(1) The board may, with the approval of the county judge/executive, appoint, to serve at the pleasure of the board, one (1) or more persons, of more than twenty-one (21) years of age, as parole officers. The parole officers shall apprehend or arrest, and take into custody wherever found in this state children who escape from the home, and return them to the home. Parole officers shall also, under the direction of the board, convey children of the home to any point in the state, and perform such other duties as the board requires of them. Such officers shall also have the general powers of peace officers.
(2) In making the apprehension or arrest of such escaped child, in any county other than that in which the home is located, the parole officer shall first secure a writ or process issued by the District Judge of the county wherein the home is located authorizing the parole officer to make such apprehension or arrest and to return the escaped child to the home, and this writ or process shall be the parole officer's authority in the premises.