year, and shall assign to each inspector the special charge and supervision of one of the state prisons to be designated, for the ensuing four months of the year, and they shall make a similar assignment and designation at the commencement of each four months' term thereafter, but no inspector shall be reassigned to or have the special charge of the same prison for the next eight succeeding months.

As amended by Laws of 1860, ch. 399.

[§ 2. Repealed by Laws of 1860, ch. 399.]

CHAP. III.

warden.

$3. On and after the first day of May, 1854, the office of Agent and warden and agent of the Auburn and Sing Sing prisons is abolished, and the duties of agent and warden of each of the said state prisons, as now prescribed by law, shall be performed by one person, who shall be known as the agent and warden, and shall receive in consideration of the increase of Salary. duties prescribed by this act, an additional compensation of two hundred and fifty dollars per annum, payable monthly; there shall also be appointed by the inspectors of state prisons, for each of the prisons at Auburn and Sing Sing, some suitable person who shall be designated and known as principal keeper, and whose duty it shall be to obey and carry into effect all such orders and directions as he may receive from the agent and warden, as to the management and discipline of the prison, not inconsistent with the laws of this state, or with the rules and regulations of the inspectors. The salary of Salary of such principal keeper shall be one thousand dollars per annum, payable monthly; the agent and warden shall reside in the house now occupied by wardens of the several prisons; all acts or parts of acts inconsistent with this section, are hereby repealed from and after the first day of May, eighteen hundred and fifty-four.

keeper.

$ 4. Section forty-eight, subdivision three, is hereby Contracts. amended so as to read as follows: To make, under the direction of the inspectors, in the manner hereinafter provided, all contracts for the employment of the convicts, and for furnishing the necessary supplies for their support, but no contract shall be entered into by the agent and warden of either of the state prisons, for the hire or labor of the convicts, or for supplies for their support, or for any purpose whatever, unless the same shall have been approved by a majority of the inspectors, who shall be present in all cases at such lettings. $5. The sixth subdivision of the same section (forty-eight) Bills and is hereby amended so as to read as follows: To take bills for all supplies and materials for the prison purchased by him, at the time of such purchase, and to take similar bills and receipts for all services that shall be rendered for either of the said prisons at the time of making payment therefor, and the persons to whom any bill shall be paid by either of said agents and wardens, shall in all cases make and subscribe an affidavit to be sworn to before some person duly authorized by law to take the same, stating that said account and the

receipts.

PART IV.

Books of entries.

Monthly

statements.

articles therein specified were actually furnished, and that the same was paid in cash by the said agent and warden.

S6. It shall be the duty of each agent and warden of a state prison:

1. To keep in his office regular books of entries, in which all his accounts and transactions shall be entered. Such books and the accounts entered therein shall be open for the examination of the inspector or inspectors, the comptroller, or any person authorized by him for that purpose, during office hours. [For subdivision 2 and 3 of this section see Laws of 1858, ch. 552, § 11, 12.] 4. On the first day of May, eighteen hundred and fifty-four, and on the first day of every month thereafter to make to the comptroller a full and perfect statement of the receipts and expenditures, specifying the items thereof for the prisons under his charge for the said month, which shall be accompanied by the necessary vouchers, regularly.rendered, according to their respective dates, with some short designation thereon of the consideration of the payment, evidenced by the vouchers, and the amount of the vouchers carried out in figures; if the vouchers are objectionable, the comptroller shall enter his dissent on the particular voucher, and return it to the agent and warden reporting the same, who shall cause it to be immediately corrected and returned. Every such statement shall be verified by an affidavit of the agent and warden, thereunto annexed as follows: "I, agent and warden of the prison, do solemnly swear, that I have deposited in the bank designated by law for such purpose, all the moneys received by me, belonging to the state, during the last month; and I do further swear that the foregoing is a true abstract of all the moneys received, and expenditures made by me as such agent and warden, during the month ending on the of 18 ; and that the goods and other articles therein specified were purchased and received by me at the prison of which I am in charge, and that the goods were purchased at fair cash market prices, and that the same were paid for in cash; that I had no pecuniary or other interest in the articles purchased, or any person in my behalf; that I received no pecuniary or other benefit therefrom in the way of commissions, percentage, deductions or presents, or in any other manner whatever, either directly or indirectly, nor any promise of future payments, presents or benefits, or to any other person for me, either directly or indirectly; and further, that all the receipts were filled up as they now appear, and were read, or the amount distinctly stated to the signer of each, before they were signed." The affidavit of the clerk shall likewise be appended thereto, certifying that the articles contained in such bill were received at the prison, and that they conformed in all respects to the invoice of the goods received and entered by him, both in quality and quantity.

As amended by Laws of 1860, ch. 399.

day

CHAP. III.

contracts to

5. To file or cause to be filed in the office of the comptroller copy of a copy of each and every contract now in his possession, centred with within thirty days after the passage of this act, and within comptroller thirty days after date of any contract hereafter made and executed by him under section four of this act, as such agent and warden, and also monthly to report to the comptroller a detailed account of the number of days' labor performed on such contracts, which said account shall be verified by the affidavit of such agent and warden and the clerk of the prison where such labor was performed, to the effect that such account correctly states the whole number of days' labor performed on such contracts.

enter all

37. Section fifty-seven, subdivision five, is amended so as Clerk to to read as follows: The clerk shall enter each bill taken by bills. the agent and warden of the prison, in the books of the prison at the time of the receipt of the articles mentioned in such account, and in case the articles received do not agree in all respects with the invoice, he shall immediately notify the agent and warden of such discrepancy, and note in his book the discrepancy, whether in weight, quantity or quality, but no goods or any other article purchased for the use of either of said prisons shall be received, or a receipt given therefor, unless accompanied by a proper bill or invoice of the same, and found correct, and any officer of either of the prisons of this state, violating this section, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor. The clerk shall do such writing as may be required of him by the inspectors and agent and warden of the prison, relating to the affairs of such prisons. [For 8 see Laws of 1855, ch. 552, § 13.]

