Establishment Of Home

Authorizes the establishment and maintenance of a "State Home for Juvenile Offenders," the object of which shall be to provide for the maintenance, discipline and reformation of such girls as may be committed thereto as hereinafter provided.

N. B. - This home is at Geneva, Ill.

R. S., ch. 23, sec. 218.

Conviction And Sentence

Any girl between the ages of 10 and 18 years who has been convicted of any offense which, if committed by an adult, is punishable by confinement in the house of correction, county jail or penitentiary, may be committed to the State Home for Juvenile Offenders for not less than one year or beyond the age of 21 years. The court has discretion, however, to send such offender to the county jail or house of correction.

Sec. 231.

Petition - Commitment

Provides for the trial in a court of record, by a jury of six persons, of any girl where a petition has been filed setting forth the offense charged against her or that she is a vagrant or without a proper home or means of subsistence or lives with or frequents the company of reputed thieves or other vicious persons, or is or has been in a house of ill fame, prison or workhouse, or setting forth any other facts of a similar nature. For purposes of convenience the state reformatory, in all legal proceedings and papers of any kind, may be designated "State Training School for Girls".

Sec. 232.

No Imbecile Admitted

No imbelice or idiotic girl shall be committed to the home.

Sec. 235.

Discharge By Governor Or Trustees

Any girl may be discharged at any time by the governor or trustees when in their judgment the good of the girl, or the good of the home, will be promoted by such discharge.

Sec. 236.

Good Behavior To Be Credited

Any girl committed to the home, by good behavior, shall earn and be credited with time as follows: each month in the first year, five days; each month in the second year, six days; each month in the third year, seven days; each month in the fourth year, eight days; each month thereafter, nine days. For misconduct or violation of the rules of the home a girl shall be liable to forfeit five days of the good time placed to her credit. Every girl shall be released from the home as many days before the expiration of her sentence as she shall have balance of good days to her credit.

Sec. 237.

Persons Provided To Supervise Girls

The trustees may appoint one or more suitable persons to serve without compensation in each county, to have a supervising care over all girls of their respective counties coming within the provisions of this act, and to aid in providing suitable homes for girls committed to said home.

Sec. 240.

Control Of Persons

Trustees shall have the exclusive custody, care and guardianship of girls committed to said home. They shall provide for their support and comfort, instruct them in such branches of useful knowlege as may be suited to their years and capacity and shall cause them to be taught in domestic vocations. And to aid in such education and training and to assist in their own support they shall be required to pursue tasks suitable to their years. Avoiding sectarianism, suitable provision shall be made for their moral and religious instruction.

Sec. 241.

Girls Can Be Placed In Home Of Citizen

Any girl committed under the provisions of this act may be placed in the home of any good citizen upon such terms and for such purpose as may be agreed upon, or she may be given to any suitable person of good character who will adopt her, or she may be bound to any reputable person as an apprentice or as a servant, where such binding will be to her advantage. It shall be the duty of the trustees to see that the girl is properly treated and cared for; should the girl be cruelly treated or neglected, or should the terms upon which she was committed to the care of any person not be observed, or should such care and protection for any reason cease, then it shall be the duty of the trustees to receive such girl again into the custody, care and protection of said home.

Sec. 242.

Discharge - Clothes And Money Furnished

Upon the discharge of any girl from the home, the superintendent shall provide her with suitable clothes and $5 in money and procure transportation for her to her home.

Sec. 243.