Chap. 795.—An ACT to amend and re-enact sections 4130, 4182, 4183 and 4136 of
code of Virginia, and sections 4137 and 4138 of code of Virginia, as amended
by an act approved March 6, 1890, and sections 4160 and 4167 of code of Virginia,
as amended by an act approved February 19, 1892, relating to rules governing
the penitentiary. ,

Approved March 8, 1894.

1. Beit enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That sections
forty-one hundred and thirty, forty-one hundred and thirty-two,
forty-one hundred and thirty-three and forty-one hundred and thirty-
six of code of Virginia be amended and re-enacted so as to read ag
follows:

§ 4130. Superintendent may employ convicts in working on public
buildings, and so forth, at Richmond, and so forth.—The superinten-
dent shall, at the discretion and under the direction of the governor,
employ them at Richmond, or elsewhere in the state, in improving,
repairing or working on the public buildings, grounds and property,
or executing work under contract with individuals or companies, or
in cultivating grounds for the use of the penitentiary.

§ 4132. Superintendent may employ them on grounds of state
agricultural society.—The superintendent, at the request of the
president of the Virginia state agricultural society, may, in his dis-
cretion, order the employment of convicts on the grounds of said
society, imposing such conditions and restrictions as he may deem

roper.
7 @'4133. He may also furnish them to counties to work on county
roads.—The superintendent shall have authority to furnish to any
county in the state, upon the requisition of the board of supervisors
of such county, approved by the judge of the county court, convicts
whose term of service, at the time of th lication for them, does
not exceed five years, to work on the county roads, under such regu-
lations as the board of supervisors may prescribe in conformity with
this chapter, and on such conditions as to safe-keeping as the super-
intendent and said board may agree upon: provided that if the su-
pervisors shall deem it best that the convicts furnished be employed
on any turnpike or macadamized road in their county, the said board
may 80 employ them, or arrange for their employment on such road
with the company authorized to construct the same.

8 4136. Superintendent may hire convicts to railroad companies,
to which counties are subscribers.—After providing for all demands
under section forty-one hundred and thirty-three, the superintendent
shall have authority to hire to any railroad company in this state, to
which counties are subscribers, any convicts which may remain in
the penitentiary, or who may be employed under existing contracts
In any quarry or on any railroad to which counties are not sub-
scribers, whose term of service at the time of application for them
does not exceed ten years: provided such contracts can be lawfully
cancelled.

2. That sections forty-one hundred and thirty-seven and forty-one
hundred and thirty-eight of the code of Virginia, as amended by an
act approved March sixth, eighteen hundred and ninety, be amended
and re-enacted so as to read as follows:

§ 4137. Terms and conditions upon which they are to be so hired.—
The superintendent of the penitentiary, upon the order of the gov-
ernor, shall deliver, on the part of the state, able-bodied convicts,
selected for work upon public improvements by the surgeon of the
penitentiary. Said convicts shall be furnished medicine and medi-
cal attention by the state. A sufficient number of convicts to per-
form all camp duties, namely, such as cooking, washing, cleaning
and attendance upon the sick, shall also be furnished by the state
without charge for hire to the contractors. In selecting the convicts
said surgeon shall be governed by the provisions of section forty-
one hundred and twenty-five, code of eighteen hundred and eighty-
seven.

The governor shall appoint the camp surgeons, and these shall
have charge of the several convict camps of the railroad companies
hiring convicts. It shall be the duty of said surgeons to render all
necessary medical and surgical attention to the convicts, and to see
that said convicts are properly fed, quartered, clothed, disciplined,
and humanely treated, and to report monthly to the superintendent
of the penitentiary as to the condition of the men under their care
at each respective camp. The camp surgeons shall jointly, with the
chief engineer or some other authorized officer of the railroad com-
panies, make and sign a time-sheet showing the number of days’
work actually performed on the improvement by the convicts under
their care for the railroad companies, and shal] transmit the same in
duplicate to the superintendent of the penitentiary and the superin-
tendent of the railroad companies. It shall likewise be the duty of
the surgeons to make requisitions upon the superintendent of the
penitentiary, from time to time, for such clothing, bedding and medi-
cines as may in their judgment be required for the men under their
charge.

