The Farmington times. (Farmington, St. Francois County, Mo.) 1905-1926, 1920-07-09
Splendid Record
of Reclamation

The report of R. G. Tucker, Proba.
tion Officer, and Referee of the Ju,
venile division Of the Circuit Court
and j. c. Heifner, Circuit Clerk, ano
also Clerk of the Juvenile Court
shows that there have been 1872 juve.
niles before the court within the last
year; that of this number 55 were
charged with the violation of the
criminal laws of the state, and OF
this number only seven have been
sent to the reformatories. All of the
others have been granted stay OF
execution of sentence, upon the pay
ment of costs, and on the promise
that they would not again violate the
law. and they are required to report
to the Probation Officer every thirty
days, and it is reported that all such
delinquents are living up to their
promise.
If these Juveniles had been tried in
the Criminal Court it would have cost
the county approximately $4,000,
whereas in only seven cases has the
costs been taxed against the county,
which would be approximately $500.
This certainly shows that, from the
standpoint of costs, the work of the
Juvenile Division Of the Court has
saved approximately $1,000 to the
county. This is only the financial
side of the matter.
IL, by the work of the Juvenile
Court, the boys and girls can be saved
from becoming criminals, and cause
them to grow to manhood and woman
hood, and become good citizens, then
such work cannot be valued in dollars
and cents. There is no more impor-
tant work to be done for the future
than that being done by the Juvenile
Division of the Court, hence we should
encourage the work of the Juvenile
Court, and assist in every way that it
is possible in forwarding this work.
The report further shows that a
large number of children who are be-
ing neglected, by those who ought to
care for them, and orphans whose
parents have died, have been placed in
good homes and institutions where
they can be raised and educated in a
way that will cause them to become
good citizens. In one instance there
was an infant of only a few days
which was abandoned by its mother;
it was brought before the Juvenile
Court and was placed in a good home.
There are large numbers of neglected
and delinquent children in the county,
that the probation officer has correct
ed the conditions without having them
brought into court.
The following is the quarterly re-
port that Judge Tucker has forwarded
to the State Board of Charities and
Corrections which furnishes some in
teresting figures:
Total number of Juveniles before
court .......,........ ........ .56
No. of juveniles before the court
charged with felony .........1S
No. of juveniles before the court
charged with misdemeanor. $500. 3
No. Of Juveniles before the court
charged incorrigible .....,...... 1
No. of juveniles before the court
sentenced to reformatories. ... .23
No. of Juveniles before the court
committed to reformatory ...... 1
No. of juveniles before the court
sentences stayed ............22 %
No. of Juveniles before the court
taken from one or both parents. 10
No. of orders made by the court
permitting transfer of custory. 13
No. of orders made by the court
permitting adoption ............ 2
No. of orders under supervision of
Probation Officer for the quar-
ter .............. ........4 .45
No. of children discharged during
this quarter .......... ........ 3