County Convicts; Hiring and Hard Labor.

removal of convicts. When convicts are sentenced to hard labor for the county, and hired out by the court of county commissioners, it shall be the duty of the inspector of state convicts to visit such convicts whenever they shall deem it necessary, and they shall rigidly scrutinize and inquire into the treatment and management of such convicts, and shall report to the judge of probate, in writing, the condition and treatment of such convicts. No contract shall be made by such court for hiring county convicts, without a stipulation therein that the contract shall end if the bond, in the opinion of the judge of probate, becomes insufficient, or if any convict is treated cruelly or inhumanly by the hirer or his employes. Whenever the board of inspectors shall notify the governor that convicts who have been sentenced to hard labor for the county should be removed from the place where they are at labor, or from the control of the person who has them hired, it shall be his duty to order the judge of probate of the county where said convicts were convicted to remove them from such place, or to annul such contract, as the case may be, and any judge of probate neglecting or refusing to obey such order shall be liable to impeachment and removal from office, as provided for in other cases, and when in case the contract is annulled or the convicts removed under this section, they may be kept in any jail in the state until they can be hired out again or disposed of in some other legal manner.

Sec. 7. Official appointed to visit and report upon convicts hired within the county. The court of county commissioners or board of revenue of each county, the convicts of which are hired within the county and not engaged in mining, shall designate one of their number, or some other suitable person, to visit and inspect such convicts once a month. The person designated shall make monthly reports of the treatment of such convicts to the president of the board of inspectors and shall receive such compensation, to be paid out of the county treasury, as may be allowed by the court of county commissioners or board of revenue.

Sec. 8. To whom not to be hired; when convicts not to be guarded. No person sentenced to hard labor shall be hired to any person related to him by consanguinity or affinity, or who is unfriendly to him, or who has not a proper prison, or immediately will prepare one for the confinement of such convicts at night, or when not at work, wherein he must be kept confined at such time. But in case of a convict convicted of a misdemeanor, and hired in the county where convicted, the hirer shall not be required to keep such convict confined or attended by a guard, unless so requested by an order of the court of county commissioners, incorporated in the contract of hiring.

Sec. 9. County convicts may be worked on public roads. Whenever the commissioners of roads and revenues of a county deem that it is to the best interest of the county to use the county convicts in building, repairing, and working the public roads of the county, they may so work them under rules and regulations to be prescribed by the board of inspectors, which shall be uniform throughout the state for working county convicts on the public roads.

Sec.10. Hard labor; what included. Hard labor for the county includes labor on the public roads, public bridges and other public works in the county; and authorizes the letting of such convicts to hire to labor anywhere within the state, as may be determined by the court of county commissioners or board of revenue.

Sec. 11. Women not to labor on public highways. No woman convicted of a public offense shall be required to work as a laborer on any public highway in this state.

Sec. 12. Commencement of sentences on two or more convictions. When a convict is sentenced to hard labor for the county, on two or more convictions, the punishment of the second or each subsequent conviction must commence on the termination of the sentence for the preceding conviction; but no person shall be sentenced to hard labor for the county so that the aggregate of the sentences on two or more convictions shall exceed two years for the crime, and the aggregate sentences for costs shall not exceed fifteen months. Sec. 13. Sentences for costs; not to exceed ten months. Fees same as in.

County Convicts; Hiring and Hard Labor.

cases of county convicts as provided by law now in force in the respective counties. Whenever any convict is sentenced by the court and required to do hard labor for the county, an additional sentence not to exceed ten months in any case for the payment of costs of conviction may be imposed; and the court must determine the time required to work out such costs at the rate of forty cents per day. The costs of conviction of county convicts shall be the same as provided by law now in force in the respective counties.

Sec. 14. County convicts under sixteen may be sentenced to reformatory. County convicts under sixteen years of age may be sentenced to a term in the reformatory provided for in this chapter, or to hard labor for the county in the discretion of the presiding judge; and in such event the costs of conviction, not exceeding fifty dollars, shall be paid out of the convict fund as provided in cases of sentence to the penitentiary.

Sec. 15. Place and kind of labor expressed in contract; when changed. Every contract for the hire of county convicts must express the kind of labor, and the place at which it is to be performed; and such convict must be restricted to such place and labor, which must not be changed except upon the recommmendation of the court of county commissioners, and county convicts can only be sublet or rehired in the same manner.

Sec. 16. Hiring of convicts; how made. Should the court of county commissioners or board of revenue determine to let convicts, or any part of them, to hire, they may do so by themselves, or by some member of their body, or other person to be appointed by them.

