Pennsylvania Act 1915-289 — EMPLOYMENT AND COMPENSATION OF INMATES

Act text

EMPLOYMENT AND COMPENSATION OF INMATES
                  Act of Jun. 1, 1915, P.L. 656, No. 289              Cl. 61
                                  An Act

        Providing a system of employment and compensation for the
     inmates of the Eastern Penitentiary, Western Penitentiary, and
     the Pennsylvania Industrial Reformatory at Huntingdon, and for
     such other correctional institutions as shall be hereafter
     established by the Commonwealth, and making an appropriation
     therefor.

        Section 1.  Be it enacted, &c., That all persons sentenced to
     the Eastern or Western Penitentiary, or to the Pennsylvania
     Industrial Reformatory at Huntingdon, or to the State Industrial
     Home for Women at Muncy, or to any other correctional
     institution hereafter established by the Commonwealth, who are
     physically capable of such labor, may be employed at labor for
     not to exceed eight hours each day, other than Sundays and
     public holidays. Such labor shall be for the purpose of the
     manufacture and production of supplies for said institutions, or
     for the Commonwealth or for any county, city, borough, or
     township, thereof, or for any public institution owned, managed,
     and controlled by the Commonwealth, or for any educational or
     charitable institution receiving aid from the Commonwealth, or
     for the preparation and manufacture of building material for the
     construction or repair of any State institution, or in the work
     of such construction or repair, or for the purpose of industrial
     training or instruction, or partly for one and partly for the
     other of such purposes, or in the manufacture and production of
     crushed stone, brick, tile, and culvert pipe, or other material
     suitable for draining roads of the State, or in the preparation
     of road building and ballasting material.
        (1 amended Apr. 6, 1921, P.L.101, No.61)
        Section 2.  A member of the board of prison inspectors of the
     Eastern Penitentiary designated by such board, a member of the
     board of prison inspectors of the Western Penitentiary
     designated by such board, a member of the Board of Managers of
     the Pennsylvania Industrial Reformatory at Huntingdon designated
     by such board, and a member of the board of managers of the
     State Industrial Home for Women at Muncy designated by such
     board, shall constitute the Prison Labor Commission, which
     commission shall perform the duties hereinafter specified with
     reference to the regulation and supervision of the labor of
     inmates of the penitentiaries, reformatory, home, and other
     correctional institutions hereafter established by this
     Commonwealth, and for the disposal of the products of the labor
     of such inmates. The members of this commission shall serve
     without salary, but they shall be allowed their expenses
     actually and necessarily incurred in the discharge of their
     duties. The Prison Labor Commission is empowered to employ such
     clerks or other employes as are necessary for the proper conduct
     of its business, at such salaries as shall be determined by the
     commission.
        (2 amended Apr. 6, 1921, P.L.101, No.61)
        Section 3.  The Prison Labor Commission shall determine the
     amount, kind, and character of the machinery to be erected in
     each of the penitentiaries, reformatory, and home, or other
     correctional institutions hereafter established, the industries
     to be carried on therein, having due regard to the location and
     conveniences thereof with respect to other institutions to be
     supplied, to the machinery therein, and the number and character
     of inmates.
        (3 amended Apr. 6, 1921, P.L.101, No.61)
        Section 4.  The Prison Labor Commission shall arrange for the
     sale of the materials produced by the prisoners to the
     Commonwealth or to any county, city, borough, or township
     thereof, or to any of the public institutions owned, managed,
     and controlled by the Commonwealth, or to any educational or
     charitable institution receiving aid from the Commonwealth.
        (4 amended Apr. 6, 1921, P.L.101, No.61)
        Section 5.  For the purchase of material, equipment, and
     machinery to be used in the penitentiaries, reformatory, home
     and other correctional institutions as aforesaid, special
     appropriations shall be made, from time to time, to the Prison
     Labor Commission, to be known as the manufacturing fund.
        (5 amended Apr. 6, 1921, P.L.101, No.61)
        Section 6.  The receipts from the sales of manufactured
     articles, sold as aforesaid to the Commonwealth or any county,
     city, borough, or township thereof, or any public institution
     owned and managed and controlled by the Commonwealth, or any
     educational or charitable institution receiving aid from the
     Commonwealth, shall not be turned into the State Treasury, but
     shall be credited to the manufacturing fund created by section
     five, and used for the purchase of further material, equipment,
     machinery, and supplies; and the commission shall make a full
     monthly report of the products, sales, receipts, and
     disbursements of such industries to the Auditor General of the
     Commonwealth.
        (6 amended Apr. 6, 1921, P.L.101, No.61)
        Section 7.  Hereafter an account shall be kept by the proper
     officers of the Western Penitentiary, the Eastern Penitentiary,
     the Pennsylvania Industrial Reformatory at Huntingdon, the State
     Industrial Home for Women at Muncy, and the other correctional
     institutions hereafter established by the Commonwealth, of the
     labor performed by all prisoners under sentence in such
     institution. In such account the prisoner shall be credited with
     wages for the time he or she is actually engaged in work, the
     rate of such wage, and the amount credited to each, to be
     regulated at the discretion of the Prison Labor Commission, or
     such persons as they may designate. In no case shall the amount
     be less than ten cents, nor over fifty cents, for each day of
     labor actually performed. The difference in the rate of
     compensation shall be based both upon the pecuniary value of the
     work performed and also on the willingness, industry, and good
     conduct of such prisoner.
        (7 amended Apr. 6, 1921, P.L.101, No.61)
        Section 8.  Three-fourths of the amount credited to each
     prisoner, or the entire amount if the prisoner so wishes, shall
     constitute a fund for the relief of any person or persons
     dependent upon such prisoner, and shall be paid, upon the order
     of the board of inspectors or the board of managers of the
     institution of which said prisoner is an inmate, to the person
     or persons establishing such dependency to the satisfaction of
     said board of the institution of which said prisoner is an
     inmate, at such time and times as said board may order.
        (8 amended Apr. 6, 1921, P.L.101, No.61)
        Section 9.  All sums credited to a prisoner, other than so
     much thereof as may be paid to a dependent or dependents of the
     prisoner, shall be for the benefit of such prisoner, under the
     rules and regulations of the board of inspectors or the board of
     managers of the institution of which said prisoner is an inmate,
     and paid to the prisoner on his or her discharge. Prisoners who
     have sums to their credit may, subject to the rules and
     regulations of their respective institution and to the payment
     of the portion of their wages to their dependents, draw upon the
     same for present needs.
        (9 amended Apr. 6, 1921, P.L.101, No.61)