SEC. 43-23-17. Adjudication; placement; status of child.
Sections 43-23-1, 43-23-3, 43-23-5, 43-23-7, 43-23-9, 43-23-11, 43-23-13, 43-23-15, 43-23-17, 43-23-19, 43-23-21, 43-23-23, 43-23-25, 43-23-27, 43-23-29, 43-23-31, 43-23-33, 43-23-35, 43-23-37, 43-23-39, 43-23-41, 43-23-43, 43-23-45, 43-23-47, 43-23-49, 43-23-51, 43-23-53 and 43-23-55, Mississippi Code of 1972, which provide for the establishment and operation of family courts, are repealed.
If the court finds that the child is neglected or delinquent within the provisions of this chapter, it shall so adjudge and decree, and may, by order duly entered, proceed as follows:
(a) Place the child under supervision in his own home or in the care of a relative, under such terms as the court shall determine and direct; or
(b) Place the child in a suitable family home, or commit him to the custody of a suitable private institution or agency able and willing to receive him; or, if adjudged delinquent, may commit the child to the custody of a state-supported training school. No child who is under ten (10) years of age, or is over eighteen (18) years of age shall be committed to a state training school. Where further custody is deemed necessary by the court for the welfare of said child, such state training school may retain custody of said child until he has attained his twentieth birthday, but for no longer. The superintendent of such institution, under such rules and regulations as trustees thereof shall prescribe, may discipline any child so committed and may parole him at any time he may deem it to be to the best interest and welfare of said child, with the approval of the court.
No decree or order of adjudication concerning any child shall recite any of the facts or circumstances upon which such adjudication is based, nor shall it recite that a child has been found guilty; but it shall only recite that said child is found to be a delinquent child or a neglected child as the case may be.
When any child for the second time or more shall be adjudged to be a delinquent child, his name and the names of his parents or the persons in whose custody he lives shall thereupon be published in a newspaper having a general circulation in the county of said child's residence, along with the fact of such adjudication, as in the case of youth courts as provided by section 43-21-19, Mississippi Code of 1972. All publication costs, if any, shall be borne by the family court.
In all cases, after the adjudication thereof, whenever it may appear for the best interest of said child so to do, and after an investigation concerning said child has been made, and subject to such conditions and supervision as the court may order, the court may change the custody of said child, or may dismiss the petition, or may terminate its jurisdiction over said child. Any institution or agency to which a child has been committed shall give to the court such information concerning such child as the court may at any time require, and may make recommendations to the court concerning such child.
No adjudication upon the status of any child shall operate to impose any of the civil disabilities ordinarily imposed by conviction of adults, nor shall any child be deemed a criminal by reason of such adjudication; nor shall such adjudication be deemed a conviction. The disposition of a child or any evidence given in the court in any proceedings concerning him shall not be admissible against the child in any case or proceeding in any other court, nor shall such disposition or evidence be held against the child's record in any future school or college enrollment, nor operate to disqualify the child in any future civil service application or appointment.
SOURCES: Codes, 1942, Sec. 7187-09; Laws, 1964, ch. 328, Sec. 9; 1966, ch. 606, Sec. 1, eff from and after passage (approved April 11, 1966). This section is repealed by Laws 1999, Ch. 432, Sec. 2 when such law is effectuated under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, as amended and extended.