The superintendent of the penitentiary shall report quarterly to
the auditor of the state the amount due the state for the hire of
said convicts, and the amount of the cost price of the clothing
and bedding to be furnished as aforesaid, and he, or some officer
of the penitentiary authorized and selected by him, shall inspect
the railroad companies’ convict camps not less frequently than once
In every sixty days, making on the occasion of each inspection a re-
port of their condition to the governor of the state.

The railroad companies hiring said convicts shall defray the cost
of transporting the convicts hired by them from, and returning them
to the penitentiary; and shall feed, house, clothe, bed and guard
said convicts while in their employment, and they shall also defray
the same expenses of the convicts furnished as aforesaid to perform
camp duties.

Railroad companies shall have power to employ such agents, over-
seers and guards as they may deem necessary for the safe-keeping
and proper management of the convicts in their charge; and such
agents, overseers and guards shall have the same authority to com-
pel labor, enforce obedience and prevent escape as the agents or offi-
cers of the same grade of the state penitentiary: provided, however,
that no punishment shall be inflicted without the authority of the
surgeon in charge, and he shall have power to order and compel the
removal of any guard whom he may consider unfit for the place.

The railroad companies shall pay quarterly to the superintendent
such sum as may be agreed upon per day for each day’s work of ten
hours actually performed on the improvement, which sum shall be
paid by the companies in addition to all expenses required to be paid
by them as aforesaid.

§ 4138. Which railroads to be first supplied; when superintendent
may hire convicts for employment on works of internal improve-
ment, and what compensation.—The railroads projected to run
through counties without railroads, and through those having the
least number of miles of taxable railroads, shall be first supplied.
After all demands under sections forty-one hundred and thirty-three
and forty-one hundred and thirty-six have been filled, the superin-
tendent may, in his discretion, hire the remaining convicts, or any of
them, to any contractor, to be employed on any work of internal im-
provement in the state, on the same conditions, except that the state
shall receive as compensation not less than thirty cents in lawful
money for each day’s labor actually performed.

3. That sections forty-one hundred and sixty and forty-one hun-
dred and sixty-seven of code of Virginia, as amended by an act ap-
proved February nineteenth, eighteen hundred and ninety-two, be
amended and re-enacted so as to read as follows:

§ 4160. How clerk, assistant clerk, assistant superintendent and
keepers appointed; their oath; matron.—There shall be appointed
by the governor, on the recommendation of the board of directors,
a clerk of the penitentiary and an assistant clerk, and on the recom-
mendation of the superintendent, one assistant superintendent, who
shall act in place of superintendent in his absence, and also four
reepers, all of whom shall take the oath prescribed by law for pub-

ic officers.
ACTS OF ASSEMBLY. 929

The governor shall also, if the board recommend it, appoint a ma-
tron of the female depattment.

§ 4167. Employment of guard; their number and duties; how
dismissed; right of guard and officers to carry weapons; absentees,
and so forth.—The superintendent may employ a guard, not exceed-
ing fifty persons, as the interior and exterior guard of the peniten-
tiary, who shall each take an oath faithfully to discharge the duties
of his office, and shall perform such duties as the superintendent,
subject to the control of the governor, may direct. Any person 80
employed may be dismissed from service at the discretion either of
the board or the superintendent. It shall be lawful for any officer
or guard to carry sufficient weapons to prevent escapes, suppress re-
bellion and for self-defence, and to use the same against any convict
for such purpose. The superintendent may adopt regulations, ap-
proved by the board, under which leave of absence may be granted
to an assistant, keeper or member of the guard. If any absentee
furnishes satisfactory evidence to the superintendent that his ab-
gence was unavoidable from sickness, his full pay may continue
during such absence, not exceeding twenty days in any one year, and
beyond that time at the rate of fifteen dollars per month, not exceed-
ing three months.

4. Section four thousand one hundred and sixty-one and all acts
inconsistent with this act shall be, and are hereby, repealed.

5. This act shall be in force from its passage.