Superintendent

may trans

fer.

Expenses.

Sentence

convicts.

to which the capital stock shall be increased or diminished, shall be made out, signed and verified by the affidavit of the chairman, and be countersigned by the secretary, and such certificate shall be acknowledged by the chairman, and duplicates thereof shall be filed forth with in the office of the clerk of said town or village, and in the office of the county clerk of the county in which said town or village shall be situated, and when so filed, the capital stock of such corporation shall be increased or diminished to the amount specified in such certificate, and the company shall be entitled to the privileges and provisions, and be subject to the liabilities of this act, as the case may be.

§ 2. This act shall take effect immediately.

CHAP. 172.

AN ACT authorizing the removal of the female convicts confined in the state prison at Sing Sing, and the confinement of females hereafter convicted of felony, in the county penitentiaries of this state.

PASSED April 24, 1877; three-fifths being present. The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:

SECTION 1. The superintendent of state prisons is hereby authorized to transfer all the female convicts confined in the state prison at Sing Sing to such penitentiary or penitentiaries as he may select, and the convicts so transferred shall serve out the remainder of the term of imprisonment to which they have been sentenced, the same as though their original sentence had been to confinement in the penitentiary to which they shall be so transferred, and nothing in this act contained shall be held to work a release of any of the pains and penalties of the original sentence of any of said convicts.

§ 2. All necessary expenses of such removal of convicts shall be deemed a part of the incidental expenses of the prison at Sing Sing, and shall be audited by the comptroller and paid from the treasury upon his warrant.

§ 3. Whenever any females shall be convicted of an offense punishof female able with imprisonment in the state prison, in either of the judicial districts of this state, having a county penitentiary within said judicial district, the court before which such conviction shall be had shall sentence the person so convicted to be imprisoned in the penitentiary situated within that judicial district, and in case such conviction shall be had in a judicial district in which there is no penitentiary located, then the court shall sentence such females, so convicted, to the penitentiary situated nearest to the county in which such conviction is had.

Duty of sheriff.

Superintendents of peni

84. It shall be the duty of the sheriff of any county in which any female shall be convicted and sentenced, as in the third section is provided, to convey such person to the county penitentiary to which she shall be sentenced, and deliver her to the superintendent thereof, for which service such sheriff shall be paid by the state treasurer such fees as are allowed by law for conveying convicts to the state prison.

5. The several superintendents of the said county penitentiaries are hereby required to make a return, under oath, on the thirtieth day

return.

to peni

of September of each year, to the comptroller, in which they shall fully tentiarles set forth the name of each convict committed or transferred to their to make respective penitentiaries under or by virtue of this act, in what court. convicted, before what presiding justice or judge, the offense for which conviction is had, the date of such conviction and length of sentence, and date of the reception of such convict at said penitentiary. The Allowance comptroller shall thereupon audit and allow such penitentiary for the tentiaries. maintenance of such convicts, one dollar and fifty cents per week for each convict imprisoned therein under and by virtue of this act, during the year preceding the said thirtieth day of September, and shall draw his warrant upon the treasury of the state in favor of the superintendent of said county penitentiary for the amount so audited and allowed, payable out of the money in the treasury not otherwise appropriated.

applicable

§ 6. Persons convicted and imprisoned in county penitentiaries Laws under this act, shall be subject to all laws applicable to persons con- to state victed and imprisoned in state prisons and not in conflict herewith. § 7. This act shall take effect immediately.

CHAP. 173.

AN ACT in relation to the imprisonment of convicts in the New York state reformatory at Elmira, and the government and release of such convicts by the managers.

PASSED April 24, 1877; three-fifths being present.

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

prisons to

apply.

imprison

SECTION 1. Any person who shall be convicted of an offense punish- This act to able by imprisonment in the New York state reformatory, and who, control upon such conviction, shall be sentenced to imprisonment therein, shall ments in be imprisoned according to this act, and not otherwise.

reformatory.

§ 2. Every sentence to the reformatory of a person hereafter con- Form of victed of a felony or other crime shall be a general sentence to im- sentence. prisonment in the New York state reformatory at Elmira, and the courts of this state imposing such sentence shall not fix or limit the duration thereof. The term of such imprisonment of any person so Term of convicted and sentenced shall be terminated by the managers of the imprisonreformatory, as authorized by this act, but such imprisonment shall not exceed the maximum term provided by law for the crime for which the prisoner was convicted and sentenced.

ment.

funish

post, p.800.

