Chapter 171. To provide for the support and maintenance of bastards in the District of Columbia
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CHAP. 171.— An Act To provide for the support and maintenance of bastards in the District of Columbia.June 18, 1912. [[H. R. 13041](/us/bill/62/hr/13041).] [[Public, No. 196](/us/pl/62/196).] *Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled*,District of Columbia.Bastards.Term defined. That every child shall be deemed a bastard who shall be begotten and born out of lawful wedlock, but this shall not be deemed to repeal or modify Vol. 31, p 1344.section nine hundred and fifty-seven of the Code of Law of the District of Columbia.
Sec. 2. Accusation by mother. That any unmarried woman who is quick with child may go before the clerk of the juvenile court of the District of Columbia, or if therein she has been delivered of a bastard child, or (if that be her place of legal residence) if she was delivered thereof outside of the said District, at any time after becoming quick with child or within two years after the birth of the bastard, and accuse Statement to clerk of juvenile court.any person of being the father of the child.
Before issuing a warrant, the clerk shall examine the mother of such bastard child, under oath, concerning her residence and her marriage or single condition when the child was begotten; where and when she was delivered of such child; and if she was delivered of the child outside of the District, the reason thereof, and reduce her statement to writing, and sign same as clerk. If, however, the clerk shall fail to reduce the statement to writing, or if it should be lost, such failure or loss Application for warrant by other than mother.shall be no cause for dismissing the warrant.
Or such warrant may be applied for by the Board of Charities of the District or any person as next friend of the said bastard under two years of age. Sec. 3. Warrant of arrest. That on such examination, if the woman be quick with child, or the child having been born and still under two years of age, a warrant shall be issued by the clerk, directed to the United States marshal, or to the major and superintendent or any member of the Metropolitan police force of the District of Columbia, requiring 135 the person accused to be arrested and brought for preliminaryBond for appearance. examination before the judge of the juvenile court, District of Columbia, who, upon such preliminary examination, may require the accused to enter into bond, with good surety to the United States of America, in a sum to be fixed by such judge, not to exceed two thousand five hundred dollars, for his appearance and trial in the juvenile court, District of Columbia, on the first day of the next or any succeeding term thereof, and to perform the judgment of said court, but in the event that the woman be quick with child at the time of the arrest, final trial shall not take place until after the birth of the child.
If the person accused shall fail to give bondCommittal on failure to give bond. required of him, the judge shall forthwith commit him to the Washing-ton Asylum and Jail, there to remain until he enter into the required bond or otherwise be discharged by due process of law. In allJury trial. prosecutions under this Act the accused shall, upon his demand therefor, be entitled to a trial by jury; otherwise the trial shall be by the judge. Sec 4. That if the accused shall fail to appear, the bond for his Proceedings in court.appearance as aforesaid shall be forfeited and execution issued thereon; and the trial of, or other proceedings in, the cause shall, nevertheless, proceed as though he were present; and the court shall, upon the verdict of the jury, make all such orders as it shall deem proper as though the accused were in court.
In any event, if theOrder for support of child. accused acknowledge in open court the paternity of such child, or if at the trial the finding of the jury be against the accused, the court, in rendering judgment thereon, shall make an order for the annual payment, until the child be fourteen years of age, of such sum of money, in such installments, monthly or otherwise, and in such manner, as shall to the court seem best, and shall also make such order for the keeping, maintenance, and education of the child as may be proper; and in caseUse of proceeds of forfeited appearance bond. of forfeiture of the appearance bond, the money collected upon the forfeiture shall be applied in payment of the judgment against the accused; and if any balance remains after the payment of the said judgment, it shall be covered into the Treasury, through the collector of taxes, to the credit, half and half, of the District of Columbia and the United States.
Sec 5. That the accused who has failed to execute bond beforeBond after judgment. judgment, if he shall be adjudged to be the father of the child, shall thereupon enter into bond, with or without sureties, in the discretion of the court, conditioned for the payment of the sums adjudged, in such installments and in such manner as the court shall direct. InCommittal on failure to execute. case of his failure to enter into such bond, the court shall commit him to the Washington Asylum and Jail, there to remain until he shall give such bond or pay the total amount of the sums adjudged.
IfProceedings on death of child. the child shall die before the expiration of the aforesaid bond, upon payment of the amount or amounts due to the death of the said child, or if all dues be paid under such bond, the person adjudged to be the father of the child and his sureties shall be discharged therefrom. Sec 6. That when the defendant shall have been confined for sixApplication for release after six months’ confinement. months, solely for failure to make the payments required or to enter into the bond as ordered, such defendant may make application in writing to the judge of the juvenile court, District of Columbia, setting forth his inability to make such payments, notwithstanding his desire to do so, or enter into such required bond, upon which application the judge of the juvenile court, District of Columbia, shall proceed to hear and determine the matter.
If, on examination, it shallOath of inability to pay, etc. appear to the court that such defendant is unable to make such payments or to execute the required bond, and that he has no property exceeding twenty dollars in value, except such as is by law exempt from being taken on execution for debt, the judge shall administer the following oath: “I do solemnly swear that I have not any prop136 erty, real or personal, to the amount of twenty dollars, except such as is by law exempt from being taken on civil process for debt by the laws of the District of Columbia, and that I have no property in any way conveyed or concealed, or in any way disposed of for my future Effect of discharge.use or benefit.
So help me, God.” Upon taking such oath such prisoner shall be discharged from imprisonment only but not from his obligation as such putative father to support his child; and the judge of the juvenile court, District of Columbia, shall give to the superintendent of the Washington Asylum and Jail a certificate setting forth the facts. Sec. 7. Use of proceeds of forfeited judgment bond. That should the accused fail to comply with any order of the court entered as aforesaid, the bond shall be forfeited, and the money collected upon the forfeiture shall be applied in payment in full of the judgment against the accused, and if any balance remains after the payment of the said judgment, it shall be covered into the Treasury, through the collector of taxes, to the credit, half and half, of the District of Columbia and the United States.
Sec. 8. Juvenile court.Jurisdiction under this Act, and cases of delinquent husbands.Vol. 34, p. 86. That the juvenile court of the District of Columbia is hereby given jurisdiction in all cases arising under this Act as well as concurrent jurisdiction with the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia in all cases arising under the Act approved March twenty-third, nineteen hundred and six, entitled “An Act making it a misdemeanor in the District of Columbia to abandon or willfully neglect to provide for the support and maintenance by any person of his wife or of his or her minor children in destitute and necessitous Payments.circumstances. ” And the court, in its discretion, may order payments to be made by delinquent fathers, at the precinct wherein they reside, through the Metropolitan Police of the District of Columbia.
Approved, June 18, 1912.