes one or more resident nurses and one or more licensed 
 physicians and the premises are in a fit sanitary condition. 
 The license may be granted for a period not exceeding one year, 
 and shall state the name of the licensee, the particular premises 
 in which the business may be carried on, and the number of 
 women that may be treated or cared for therein at any one time. 
 No greater number of women shall be kept at one time than is 
 authorized by the license; and no woman shall be kept in a build- 
 ing or place not designated by the license without the consent of 
 the State Child Welfare Department. A record of every license 
 so issued shall be kept by the State Child Welfare Department, 
 
A0 
 
 which shall forthwith give notice to the State Board of Health, 
 and to the board of health of the county in which the licensee 
 resides, of the granting of such license and the term thereof. 
 The State Child Welfare Department may revoke a license so 
 issued when a provision of this Act is violated, or when, in the 
 opinion of said department, such hospital is maintained without 
 due regard to sanitation and hygiene, or to the health, comfort 
 or well-being of the inmates or infants born to such inmates. 
 
 Section 3. That the State Child Welfare Department shall 
 prescribe and furnish forms for the registration, records and 
 reports of persons cared for in any such hospital. 
 
 Section 4. That every birth occurring in a maternity hos- 
 pital shall be attended by a legally qualified physician or a 
 competent nurse. The licensee conducting such hospital shall, 
 within twenty-four hours after an admission of a patient or 
 after a birth occurs therein, in addition to the report required 
 to be filed with the State Registrar of Vital Statistics, make a 
 written report thereof to the State Child Welfare Department 
 and county board of health, giving the sex of the child, and such 
 additional information, when obtainable, as the State depart- 
 ment may require. The licensee shall immediately after the 
 discharge from, or death in, such maternity hospital of a wom- 
 an, or of an infant born therein, notify the board of health of 
 the county in which such hospital is located. 
 
 Section 5. That the officers and agents of the State Child 
 Welfare Department, and the board of health of the county in 
 which a licensed hospital is located may visit and inspect such 
 hospital at least once in every three months. Moreover, the 
 State Board of Health, through its officers or agents, may also 
 inspect every such hospital when deemed necessary by said 
 board. The licensee shall give all such information to such 
 inspectors and afford them every facility for viewing the 
 premises and seeing the inmates. The said inspectors shall 
 make report of conditions in said hospital, and such report shall . 
 be kept by the Child Welfare Department. 
 
 Section 6. That no maternity hospital shall engage in the 
 business of child-placing, unless licensed for child placing by 
 the Child Welfare Department. Any child born in any ma- 
 ternity hospital who is illegitimate and whose father is unknown 
 and whose mother is unable to care for such child, or any child 
 who for any reason will be left destitute of support, shall, 
 through proper court proceedings, be committed to the Child 
 Welfare Department, or to any agency licensed by said depart- 
 ment to engage in the business of child-placing. 
 
 Section 7. That on a prosecution under the provisions of 
 this Act, a defendant who relies for defense upon the relation- 
 
Al 
 
 ship of any woman or infant to himself shall have the burden 
 of proof on that issue. 
 
 Section 8. That no officer, or agent, or employee of the 
 State Child Welfare Department, the State Board of Health, or 
 the board of health of the county where such licensed hospital 
 is located, or any person who has held such position, shall direct- 
 ly or indirectly disclose the contents herein provided for, except 
 upon inquiry before a court of justice, or by order of a court of 
 justice, or upon a coroner’s inquest, or for the information of 
 the State Child Welfare Department, the State Board of Health, 
 or the board of health of the county in which said hospital is 
 located; provided, however, that nothing herein shall prohibit 
 the State Child Welfare Department from disclosing such facts 
 to persons having a proper interest in the child or children in- 
 volved, if, in the judgment of said department, the interests of 
 such child or children will be forwarded thereby. 
 
 Section 9. That the provisions of this Act shall not apply 
 to hospitals except insofar as such provisions concern or apply 
 to babies born out of wedlock, or the mothers of such babies re- 
 celving maternity care in such hospitals. 
 
 Section 10. That every person who violates any of the pro- 
 visions of this Act shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon 
 conviction shall be punished by a fine of not more than one hun- 
 dred dollars or by imprisonment in jail for not more than one 
 year, or by both such fine and imprisonment at the discretion 
 of the court. 
 
