Prison Commission. appoint three (3) intelligent and upright citizens, from different sections of the State, who shall be known as the Prison Commission of the State of Georgia, and who shall hold office until their respective successors are elected and qualified as hereinafter provided. At the next general election in October, 1898, one Commissioner shall be elected, and at each following general election one Commissioner shall be elected. The Commission so appointed by the Governor shall cast lots and determine which of the said Commissioners shall hold office until the general election in October, 1898, which shall hold until the general election of 1900, and which shall hold until the general election of 1902, and until their respective successors are elected and qualified. 71. $6715. Vacancies, how filled; chairman.-The terms of office of A. 1897, p. the Commissioners elected by the people shall be for a period of six years. In case of any vacancy, the same shall be filled by executive appointment, and the Commissioners so appointed shall hold their office until the next regular election and until their successors for the remainder of their unexpired terms have been elected and qualified. The Commissioners shall elect one of their number chairman. 86716. Oath and bond of Commissioners.-Before entering upon A. 1897, p. the discharge of the duties of their office, each Commissioner shall take the oath required by all public officers, and shall execute a bond, with good security, in the sum of five thousand dollars ($5,000.00), payable to the Governor of Georgia and his successors in office conditioned for the faithful performance of the duties devolving upon him, which bond shall be approved by the Governor, and filed and recorded as other bonds. 71. 71. 86717. Salaries and expenses of commissioners.-The Commis- A. 1897, p. sioners shall receive as salaries the sum of $2,000.00 each per annum, and in addition thereto actual traveling expenses while in the discharge of their duties, which salaries shall be paid as other State House officers are now paid, and their traveling expenses by warrantз upon itemized bills, certified by the Board and approved by the Comptroller-General. 71. 86718. Office of Commissioners; clerk's salary.-The Commis- A. 1897, p. sion shall have an office in the Capitol, and such books, stationery, stamps and other office supplies as may be needed shall be provided as such supplies are now furnished to the other State House officers. They shall select a clerk, whose duty shall be determined by the Board, whose compensation shall not exceed $1,200.00 per annum, and in addition thereto actual traveling expenses while in the discharge of his duties, and who shall hold office at the pleasure of the Board. 71. 86719. Control and supervision of convicts; guards and officers; A. 1897, p. contract of hire.-The Commission shall have complete management and control of the State convicts, shall regulate the hours of their labor, the manner and extent of their punishment, the variety quality, A. 1897, p. 71. Prison Commission. and quantity of their food, the kind and character of their clothing. and shall make such other rules and regulations as will insure their safe keeping and proper care; and to appoint such officers, guards and physicians as may be necessary: Provided, that the guards so appointed shall not receive a greater sum than $25.00 each per month, and the officers and physicians so appointed shall not receive a greater sum than $100.00 each per month; provided further, that any person or corporation, having hired any convicts under the provisions of this Act, and failing or refusing to comply with the regulations of the Commission, shall forfeit all rights under any contract of hiring, and in their discretion said Commission shall have power and au thority to take from said hirer the convicts so hired, and rehire the same under the provisions of this Act. (a) Misdemeanor convicts, supervision of.-The Commission shall likewise have general supervision of the misdemeanor convicts of the State. It shall be the duty of one of the Commissioners, or, in case of an emergency, an officer designated by them, to visit, from time to time, at least quarterly, the various camps where misdemeanor convicts are at work, and shall advise with the county or municipal authorities working them, in making and altering the rules for the government, control and management of said convicts; and in case the county or municipal authorities and such Commission fail to agree upon the management, government or control of the same, the Governor shall prescribe such rules; and if the county or municipa. authorities fail to comply with such rules, then the Governor, with the Commission, shall take such convicts from the said county or municipal authorities, and deliver them to some other county or municipal authority complying with the rules and regulations prescribed by the Governor; and in the event no county or municipal authorities shall desire them, then they shall be worked as the Commission may designate. $6720. Board of Pardons.