Sec. 17. Bond of hirer; how conditioned; when required clothing specified. The contract of hiring shall be secured by bond in writing, in a penalty double the amount agreed upon for hire, payable to the county, with two good and sufficient sureties, and conditioned to pay the amount of hire agreed on, and also to furnish the convict with a sufficiency of good and wholesome food, and with medicine and medical attention when necessary, and to treat the convict humanely; and said contract may be for one or more years; and if the hiring be for a longer term than two months, or if the condition and comfort of the convict require it, the hirer may also be required to furnish to the convict specified clothing, which shall also be expressed in the bond. The attorney-general shall prepare a form of contract and bond which shall be furnished to the judge of probate of each county by the president of the board of inspectors, which shall be used in all cases of the hiring of county convicts.

Sec. 18. Action on hirer's bond. Such bond may be put in suit in any court of the county for which the convicts were sentenced to hard labor having jurisdiction of the same; and the suit shall be governed by the rules governing other suits on penal bonds; and the recovery, if any, shall be paid into the county treasury for the use of the party for whose benefit the recovery is had. Sec. 19. If employed on public works, superintendent appointed; term of office and compensation. Should the court of county commissioners or board of revenue determine to employ persons sentenced to hard labor for the county, or any part of them, in work on the public roads, public bridges, or other public works of the county, then they are authorized to appoint a superintendent of public works, whose term of office shall expire when his successor is qualified, and who shall receive for his services such compensation as shall be fixed by the court of county commissioners or board of revenue.

Sec. 20. Form of official oath required; filed in probate office. The superintendent of public works, and each person employed as a guard over convicts sentenced to hard labor for the county, before he enters upon the discharge of his duties, shall take and subscribe the following oath before some officer authorized to administer the same: "I do solemnly swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States, and the Constitution of the State of Alabama, so long as I remain a citizen of said state, and that I will faithfully execute and discharge all duties required of me (as superintendent or guard of convicts, as the case may be), and that I will observe all rules and regulations prescribed for the government of convicts, so far as I am thereby directed, and will in no case ill treat or abuse any convict under my charge

County Convicts; Hiring and Hard Labor.

or control, or inflict any other or greater punishment than may be prescribed by said rules and regulations"; and such oath shall be filed by the party taking the same in the office of the judge of probate of the county in which the convict is sentenced to hard labor.

Sec. 21. Bond of superintendent. The superintendent of public works shall also enter into bond, payable to the county, and approved by the judge of probate, with two good and sufficient sureties, in the penalty of one thousand dol lars, conditioned that he will faithfully perform the duties of his office, obey the orders of the court of county commissioners, and will not voluntarily permit the escape of any of the convicts committed to him.

Sec. 22. Action on superintendent's bond. The bond of the superintendent may be put in suit and prosecuted in all respects as is provided in this article for suits on bonds given by hirers of convicts.

Sec. 23. Duties of superintendent. The duties of the superintendent of public works are: Faithfully to obey and carry out the orders and directions of the court of county commissioners or board of revenue; to see that the convicts committed to him labor faithfully; not to overwork or maltreat the convicts; to see that the food and clothing delivered to him for the convicts are given to them at the proper time; to see that they are properly housed in inclement weather; to have proper medicine and medical attention bestowed on them when necessary; and not voluntarily or negligently to permit them! to escape.

Sec. 24. Duty of judges to report convictions to judge of probate. Al judicial officers shall, immediately upon the sentence of any person to hard labor for any county, report in writing to the judge of probate of the county for which such sentence is made, the name of such person, the length of his sentence, the date of its commencement and the amount of costs. But any judicial officer, presiding over a court that has a clerk, may order such report to be made by such clerk.

Sec. 25. Convict must be returned to county at expiration of sentence. It shall be the duty of any person who has in his possession or under his control any state or county convict, to discharge such convict at the expiration of his term of penal servitude, and to furnish him with transportation to the county seat of the county in which such convict was sentenced to imprisonment. And he shall also furnish to such convict one good suit of clothes and fifty cents a day for each estimated day's travel from the place where he is discharged to his destination, and one hat and pair of shoes. But if such convict be charged with the commission of any other criminal offense he must be delivered to the proper sheriff, or officer, to answer such charge, under such rules and regulations as may prescribed by the board of inspectors. That after this act goes into effect no convict shall be discharged in any county in this state having more than 100,000 population except in cases where the convict to be discharged was convicted in such county of more than 100,000 population; provided that all convicts, state and county, who may have heretofore been hired or leased to any contractor to be worked or kept in any county having more than 100,000 population and all convicts, state and county, who may hereafter be sent into any, county having more than 100,000 ppoulation to be there worked or kept by any contractor pursuant to any contract heretofore made, may be discharged in the county where they are worked or kept, irrespective of its population. That in all cases where state convicts are confined in the penitentiary or any department of the penitentiary in counties having more than 100,000 population and are there worked, employed, kept, or imprisoned directly by the state and are so worked, kept, or imprisoned without the intervention of any contractor, it is made the duty of the board of convict inspectors to cause all such convicts at any time within fifteen days prior to the time they would be entitled to their discharges, as now provided by law, to be transported under guard to the counties in which such convicts were convicted, and to be there immediately upon arrival thereat discharged; provided that in cases where the county seats of such counties are on a railroad the convict shall be discharged at the county seat of the county where he was convicted. The cost of transporting state convicts, under guard, to the