 Section 11. That all laws or parts of laws in conflict with 
 this Act shall be and the same are hereby repealed. 
 
 Section 12. That this Act shall be liberally construed in 
 order to accomplish the beneficent purposes herein provided 
 for; and should any section or part thereof be held to be uncon- 
 stitutional it shall not affect the remaining portion thereof. 
 This Act shall take effect immediately upon being signed by 
 the Governor. 
 
 Approved Sept. 29, 1928. 
 
THE ALABAMA HOME FOR MENTAL INFERIORS 
 ALABAMA GENERAL LAWS 
 
 REGULAR SESSION, 1928. 
 
 No. 568.) (S. 113. Foster. 
 AN ACT 
 
 To amend an Act entitled an Act “To provide for the establishment and 
 maintenance of a home for mental inferiors in Alabama; to define who 
 are mental inferiors; to provide for their care, treatment and training, 
 and to appropriate the money necessary therefor from the State treas- 
 ury,” approved Sept. 29, 1919. 
 
 Be it enacted by the Legislature of Alabama: 
 
 Section 1. That the Act entitled an Act “‘To provide for the 
 establishment and maintenance of a home for mental inferiors 
 in Alabama; to define who are mental inferiors; to provide for 
 their care, treatment and training, and to appropriate the money 
 necessary therefor from the State Treasury. Be and hereby is 
 amended so as to read as follows: 
 
 Section II. That there is hereby created and established 
 ‘upon or near the grounds of the Bryce Hospital, near Tusca- 
 loosa, Alabama, a Home and School for mental deficients or 
 inferiors as they may be hereinafter defined, and to be known 
 as “The Alabama Home.” 
 
 Section III. The home shall be managed and controlled by 
 a Board of Managers, composed of the Governor, who shall be 
 ex-officio a member, the seven trustees of the Alabama Insane 
 Hospitals as now constituted, and three other persons, two of 
 whom shall be women. Said three last named members shall be 
 appointed or elected by the Board of Trustees of the Alabama 
 Insane Hospitals, one for a period of one year, one for a period 
 of two years and one for a period of three years from the date 
 of their election or appointment; and upon the expiration of 
 said terms of office, and all later terms, successors shall be 
 elected or appointed by the Board of Managers of the home for 
 periods of seven years, and until their successors are elected or 
 appointed; all terms to end on the 31st day of December of the 
 last year of each term. ) 
 
 Section IV. The Superintendent of the Alabama Insane 
 Hospitals, by virtue of his office shall be Superintendent of the 
 Eome and with the assent and by the advice of the Board of 
 Managers of The Home, shall appoint an assistant who shall 
 have immediate charge of The Home. Such assistant shall be 
 responsible for the management and control of The Home di- 
 rectly to the Superintendent, and may be removed at any time 
 by the Superintendent for just cause, the same to be set forth in 
 
43 
 
 writing and entered upon the minutes of the proceedings of the 
 Board of Managers; The Board of Managers concurring there- 
 in, or he may be removed at any time by the Board of Man- 
 agers, for just cause set forth in writing as provided next above. 
 The term of office and the salary of the assistant, shall be fixed 
 by the Board of Managers, upon the recommendation of the 
 Superintendent. The assistant must be a graduate physician 
 with experience and training in the specialty of psychiatry, a 
 married man of high moral character and refinement. 
 
 Section V. The assistant, with the consent and approval of 
 the Superintendent, shall manage and conduct all the affairs 
 of The Home; appoint all officers and employees, including a 
 matron, teacher and attendants; fix their salaries or wages; 
 direct their services and dismiss them from the service of The 
 Home with the advice and approval of the Superintendent. 
 
 Section VI. The Board of Managers shall prescribe rules 
 and regulations for the government of The Home, the residents 
 therein and the officers and employees thereof, and the assistant 
 shall be responsible directly to the Superintendent, and to the 
 Board of Managers for the faithful execution of all such rules 
 and regulations as may be prescribed by the Managers. 
 