-The said Commission is hereby cou stituted a board of pardons, whose duty shall be to investigate all applicants for executive clemency, and make recommendation to the Governor regarding the granting of the same. Their recommendations shall not be confined to the convicts who make application for pardons, but they are authorized upon their own motion to investigate and recommend executive clemency in every case deserving it. A. 1897, p. § 6721. Advertisement for land.-As soon as practicable after the 71. appointment of the Commission, they shall advertise in three daily papers of the State, and, if they deem it necessary, in several, not exceeding ten, weekly papers, once a week for eight consecutive weeks, for the purchase of not less than two and not more than five thousand acres of land, in one body, or in several bodies located in different parts of the State, the aggregate not to exceed five thousand acres, which shall be accessible by railroad. At the time specified by them in said advertisement, they shall receive written offers of sale for Prison Commission. such a tract or tracts of land, which offers shall be accompanied by a perfect abstract of title, together with a topographical map of land showing the kind and quality of the clay, the stone, the water-power, the water supply and the railroad facilities. The Commission is hereby authorized to reject any and all offers made, or to accept the one which, after a careful inspection and examination, can be purchased the most cheaply, all other requirements being equal. (a) Abstract of title.-But no purchase shall be made until the abstract of title has been examined and approved by the AttorneyGeneral. (b) Contract for transportation.-Before any purchase is made, the Commission is empowered to make such contracts with any railroad in the State for the purpose of procuring proper railroad facilities in transporting freight and convicts to such point on said tract or tracts of land as may be deemed necessary; but no contract shall be made incurring a greater cost to the State than reasonable tariff rates in transporting freight and passengers to and from said point. 71. 8 6722. Stockades and Buildings.-The Commission shall have A. 1897, p. erected on said land so purchased suitable buildings, stockades and appurtenances for the safe keeping and care of the following classes of convicts: Females, boys under fifteen years of age, and such aged, infirm or diseased convicts as, in the judgment of the Commission, should not be hired out: Provided, that the Commission shall have power and authority, in its discretion, to take from any hirer any convict whom they have hired out and to place such convict upon the farm herein provided for, relieving such hirer of that part of the hire of such convict for the time during which such hirer is thus deprived of the services of such convict; provided further, that said Commission shall likewise have power and authority, in its discretion, to take from said farm any boy upon his reaching the age of fifteen, or thereafter, and hiring him out as other convicts are to be hired under the provisions of this Act. Said Commission shall provide: (a) Male and female convicts separated.-For the keeping of the male and female convicts separate and apart, so that they may not come in contact with each other. (b) Convicts under 15 separated.-For the keeping separate and apart from the other inmates of the prison, minors under the age of fifteen years. (c) White and colored convicts separated.-For the keeping separate and apart of white and colored convicts when not at work, and when actually engaged in work to be kept separate and apart as far as practicable. (d) Supplies, purchase of; surplus products.-The Commission is authorized to contract for and purchase such furniture, machinery, utensils, implements, live stock and other equipments as may be found necessary to carry out the intention of this Act, and to contract for and construct such water supply and heating arrangements as A. 1897, p. 71. A. 1897, p. 71. Prison Commission. may be necessary. The Commission shall sell, to the best advantage, all surplus products of the penitentiary, and shall apply the proceeds thereof to the maintenance of the institution as far as necessary. Should any surplus funds arise from this source they shall be paid into the State treasury annually, and the Commission shall, at the end of each quarter, make to the Governor a detailed report of ali such transactions; provided, the Commission shall have authority to furnish such surplus products, or any part thereof, to the State Asylum for the Insane, at Milledgeville, the Academy for the Blind, at Macon, and to the School for the Deaf, at Cave Spring, should this be found practicable. 6723. Forfeited leases; convicts, how disposed of.