County Convicts; Hiring and Hard Labor.

counties where they were convicted as provided for in this section of this act shall be paid out of the convict fund in the same manner and subject to the same auditing and approval that is now required by law in the case of the payment of other sums out of such fund. It shall be the duty of said board of convict inspectors to cause as many convicts who are to be discharged in the counties where they were convicted, under this section of this act, as may be reasonably so transported under the same guard or guards, and at the least costs the circumstances will permit of. That after this act goes into effect neither the state nor any county shall make any contract for the lease or hire of any convict,. nor shall any convict be leased or hired by either the state or any county, to be, or who shall be worked, employed, imprisoned, or kept in any county having more than 100,000 population, except in cases where the person, firm, or corporation to whom or which such convicts are hired or leased shall agree to transport such convicts within fifteen days prior to the time such convicts would be entitled to their discharges as now provided by law to the counties where such convicts were convicted and to the county seats of such counties where the county seat is on a railroad; and all conviets who shall be leased or hired by either the state or any county, after the passage of this act, to be worked, employed, kept, or imprisoned in any county in the state having more than 100,000 population, or who shall be so worked, employed, kept, or imprisoned, shall be within fifteen days prior to the time when they would be entitled to their discharges as now provided by law, transported by the person, firm, or corporation hiring or leasing them (that is, by the bailee or lessee of such convicts), under guard to the counties where such convicts were convicted, and be there, immediately on arrival in such counties, discharged, and if the county seat of the county where such convict was convicted is on a railroad, then such convict shall be discharged at such county seat; and provided that all convicts who now or may hereafter be worked, employed, kept, or imprisoned in the same county where they were convicted may be discharged in such county, irrespective of its population. That any convict required under the provisions of this act to be discharged in the county wherein he was convicted may be transported to such county at any time within fifteen days prior to the time he may be entitled to his discharge as now provided by law; that such convict may be discharged immediately upon reaching such county, unless the county seat of such county is on a railroad, in which case such convict shall be discharged at such county seat; that after such discharge such convict's sentence shall be at an end. That any person, firm, or corporation to whom any convict is hereafter leased or hired who shall discharge any convict required under the provisions of this act to be discharged in the county where he was convicted, who shall discharge such convict elsewhere than is required by this act shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be fined therefor not exceeding $100; and may be prosecuted therefor before any court in the state having jurisdiction of misdemeanors; and shall also forfeit $100 to any person suing therefor; of such suits the circuit courts of this state shall have jurisdiction. That any warden of the penitentiary, superintendent or guard of convicts, sheriff, or other officer or employe of the state or any county who shall discharge any convict required under the provisions of this act to be discharged in the county wherein he was convicted who shall discharge such convict elsewhere than is required by this act shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction therefor may be fined not less than $100.

Sec. 26. Law relating to convicts and prisoners to be given in special charge to grand jury. The judges of the circuit courts and city courts shall give in special charge to the grand jury the provisions of this Code relating to convicts and prisoners.

Sec. 27. This act shall not be so construed as to repeal any local law now in force in this state.

Approved November 30, 1907.

Official:

FRANK N. JULIAN, Secretary of State.

Discharging Convicts.

ARTICLE 6.

DISCHARGING CONVICTS. 6607.

1903, p.

514, § 6.

6607. Discharge of convicts by officials contrary to law. Oct. 10, Any warden of the penitentiary, superintendent or guard of convicts, sheriff or other officer or employe of the state or county who shall discharge any convict otherwise than as required under the provisions of this Code, or who shall discharge such convict elsewhere than is required by law, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction therefor, may be fined not less than one hundred dollars.

6608. (4546) (3753) (4319) (3686) (143) Maltreatment of convicts by officer.-Any superintendent, guard, or other officer having charge of convicts, who overworks or maltreats any convict, or inflicts upon him any other or greater punishment than he is authorized by law to inflict, must, on conviction, be fined not less than fifty nor more than five hundred dollars, and may also be imprisoned in the county jail, or sen