Elmira reformatory (L. 1900, ch. 378), § 16.

or magistrate committing such woman shall cause such child to be committed to such asylum as may be provided by law for such purposes, or to the care and custody of some relative or proper person willing to assume such care.

(2) Elmira reformatory.

L. 1900, ch. 378, §§ 11-14, inclusive (C. & G. Gen. Laws p. 2806), repealed by L. 1902, ch. 252, in effect April 1, 1902, for the reason that the Elmira Reformatory is by such act brought under the same system of estimates, etc., as the state charitable institutions. See Charities and Corrections, this volume, The State Charities Law, §§ 45 to 48, inclusive, as amended by L. 1902, ch. 252.

L. 1900, ch. 378, § 16 (C. & G. Gen. Laws, p. 2809), amended by L. 1903, ch. 138, in effect April 6, 1903, as follows:

§ 16. Transfer of prisoners to Eastern New York reformatory at Napanoch and to state prisons. If it shall appear to the board of managers of the reformatory that the reformatory is over-crowded or that any prisoner confined therein,

1. Was, at the time of his conviction, more than thirty years

of age; or

2. Has been previously convicted of a felony; or

3. While in the reformatory, is incorrigible and that his presence therein is seriously detrimental to the welfare of the institution; an application may be made to a justice of the supreme court of the judicial district in which such reformatory is located, for an order transferring the prisoner named therein to Eastern New York reformatory at Napanoch or to a state prison. Such application shall be by written petition signed by the president or secretary of the board and shall state the causes for seeking such transfer and due notice of such application with a copy of the petition shall be served personally or by mail at least eight days before the hearing on the superintendent of state prisons who shall specify the institution to which such prisoner shall be transferred; in case the order shall be made. Such justice shall grant such order of transfer, on such hearing as he may prescribe, if it appears to his satisfaction that the facts alleged are true and that such transfer should be made. A prisoner so transferred shall be confined in such institution as under an indeterminate sentence, commencing with his imprisonment in the reformatory with a minimum of one year and a maximum fixed by law for the crime of which the prisoner was convicted and sentenced;

Eastern New York reformatory (L. 1900, ch. 348), § 3.

and may be released on parole or absolutely discharged as are other prisoners confined under an indeterminate sentence. Such prisoner may be returned at any time to the reformatory in the discretion of the superintendent of state prisons, and with the consent of the board of managers of such reformatory. (Amended by L. 1903, ch. 138, in effect April 6, 1903.)

(3) Eastern New York reformatory.

L. 1900, ch. 348, § 3 (C. & G. Gen. Laws, p. 2816), amended by L. 1904, ch. 425, in effect April 27, 1904, as follows:

§ 3. Transfer of prisoners from state prisons.-The superintendent of state prisons may transfer prisoners from any of the several state prisons to the Eastern New York reformatory, and the warden thereof shall receive and detain such prisoners in accordance with the terms of their sentence. If such sentences are for fixed terms they shall be subject to the provisions of law governing commutation of sentence for good conduct as provided by chapter twenty-one of the laws of eighteen hundred and eightysix. If such prisoners are confined under indeterminate sentences they may be paroled and discharged as are prisoners confined under like sentences in the state prisons. The superintendent of state prisons may also, in his discretion, transfer prisoners from the said reformatory to either of the state prisons. (Amended by L. 1901, ch. 388, and L. 1904, ch. 425, in effect April 27, 1904.)

(4) Albany penitentiary.

L. 1885, ch. 261 (C. & G. Gen. Laws, p. 2825), as amended by L. 1895, ch. 761 and L. 1902, ch. 127, held unconstitutional (Corscadden v. Haswell, 88 App. Div. 158, affirmed, 177 N. Y. 499), and repealed by L. 1904, ch. 336, in effect April 16, 1904. The following act substituted:

L. 1904, ch. 336. An act to reduce the expense of maintenance of the Albany county penitentiary and provide for the management or discontinuance thereof, and to repeal chapter two hundred and sixty-one of the laws of eighteen hundred and eighty-five, entitled "An act in relation to the management of the Albany penitentiary," and the acts amendatory thereof. [In effect April 16, 1904.]

§ 1. Penitentiary board. All the powers heretofore conferred and duties now imposed by law upon the Albany penitentiary commission, and also those theretofore conferred and imposed upon the board of supervisors of the county of Albany, and the mayor

Albany penitentiary (L. 1904, ch. 336), §§ 2-5.

and recorder of the city of Albany, together with any and all rights and powers necessary to be exercised in the proper operation, management, care and control of the Albany county penitentiary, are hereby conferred upon and vested in the board of supervisors of said county.

§ 2. Superintendent abolished. The office of superintendent or principal keeper of said penitentiary is hereby abolished.

§ 3. May be used as county jail.-The said board of supervisors is hereby authorized in its discretion to designate the said penitentiary, or such portion thereof as may be necessary, to be used as and for a county jail.