-If by reason of the forfeiture of any lease contract now in existence any portion of the convicts should be retaken by the State from the present lessees before the lease contract expires, the Commission may, in their discretion, place said convicts so retaken upon said land, making suitable arrangements for their care and maintenance, and utilize their labor in erecting the buildings, stockades and appurtenances heretofore provided for, or such other labor as the Commission deem profitable; or if equitable arrangements can be made with any of said lessees whereby the State may resume control of such portion of the convicts as may be needed for this purpose, the Commission is authorized to make such arrangements and use said convicts in the manner and for the purpose specified, but no such arrangement shall be made unless it will be cheaper to the State than free labor. 8 6724. Lease of Felony Convicts; Price.-Should the authorities of any county or any municipal corporation in this State desire to utilize any number of State or felony convicts on the public roads or works in their respective counties or municipal corporations, said authorities may file with said Commission a requisition stating the number wanted, the kind of work to be done and the term for which they will be wanted, which requisition must be filed with said Beard by the 10th day of August, 1898, and said Commission is hereby authorized to furnish said county authorities the number so required. After the year 1898 the said requisitions shall be filed by the Commission in the order in which same are received, and the convicts furnished thereon as the Commission may be able, respect being had to the amount offered. The convicts furnished under this section shall be short-term (not over two years) men, and physically able to do the work required of them. In no event shall any county be furnished with felony convicts whose authorities fail to work its own misdemeanor convicts on the public roads or public works. Should such requisition be made, and the convicts furnished, the county or municipal authorities shall provide, without cost to the State, all transportation, maintenance, guards and other necessaries, and shall pay to the State not less than thirty-six dollars per annum for each convict, to be collected and applied as the hire of convicts as herein Prison Commission. after provided. The said convicts shall be governed and controlled by the rules and regulations provided by the Commission. 71. $6725. Lease of other convicts.-At the same time that advertise- A. 1897, p. ments are published for the purchase of land, as provided by § 6721 above, said Commission shall run a similar advertisement offering for hire, for terms not longer than five years, all the convicts not embraced in said section, and not furnished the county authorities, as provided by § 6723 above, to be employed at any labor consistent with reasonable punishment and the physical ability of the convicts: Provided, that the convicts shall, as far as possible consistent with the best interest of the State, be so worked that the products of their labor shall come least in competition with that of free labor; provided further, that in no case shall convicts be worked in factories where women are employed; the State furnishing all guards, physicians, the hirer furnishing transportation, maintenance, medicine, clothing and all other necessaries, and such buildings as may be required (which shall be stated in the advertisement), and paying quarterly for the annual labor of the convicts at an agreed price per annum per capita. At the time fixed in said advertisement the Commission shall award said convicts, or any of them, to the bidder or bidders who offer the highest and best price for the labor, but may reject any and all of said bids, and may make any other contract of hiring on the plan specified which, in their judgment, will carry out the intentions of this Act and subserve the best interest of the State. (a) Hirer's right to sublet.--Any hirer shall have the right to sublet, by and with the consent of the Commission, any number or all the convicts hired by him, provided that there shall be no additional expense to the State. (b) Contracts of hire.-The Commission, in hiring the convicts, may contract with one or more persons or companies, but no bids for less than fifty nor more than five hundred convicts shall be received; and all convicts sentenced after April 1st, 1899, to the penitentiary shall be disposed of by the Commission under and by virtue of the provisions of this Act. 71. $6726. Bond of hirer.-All contracts made shall provide for A. 1897, p. suitable bond, with security, to be approved by the Commission, to be made by the hiring person or company, payable to the Governor and his successors in office, in an amount to be fixed by the Commission, conditional for the faithful payment of the hire and observance of the contract and of such rules and regulations as may be adopted by the Commission; and that, whenever any bond is executed by the hirer of said convicts, as herein contemplated, the property of said principal and security or securities on said bond shall be bound from the time of the execution thereof for the payment of any and all liability arising from the breach of said bond. In lieu of a personal bond, the company or individual hiring the convicts may de |