 Section VII. The following are declared to be mental in- 
 feriors or deficients, or feeble-minded: All persons of what- 
 ever age, who are deficient or inferior to the extent of being 
 classed in either of the following groups of the feeble-minded: 
 That is to say, idiots, imbeciles, feeble-minded or morons, and 
 any of whom may be, or may not be epileptics, but not violent 
 or insane. The terms “feeble-minded” and ‘mental inferior 
 or deficient” within the meaning of this Act shall include every 
 person with such a degree of mental defectiveness from birth, or 
 from an early age that he is unable to care for himself and to 
 manage his affairs with ordinary prudence, or that he is a 
 menace to the happiness or safety of himself or of others in the 
 community, and requires care, supervision, and control either 
 for his own protection or for the protection of others. It is 
 specifically recognized that the greatest danger which the feeble- 
 minded constitute to the community lies in the frequency of the 
 passing on of mental defect from one generation to another. 
 Any person within the above named class, over the age of five 
 years, and a resident of the State of Alabama for more than a 
 year, may be committed to The Home. 
 
 Section VIII. Whenever any inmate of The Home shall 
 become insane or violent or unmanageable the Superintendent 
 shall make an order, in writing, a copy to be filed with The 
 Home, and the original transmitted to the proper authorities of 
 the Alabama Insane Hospitals, transferring such persons to the 
 proper Insane Hospital, and such order shall be authority for 
 
4d 
 
 confining such person, so transferred, in the Insane Hospitals 
 just as though such person had been properly committed to the 
 Insane Hospitals in the first instance. So, also, any person con- 
 fined in the Insane Hospitals found to be not insane but to be a 
 mental inferior or deficient, as defined in this Act, may be 
 transferred from the Alabama Insane Hospitals to The Home 
 by a written order of the Superintendent, said order to accom- 
 pany the patient to The Home; a copy of the same to be filed 
 in the hospital from which the patient is transferred. 
 
 Section IX. The relative, guardian, or other person inter- 
 ested in an individual of the class herein defined as mental in- 
 feriors or deficients, or feeble-minded, desiring to commit such 
 person to The Home may, if the person be under the age of 
 twenty-one years, apply to the Judge of the Juvenile Court, or 
 where no Juvenile Court exists, to the Probate Judge of the 
 County of such person’s residence, and if over the age of twenty- 
 one years to the Probate Judge of the County of such person’s 
 residence, for the commitment of such person to the Alabama 
 Home; and upon such application such Judge to whom the ap- 
 plication is made shall at once apply to the Superintendent, with 
 description on a form prescribed by the Board of Managers of 
 The Home, and upon being advised by the Superintendent that 
 such applicant can be received, if a proper person, such Judge 
 shall examine three persons one of whom must be a practicing 
 physician, who are acquainted with the person sought to be com- 
 mitted, and with the condition of such person, and such Judge 
 if he is satisfied that the- person is within the class herein de- 
 fined as mental inferiors or deficients, or feeble-minded, and is 
 otherwise eligible to admission into The Home, shall make an 
 order on a form prescribed by the board, committing such per- 
 son to The Home and arrange to have such person taken to The 
 Home, at the expense of the County if necessary. The Judge of 
 the Juvenile Court and the Judge of Probate to whom an appli- 
 cation of commitment is made shall have full jurisdiction of 
 the application and the person on whose behalf the application 
 is made, and shall have the power and authority to commit such 
 person to The Home notwithstanding the family or relatives 
 may object thereto; and when he has made an order of commit- 
 ment and no member of the family or friend or guardian will 
 convey the person so committed to The Home his order of com- 
 mitment shall be delivered to the Sheriff of the County who 
 shall at once convey such person to The Home and deliver him 
 (or her) to the authorities of The Home, and shall in all things 
 obey said order of commitment. . 
 
 Section X. At the same time that the Judge investigates 
 the mental defectiveness of the person, he shall also examine 
 witnesses under oath as to the financial standing of the mental 
 