§ 3. Every clerk of any court by which a criminal shall be sentenced Clerk to to the New York state reformatory shall furnish to the officer having copy of such criminal in charge a record containing a copy of the indictment, record. and of the plea, the names and residences of the justices presiding at Amended the trial, also of the jurors, and of the witnesses sworn on the trial, a 1879 ch.462 full copy of the testimony, and of the charge of the court, the verdict, the sentence pronounced, and the date thereof, which record duly Copy of certified by the clerk, under his hand and official seal, may be used as evidence. evidence against such criminal in any proceeding taken by him for a release from imprisonment by habeas corpus or otherwise. A copy of the testimony taken on the trial, and of the charge of the court, shall testimony

record as

Copy of

and charge

to be fur

nished.

be furnished to the clerk, for the purposes of this act, by the stenographer acting upon the trial, or if no stenographer be present, by the district attorney of the county. The stenographer or district attorney furnishing such copy, and the county clerk, shall be entitled to such compensation, in every case in which they shall perform the duties required by this act, as shall be certified to be just by the presiding judge at the trial, and shall be paid by the county in which the trial is had, as part of the court expenses. The clerk shall also, upon any give notice such conviction and sentence, forthwith transmit to the superintendent of the reformatory notice thereof.

Clerk to

of convic

tion. Convey.. ance to reformatory.

Transfers) to state prison.

Going abroad upon parol.

Arrest of paroled prisoners.

Rules and regulations.

Transfers

prisons to

reformatory.

§ 4. Upon the receipt of such notice, the superintendent in person, or a subordinate officer of the reformatory by said superintendent for that purpose duly delegated, shall proceed to the place of trial and conviction, and the sheriff or keeper of the jail having the custody of the convict, shall deliver him to such superintendent or delegated officer, with the record of his trial and conviction as made up by the clerk, and such convict shall thereupon be conveyed to the reformatory, the expenses of which conveyance shall be a charge against and paid out of the earnings or other funds of the reformatory.

85. The board of managers shall have power to transfer temporarily, with the written consent of the superintendent of prisons, to either of the state prisons, or in case any prisoner shall become insane, to the convict asylum at Auburn, any prisoner who, subsequent to his committal, shall be shown to have been, at the time of his conviction, more than thirty years of age, or to have been previously convicted of crime, and may also so transfer any apparently incorrigible prisoner whose presence in the reformatory appears to be seriously detrimental to the well being of the institution. And such managers may, by written requisition, require the return to the reformatory of any person who may have been so transferred. The said board of managers shall also have power to establish rules and regulations under which prisoners within the reformatory may be allowed to go upon parol outside of the reformatory buildings and inclosure, but remain while on parol in the legal custody and under the control of the board of managers and subject at any time to be taken back within the inclosure of said reformatory, and full power to enforce such rules and regulations, and to retake and reimprison any convict so upon parol is hereby conferred upon said board, whose written order certified by its secretary shall be a sufficient warrant for all officers named in it to authorize such officers to return to actual custody any conditionally released or paroled prisoner; and it is hereby made the duty of all officers to execute said order the same as ordinary criminal process. The said board of managers shall also have power to make all rules and regulations necessary and proper for the employment, discipline, instruction, education, removal and temporary or conditional release and return as aforesaid of all the convicts in said reformatory.

§ 6. Whenever there is unoccupied room in the reformatory, the from state board of managers may make requisition upon the superintendent of prisons, who shall select such number as is required by such requisiAmended tion, from among the youthful, well-behaved and most promising con1879,ch. 284. victs in the state prisons, and transfer them to the reformatory for education and treatment under the rules and regulations thereof. And the board of managers are hereby authorized to receive and detain during the term of their sentence to the state prison, such prisoners so transferred, and the laws applicable to convicts in the state prisons, so far as they relate to the commutation of imprisonment for good con

duct, shall be applicable to said convicts when transferred under this section.

prisoners.

convicts.