letting

$9. Section seventy-seven is amended so as to read as fol- Notice of lows: Whenever the inspectors shall direct a contract to be contracts. made for the labor of convicts, at least one month's notice of the time and place of letting every contract, shall be given in the paper in which legal notices are required by law to be published in the city of Albany, and in one newspaper printed in each city of this state, which notice shall specify the particular branch of business in which the convicts are to be employed, the length of time for which their services are to be let, not exceeding five years, and the number of convicts to which the contracts are to be limited, such contracts shall in all cases be awarded to the highest bidder who shall furnish the necessary security, and no contracts shall be hereafter entered into unless security satisfactory to the inspectors shall be given for the hiring and letting of convict labor, and in all future contracts there shall be inserted a stipulation that all payments shall be made on the first day of each month, in cash, and such contract may, with the written consent of the inspectors, or a majority of them, be declared void by the agent and warden if such payments are not made within ten days after the same shall have become due, if deemed for the interest of the state to void the same.

PART IV. Inspectors

$10. The second section of chapter one hundred and may admin- thirty-three, of the Laws of eighteen hundred and fortynine, passed March twenty-sixth, eighteen hundred and forty-nine, is hereby amended so as to read as follows:

ister oaths.

No officer of any prison

debt.

In like manner any inspector of state prisons may administer oaths and take affidavits in all matters relating to the affairs of the state prison under his charge, and for that purpose shall have power to issue subpoenas to compel the attendance of witnesses, and the production before him of books, papers and writings, in the same manner, with the like effect, and subject to the same penalties for disobedience, as in cases of trial before justices of the peace, and to examine any person or persons who may be brought before him as such witnesses.

$11. No agent, warden or other officer of either of the to incur any state prisons of this state, shall give any note, draft, or other evidence of debt, except a check on the bank, designated by the comptroller, as aforesaid, and such debts as are authorized by law, in payment for any article purchased for either of said prisons, and signed by him or them individually or in their official capacity, nor shall any such agent and warden, or other officer, sign any paper as agent or warden for the purpose or with the intent of putting or having the same put in circulation for any purpose whatever, nor shall he or they give any credit to any contractor for money due to either of the prisons.

Penalty for neglect to make

§ 12. Subdivision eight of section forty-eight is hereby repealed.

13. If the agent and warden of a state prison shall willfully neglect or refuse to make any weekly or monthly return, statement. estimate or statement, or to transmit the statement and certificate of such deposits to the comptroller, as hereinbefore directed, it shall be the duty of the comptroller to notify the inspectors of such omission, and to order the bond of the agent to be put in suit, for the recovery of any moneys which may be in his hands, belonging to the state.

S 14. The agent and warden of a state prison shall be liable to indictment and punishment, as for a misdemeanor, for any willful neglect of duty, or for any mal-practice in the discharge of the duties of his office.

$15. The person holding the office of agent and warden herein before mentioned, shall perform all the duties heretofore by law imposed upon the person holding the office of agent of either of the state prisons of this state, and also all the duties heretofore by law imposed upon the person holding the office of warden of either of the state prisons; and such agent and warden shall in all cases be appointed by the inspectors of state prisons; to hold the office under the same restrictions and qualifications as are by law imposed in the appointment of an agent of a state prison.

[Sections 16, 17, 18, 19 make temporary appropriations.]

$ 20. All laws or parts of laws in conflict with this act, are hereby repealed.

СНАР. ІІІ.

CHAP. 334.

AN ACT to authorize the agent and warden of Sing Sing prison to let by contract the labor and services of convicts in that prison, to the business of quarrying, splitting, sawing and removing stone, for a term of years.

PASSED April 12, 1855; three-fifths being present.

The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:

agent and

§ 1. It shall be lawful for the agent and warden of the Sing Power of Sing prison to let by contract the services of such number of warden. convicts in said prison, as he may have at his disposal from time to time, to any such person or persons as shall conform to the terms hereinafter contained, to be employed in the business of quarrying, splitting, sawing and removing stone from the quarries on the state lands adjacent to said prison, for fifteen years from the date thereof.

contract.

§ 2. Such contract shall be in writing, and approved by the Contents of inspectors of state prisons and the comptroller of this state, and shall guarantee to such contractor or contractors the exclusive use of the quarries on the said state land at Sing Sing, and the right to get out and quarry stone therefrom, (reserving the right in the said agent and warden to get out and quarry from any of said quarries now opened, all necessary stone for building and improving in and about the said prison,) and the services of at least one hundred convicts to be employed as aforesaid, and all such other convicts in said prison as are at the disposal of the said agent and warden at any time during the said term, without interfering with the right of the said agent and warden, to re-advertise and let such other contracts as may expire during the said term.

contractor.

$3. Such contractor or contractors shall guarantee in and Guaranty of by said contract, to pay such agent and warden for the services of said convicts at the rate of not less than fifty cents for each day's labor of each and every convict so employed on said contract, without reference to their skill; payment to be made on the last day of each month after such contract takes effect, and such payment to be secured in such manner as shall be satisfactory to such agent and warden, and the said inspectors and the comptroller of this state, and the said contractor or contractors shall further covenant and agree, in and by such contract, to build and construct, at his or their expense, all such additional shops, buildings and docks, and put up all necessary machinery for the purpose of carrying on the business aforesaid; and the said contractor or contractors