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Indiana University Studies 



fines to the extent of $25 with costs may be assessed; and they 

 have jurisdiction to make examination in all cases bu t no power 

 to adjudge imprisonment as a part of their sentence except in 

 lieu of payment of fines assessed. 24 Only misdemeanors, therefore , 

 can be disposed of in the courts of the justices of the peace. 



For Sections III and IV of adult crime were selected official 

 records in the Lake county jails of 123 cases from Gary convicted 

 of felonies in the Lake County Circuit and Superior Courts and 

 the city court of Gary, and sentenced to the various penal insti- 

 tutions in the state, from January 1, 1910, to December 31, 1915, 

 a period of six years. The circuit and superior courts have 

 original exclusive jurisdiction as prescribed by law in criminal 

 cases, except where exclusive or concurrent jurisdiction is con- 

 ferred by law upon justices of the peace. 25 The more serious 

 criminal offenses therefore are disposed of in these courts. 



Section III consists of 89 cases of more serious felonies in 

 which the sentence is commitment to the Indiana State Prison 

 at Michigan City, the Indiana Reformatory at Jeffersonville, or 

 the Woman's Prison at Indianapolis; and Section IV of 36 lesser 

 felonies in which the sentence is commitment to the Lake Count}' 

 Jail, the Indiana State Penal Farm at Putnamville, or the Cor- 

 rectional Department of the Indiana Woman's Prison at 

 Indianapolis. 



The cases of adults coming into the city court an,d the justice 

 of the peace courts in general represent petty crimes, while the 

 two sections of those coming into the circuit and superior courts 

 represent more serious crimes. 



By taking records of petty offenders as they appear in the 

 courts rather than in jails and prisons, opportunity is given for 

 a wider range of study to include those petty offenders who 

 escape with a fine, and those who profit by the leniency of police, 

 prosecutor, and courts. 26 



In making this study of adult crime the fact is recognized 

 that, as in juvenile delinquency, these cases by no means repre- 

 sent the total amount of crime, but only those cases detected and 

 dealt with by the officers of the law. 



24 Burns, Annotated Indiana Statutes, Revision of 1914, Art. 6, Sec. 1493. 

 25 Burns, Annotated Indiana Statutes, Revision of 1914, Sec. 1433. 

 26Koren, pp. 13-30; Healy, p. 40. 