§ 7. It shall be the duty of said board of managers to maintain such Contro of control over all prisoners committed to their custody, as shall prevent them from committing crime, best secure their self support and accomplish their reformation. When any prisoner shall be received into the Register of reformatory upon direct sentence thereto, they shall cause to be entered in a register the date of such admission, the name, age, nativity, nationality, with such other facts as can be ascertained, of parentage, of early social influences, as seem to indicate the constitutional and acquired defects and tendencies of the prisoner, and based upon these, an estimate of the then present condition of the prisoner and the best probable plan of treatment. Upon such register shall be entered quarter yearly, or oftener, minutes of observed improvement or deterioration of character, and notes as to methods and treatment employed; also all orders or alterations affecting the standing or situation of such prisoner, the circumstances of the final release, and any subsequent facts of the personal history which may be brought to their knowledge.

ing con

to be made

§ 8. The board of managers shall, under a system of marks or other system for wise, fix upon a uniform plan under which they shall determine what determinnumber of marks, or what credit shall be earned by each prisoner sen- duct. tenced under the provisions of this act, as the condition of increased privileges, or of release from their control, which system shall be subject to revision from time to time. Each prisoner so sentenced shall be credited for good personal demeanor, diligence in labor and study, and for results accomplished, and be charged for derelictions, negligences and offenses. An abstract of the record in the case of each Abstract prisoner remaining under control of the said board of managers shall of record be made up semi-annually, considered by the managers at a regular and filed. meeting, and filed with the secretary of state, which abstract shall show the date of admission, the age, the then present situation, whether in the reformatory, state prison, asylum or elsewhere, whether any and how much progress of improvement has been made, and the reason for release or continued custody, as the case may be. The managers shall Standing establish rules and regulations by which the standing of each prisoner's of prison. account of marks or credits shall be made known to him as often as made once a month, and oftener if he shall, at any time, request it, and may him make provision by which any prisoner may see and converse with some one of said managers during every month. When it appears to the Release. said managers that there is a strong or reasonable probability that any prisoner will live and remain at liberty without violating the law, and that his release is not incompatible with the welfare of society, then they shall issue to such prisoner an absolute release from imprisonment, and shall certify the fact of such release and the grounds thereof to the governor, and the governor may thereupon, in his discretion, restore such person to citizenship. But no petition or other form of application for the release of any prisoner shall be entertained by the managers. Nothing herein contained shall be construed to impair the power of the governor to grant a pardon or commutation in any case.

ers to be

known to

§ 9. If, through oversight or otherwise, any person be sentenced to Error in imprisonment in the said reformatory for a definite period of time, said sentence. sentence shall not for that reason be void, but the person so sentenced shall be entitled to the benefit and subject to the liabilities of this act, in the same manner and to the same extent as if the sentence had been in the terms required by section two of this act, and in such case said

Supervisors of

paroled prisoners.

managers shall deliver to such offender a copy of this act, and written information of his relation to said managers.

§ 10. Said managers may appoint suitable persons in any part of the state charged with the duty of supervising prisoners who are released on parole, and who shall perform such other lawful duties as may be required of them by the managers; and such persons shall be subject to direction and removal by said managers, and shall be paid for the duties actually performed under the direction of said managers, a reasonable compensation for their services and expenses, and the same shall be a charge upon and paid from the earnings or other funds of the reformatory.

Amending Laws 1875, ch. 381,

CHAP. 177.

AN ACT to amend chapter three hundred and eighty-one of the laws of eighteen hundred and seventy-five, entitled "An act supplemental to an act entitled 'An act to provide for the incorporation of religious societies,' passed April fifth, eighteen hundred and thirteen, and of the several acts amendatory thereof."

PASSED April 25, 1877; three-fifths being present. The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:

SECTION 1. Section three of chapter three hundred and eighty-one of the laws of eighteen hundred and seventy-five, passed May sevenante, p. 138. teenth, eighteen hundred and seventy-five, entitled "An act supple

church be

tinct.

mental to an act entitled 'An act to provide for the incorporation of religious societies,' passed April fifth, eighteen hundred and thirteen. and of the several acts amendatory thereof," is hereby amended so as to read as follows:

§ 3. Whenever any church, in connection with any such presbytery, When shall become extinct, by reason of the death or removal of its members, comes ex- it shall be lawful for such corporation to take possession of the temporalities belonging to the society formed in connection with such extinct church and manage or dispose of the same, and apply the proceeds thereof to any of the objects mentioned in the second section of this act. The presbytery to which the church belongs shall determine when any church is extinct, provided that no church having more than nine resident members shall be declared extinct, unless it has failed, for three consecutive years, to maintain the stated preaching of the gospel.

§2. This act shall take effect immediately.