45 
 
 inferior and if the mental inferior has not sufficient means to 
 pay for support in The Home for mental inferiors the Judge 
 shall so state in the certificate and the expenses of the mental 
 inferior shall be paid by the State in the manner provided by 
 law. If however, it appear that the mental inferior has in his 
 or her own name the means, or, if a minor, that the guardian or 
 parents have the means, or if the relatives or friends agree to 
 provide the means of support in The Home, the committing 
 Judge shall state in the certificate that the mental inferior will 
 be a paying patient and the Judge shall contract with respon- 
 sible parties for the payment, monthly in advance, of the same 
 amount per week as the State provides for indigent inmates, and 
 to that effect the Judge shall cause a bond with sufficient surety 
 to be made, which bond shall be approved by the Judge. One 
 copy of the bond shall be filed in the office of the committing 
 Judge and another sent with the inmate to the Superintendent 
 of The Home and shall read substantially as follows: Know all 
 men by these presents that We... A Ge cee. eps. t 
 POR TOMEOLIN iy nO Loe eines) eteee! oo hie ay, in the State of Alabama 
 are jointly held and bound unto the Board of Managers of the 
 Alabama Home for Mental Inferiors in the penal sum of $300.00 
 for the payment of which we hereunto bind ourselves jointly 
 and severally. Sealed with our seals and dated this................. day 
 eee the oe Le LO Aarne . The conditions of the above obligation 
 are as follows: Whereas A. B. of the County of... 
 
 in the State of Alabama, is about to be admitted as a paying 
 inmate into The Alabama Home for Mental Inferiors, at Tusca- 
 loosa, Alabama, now if while he or she shall remain therein the 
 undersigned shall constantly supply him or her with suitable 
 clothing and pay all charges of said Home against said inmate 
 monthly in advance; and whenever his or her removal be re- 
 quired, immediately remove the inmate; and if the inmate shall 
 escape from The Home, pay all reasonable charges incurred in 
 returning him or her; and if the inmate die therein, pay all 
 reasonable expenses incurred for the funeral and in case of fail- 
 ure to perform promptly any of the above conditions, pay all 
 expenses that accrue to The Home by litigation, collector’ Ss fees, 
 or otherwise, then this obligation shall be void, otherwise it shall 
 remain in full force. Witness our hands and seals THISE Re ree 
 Ga ie od yes su (Hie); (Seale (G: G.) (Seal). 
 
 I hereby certify that in my opinion the obligators in the above 
 bond have executed the same in good faith and that the amount 
 of the penalty specified therein, can be recovered from them 
 by process of law. In witness I have hereto set my hand 
 EAT yf Set. See eee Wishlss a areas CLA Yeheres reese, Porn sh (A. B.) 
 Shi ie sre) (0) STS Court: of!..:.2c County, State of Ala- 
 
46 
 
 bama. Pay inmates and indigent inmates shall receive the same 
 care and attention, and no discrimination shall be made in the 
 treatment of either class. 
 
 Section XI. The Judge of the Court having jurisdiction to 
 admit inmates to The Home for Mental Inferiors in each County 
 of the State, from time to time, at his own instance, and any 
 time his attention may be called to it by the Superintendent of 
 The Home for Mental Inferiors, or other person, shall investi- 
 gate the financial standing of any indigent inmate in The Home 
 from his County and if he shall find him or her able to pay for 
 support in The Home, under penalty of the Superintendent’s re- 
 turning said inmate at the county’s expense to his or her home, 
 or friends, he shall contract with responsible parties under the 
 forms specified in Section 10 hereof for the support of the 
 inmate. 
 
 Section XII. The committing Judge shall be required to 
 furnish such data relative to family and personal history of the 
 person being committed as shall be prescribed by the Board of 
 Managers in such form or forms as may be furnished him by 
 The Home, and the Superintendent may decline to admit an ap- 
 plicant for whom the history has not been satisfactorily fur- 
 nished along with the commitment paper. The history is neces- 
 sary to secure for the patient and the community the best serv- 
 ice of The Home. It is best furnished by the family physician 
 or a near relative well acquainted with the facts in the case, 
 but it shall be the duty of the committing Judge to have the his- 
 tory sent with the commitment paper and the patient. 
 
 Section XIII. The assistant with the advice and consent of 
 the Superintendent shall prescribe for the treatment of the in- 
 mates of the home, and if after consultation with the Superin- 
 tendent, they deem it advisable they are hereby authorized and 
 empowered to sterilize any inmate. 
 