§ 4. Sheriff to be custodian.- The said board of supervisors is hereby authorized to designate the sheriff of said county by virtue of his office as sheriff to be the custodian of said penitentiary without additional compensation; or, in its discretion, to designate for a period of not exceeding five years, or for such shorter period as said penitentiary may be operated, and at such rate of compensation as may be fixed from time to time by said board, not exceeding two thousand dollars per annum, a resident of said county to take charge of said penitentiary and to be the custodian thereof under the general direction and control of said board, and who may be removed at any time by said board of supervisors for violation or neglect of duty or for incompetency, upon written charges signed by at least three resident freeholders, and after a hearing upon due notice.

§ 5. Report of custodian. The custodian appointed as hereinbefore provided, shall, annually, on or before the first day of December, in each year, present to the said board of supervisors a report, showing in detail the receipts and disbursements for the year ending October thirty-first; the respective sources from which money has been received, and the respective purposes for which it has been paid out, and also a general summary of the same; the name of each person employed and the salary or compensation paid him or her; the cost of maintaining each prisoner in the penitentiary; the number of prisoners therein each day during the year; the gross and net earnings, if any, of the penitentiary during such year; the average earnings of the prisoners per capita, and such

Albany penitentiary (L. 1904, ch. 336), §§ 6-8.

other information as will show the then condition of the penitentiary and the manner of its management during the preceding year; and also shall report in detail upon any and all matters relating to the affairs of said penitentiary from time to time as the board of supervisors may require or direct.

§ 6. Deposits; maintenance. The said custodian shall deposit with the county treasurer of Albany county all moneys received by him for said penitentiary or in its management. All moneys required in the conduct of the business of said penitentiary, and all disbursements connected with it or its management, except wages and salaries which shall be paid upon the certificate of said custodian, shall be paid upon bills made out in the same form and verified in the same manner as is now required in the case of claims presented for audit to the board of supervisors of Albany county, duly certified by said custodian, and audited by said board of supervisors or by a committee thereof appointed for such purpose; provided, however, that the custodian may, for petit disbursements and expenses, disburse in any one month an amount not exceeding two hundred dollars, which amount shall be paid to said custodian by the county treasurer, upon the receipt of a duly verified itemized account thereof. The county treasurer shall keep an account of all the receipts and disbursements provided for in this

act.

§ 7. Supplies in bulk. In case the sheriff of said county shall be made custodian of said penitentiary as herein before provided, and in case a portion of said penitentiary shall be designated and set apart to be used as and for a jail as hereinbefore provided, then and in that event and during the continuance of said custodianship and said use as a jail, the supplies for the maintenance of the persons confined in said penitentiary and in said jail may be procured in bulk and used in common for the maintenance of such prisoners.

§ 8. Application of former act.- The provisions of sections six and seven of chapter two hundred and eighteen of the laws of eighteen hundred and eighty-four entitled "An act to regulate the commitment and discharge of certain prisoners, tramps and vagrants in Albany county, and to prescribe the effect thereof, to provide for the support of the prisoners in the jail in the city of Albany and to fix the duties and compensation of the sheriff of said county

Commutation of sentences (L. 1886, ch. 21), § 1.

and of certain employees in the jail in said city" shall not be deemed applicable so long as the present penitentiary shall be used in part for purposes other than a jail; but this act shall in no other respect affect the provisions of said chapter two hundred and eighteen of the laws of eighteen hundred and eighty-four and the acts amendatory thereof.

§ 9. Abandonment of penitentiary. The said board of supervisors is hereby authorized and empowered whenever it is deemed by such board of supervisors to be for the best interests of the county of Albany, to discontinue the operation of and close said penitentiary, and abandon its use as such, and to sell, dispose of and convey the same and all the lands and appurtenances connected therewith.

§ 10. Repeal.- Chapter two hundred and sixty-one of the laws of eighteen hundred and eighty-five, chapter seven hundred and sixty-one of the laws of eighteen hundred and ninety-five, and chapter one hundred and twenty-seven of the laws of nineteen hundred and two, together with all other acts or parts of acts inconsistent herewith, are hereby repealed. Nothing herein contained shall affect any action or proceeding now pending.

(5) Commutation of sentences.

L. 1886, ch. 21, § 1 (C. & G. General Laws, p. 2842), amended by L. 1903, ch. 137, in effect April 6, 1903, as follows:

A

§ 1. Commutation. A sentence to imprisonment in a state prison for a definite fixed period of time is a definite sentence. sentence to imprisonment in a state prison having minimum and maximum limits fixed by the court is an indeterminate sentence. Every convict confined under a definite sentence in any state prison or penitentiary in this state, on a conviction of a felony or misdemeanor, whether male or female, where the terms or term equal or equals one year, exclusive of any term which may be imposed by the court or by statute as an alternative to the payment of a fine, or a term of life imprisonment, may earn for himself or herself a commutation or diminution of his or her sentence or sentences as follows, namely, two months for the first year, two months for the second year, four months each for the third and fourth years, and five months for each subsequent year. (Amended by L. 1903, ch. 137, in effect April 6, 1903.)