COMMITTEE ON DELINQUENCY ACT.[1]

Section 1. Be it enacted, etc., That the Board of Public Charities shall appoint a standing committee of five of its members to be known as the Committee on Delinquency. Such Committee shall be chosen within thirty days after the approval of this Act, and annually thereafter, by a majority vote of all of the members of the Board, and at least one member of such Committee shall be a woman. Vacancies in the membership of the Committee shall be filled in like manner. Within thirty days after their selection, the Committee shall each year elect one of its members as chairman.

The members of the Committee shall serve without compensation but shall receive all of their travelling and other necessary expenses incurred in the performance of their official duties.

Section 2. The Committee selected under the provisions of this Act shall appoint a secretary, who shall not be a member of the Committee or of the Board of Public Charities. The secretary shall be the executive officer of the Committee and shall be known as the Commissioner of Delinquency. He shall be a person having expert knowledge respecting delinquency, and the care and treatment of delinquents and shall devote his entire time to the duties of his office. He shall be appointed for a term of five years and shall receive a salary of seven thousand, five hundred dollars per annum. The Committee shall have the power to remove the Commissioner at any time for inefficiency, neglect of duty, or misconduct in office, and shall, whenever a vacancy occurs either by death, resignation, or removal from office, appoint a Commissioner to fill the unexpired term.

Section 3. Subject to the approval of the Committee on Delinquency, the Commissioner of Delinquency shall appoint a medical director, an educational director, a director of industries, and such other directors, experts, agents, and employees for such terms and at such compensation as shall be fixed by the Committee on Delinquency. The Commissioner with the approval of the Committee shall have the power at any time to remove any director, or any expert, agent, or employee, so appointed.

Section 4. The Board of Commissioners of Public Grounds and Buildings shall provide the Committee on Delinquency with suitable rooms in the State Capitol, and elsewhere if necessary, ....

Section 5. The Committee on Delinquency shall have jurisdiction for the purposes of this act over all institutions within this Commonwealth of a penal, correctional, or reformatory character now existing, or which may hereafter be established including industrial farms, workhouses, and reformatories, and reformatory institutions for minors or women, whether managed by the Commonwealth, or any political sub-division thereof or otherwise; Provided, That this act shall not be interpreted to deprive any warden, superintendent, or other officer, or board of inspectors, managers, or trustees, of any such institution of the right to manage its affairs, but every such institution shall make such reports to the Committee on Delinquency as the Committee shall be authorized by this Act to require and shall obey the rules and regulations established, and follow the recommendations made, by the Committee as authorized by this Act.

Section 6. The Committee on Delinquency shall have the power and its duty shall be:—

(a) To inspect and investigate the condition and management of all institutions within its jurisdiction, and inquire into all complaints against the same, and report thereon with recommendations of appropriate action to the Board of Public Charities, the Governor, the General Assembly, or the courts, as the circumstances may require;

(b) To institute, maintain, and supervise a medical service to accomplish the purposes enumerated in this Act;