 Section XIV. If in the opinion of the Superintendent it is 
 deemed proper to parole any inmate of The Home, the Superin- 
 tendent may grant a parole to such inmates for any length of 
 time deemed advisable and such parole may be revoked at any 
 time by the Superintendent when, in his judgment, the condition 
 of such inmate shall render such revocation advisable. No 
 parole shall be issued to any inmate of The Home unless the 
 Superintendent is satisfied that such inmate will be properly 
 cared for in a family having means to do so and wherein such 
 inmate will find a proper moral and congenial atmosphere. The 
 Superintendent may require the person applying for a parole 
 of an inmate to sign a written obligation with sureties to prop- 
 erly care for and support such inmate while on parole, and to 
 return said inmate to The Home at his own expense in the event 
 the parole is revoked. The Superintendent must not grant a 
 
AT 
 
 parole to any inmate unless he is of the opinion that it will not 
 be detrimental to such inmate or to society, and the Superin- 
 tendent must recall said parole whenever he is satisfied that the 
 welfare of such paroled inmate, or of the community to which 
 said inmate is paroled requires it. If in the opinion of the 
 Superintendent any inmate of The Home is not a mental de- 
 ficient or inferior as defined in this Act, he (or she) may be 
 permanently discharged by the Superintendent. 
 
 Section XV. The building of The Home at Tuscaloosa, Ala- 
 bama, shall be located by the Superintendent of the Alabama 
 Insane Hospitals by and with the consent and approval of the 
 Board of Managers, on the most eligible site on the land around 
 the Bryce Hospital and as far away from the Hospital building 
 as may be practicable. And the Board of Managers is hereby 
 authorized and empowered to purchase in the name of the State 
 of Alabama any additional land lying near the land of the Bryce 
 Hospitals as may be found necessary for the proper location and 
 conduct of The Home. 
 
 Section XVI. The Board of Managers of The Home shall 
 constitute a building committee with power to employ a com- 
 petent architect to prepare plans and specifications for the 
 buildings necessary for The Home, and to call for bids for the 
 erection of said buildings, to let the contract for such buildings 
 or to employ a qualified contractor to superintend the erec- 
 tion and construction of such buildings under their supervision 
 and control. 
 
 Section XVII. The buildings for The Home shall be located, 
 built, and equipped so as to facilitate the proper classification 
 of residents according to age, sex, color and grade of deficiency 
 or inferiority; their employment and training in farming and 
 gardening, mechanics or other useful industries or occupations 
 and to make provisions for schools, church worship, amusement, 
 and diversion that may be conducive to the health, happiness 
 and moral and mental improvement of the inmates. 
 
 Section XVIII. The Board of Managers may designate any 
 incorporated bank in Tuscaloosa, as the depository of its funds 
 and may contract with such bank to perform all duties of Treas- 
 urer and to pay interest on the daily cagh balance to the credit 
 of The Home as the Board of Managers may determine; or the 
 Board of Managers may elect a treasurer, fix the amount of his 
 compensation, designate the amount of bond required of him, 
 pay for its making and designate the bank in which the funds 
 shall be deposited. 
 
 Section XIX. Pending the construction of The Home the 
 meetings of the Board of Managers shall be held at the Bryce 
 Hospital in Tuscaloosa and as many meetings may be held as is 
 found necessary. After The Home has been constructed and 
 
48 
 
 occupied, the meetings of the Board of Managers shall be held 
 at The Home as often as may be found necessary but the board 
 shall always meet on the day that the trustees of the Alabama 
 Insane Hospitals meet. 
 
 Section XX. The members of the Board of Managers shall 
 be allowed no compensation for their time and service in at- 
 tending meetings, but shall be reimbursed from the funds of 
 The Home for all necessary exyenses incurred in attending the 
 meetings for which The Home must file receipt in each instance 
 as a voucher. 
 
 Section XX14. The Steward of the Alabama Bryce Insane 
 Hospital shall be the Steward of The Alabama Home with all 
 the powers and duties in reference to The Home as he has to 
 the Hospital. 
 
 Section XXI. All laws and parts of laws in conflict with 
 the provisions of this Act shall be and they are hereby repealed. 
 
 Section XXII. If any part or section of this Act should be 
 declared unconstitutional such declaration shall invalidate no 
 other parts or sections of this Act. 
 
 Section XXIII. This Act shall become effective on and after 
 its passage. 
 
 Approved Sept. 29, 1923. 
 
 THE LIBRARY QF THE 
 JUL 28 1933 
 UNIVERSITY OF. ILLINOIS 
 
 AN