Commitment, Custody and Discharge. $$ 69-70 longer than ten days, nor shall such person be committed as a disorderly person to any prison, jail or lockup for criminals, unless he be violent and dangerous, and there is no other suitable place for his confinement, nor shall he be confined in the same room with a person charged with or convicted of crime. Any person apparently insane, and conducting himself in a manner which in a sane person would be disorderly, may be arrested by any peace officer and confined in some safe and comfortable place until the question of his sanity be determined, as prescribed by this chapter. The officer making such arrest shall immediately notify the superintendent of the poor of the county, or the overseers of the poor of the town or city, or, in the city of New York, the commissioners of public charities, or, in the city of Brooklyn, the commissioners of charities and correction, who shall forthwith take proper measures for the determination of the question of the insanity of such person. § 69. Patients admitted under special agreement. The managers of a state hospital may authorize the superintendent to admit thereto, under special agreement, insane patients, who are residents of the state, other than poor and indigent insane persons, when there is room for such insane therein. But no patient shall be permitted to occupy more than one room in any state hospital, nor shall any patient, his friends or relatives, be permitted to pay for his care and treatment therein a sum greater than ten dollars a week. Such patients, when so received, shall be subject to the general rules and regulations of the hospital. The amount agreed upon for the maintenance of such insane persons in a state hospital, shall be secured by a properly executed bond, and bills therefor shall be collected monthly. (As amended by chap. 380 of 1900.) § 70. Entries in case book. - Every superintendent or other person in charge of an institution for the care and treatment of the insane, shall, within three days after the reception of a patient, make, or cause to be made, a descriptive entry of such He shall case in a book exclusively set apart for that purpose. also make or cause to be made entries from time to time, of the mental state, bodily condition and medical treatment of such patient during the time such patient remains under his care, and in the event of the discharge or death of such person, he shall state in such case book the circumstances thereof, and make such other entries at such intervals of time and in such form as may be required by the commission. § 71. Transfer of patients when hospital is overcrowded.— When the building of any state hospital shall become overcrowded with patients, or the number of buildings shall be reduced by fire, or other casualties, or for other cause, the commission may, in its discretion, cause the transfer of patients therefrom, or direct that patients required to be sent thereto, be transferred to another state hospital, where they can be conveniently received, or make, in special emergencies, temporary provision for their care, preference to be given in such transfers to a hospital in an adjoining rather than in a remote district. The expenses of such transfer shall be chargeable to the state, and the bills for the same, when approved by the commission, shall be paid by the treasurer of the state, on the warrant of the comptroller, out of any moneys provided for the support of the insane. -- 72. Investigation into the care and treatment of the insane. When the commission has reason to believe that any person adjudged insane is wrongfully deprived of his liberty, or is cruelly, negligently or improperly treated, or inadequate provision is made for his skillful medical care, proper supervision and safe keeping, it may ascertain the facts, or may order an investigation of the facts by one of its members. It, or the commissioner conducting the proceeding, may issue compulsory process for the attendance of witnesses and the production of papers, and exercise the powers conferred upon a referee in the supreme court. If the commission deem it proper, it may issue an order directed to any or all institutions, directing and providing for such remedy or treatment, or both, as shall be therein specified. If such order be just and reasonable, and be approved by a justice of the supreme court, who may require notice to be given of the application for such approval, it shall be binding upon any and all institutions and persons to which it is directed, and any willful disobedience of such order shall be a criminal contempt and punishable as such. Whenever the commission shall under Commitment, Custody and Discharge. $$ 73-74 take an investigation into the general management and adminis tration or any institution for the insane, it may give notice to the attorney-general of any such investigation, and the attorneygeneral shall appear personally or by deputy and examine witnesses who may be in attendance. The commission, or any member thereof, may at any time visit and examine the inmates of any county or city alms-house, to ascertain if insane persons are kept therein. § 73. Habeas corpus.-Any one in custody as an insane person is entitled to a writ of habeas corpus, upon a proper application made by him or some friend in his behalf. Upon the return of such writ, the fact of his insanity shall be inquired into and determined. The medical history of the patient, as it appears in the case book, shall be given in evidence, and the superintendent or medical officer in charge of the institution wherein such person is held in custody, and any proper person, shall be sworn touching the mental condition of such person. § 74. Discharge of patients.-The superintendent of a state hospital, on filing his written certificate with the secretary of the board of managers, may discharge any patient, except one held upon an order of a court or judge having criminal jurisdiction in an action or proceeding arising out of a criminal offense at any time, as follows: 1. A patient who, in his judgment, is recovered. 2. Any patient who is not recovered but whose discharge, in the judgment of the superintendent, will not be detrimental to the public welfare, or injurious to the patient; provided, however, that before making such certificate, the superintendent shall satisfy himself, by sufficient proof, that friends or relatives of the patient are willing and financially able to receive and properly care for such patient after his discharge. When the superintendent is unwilling to certify to the discharge of an unrecovered patient upon request, and so certifies in writing, giving his reasons therefor, any judge of a court of record in the judicial district in which the hospital is situated may, upon such certifi cate and an opportunity of a hearing thereon being accorded the superintendent, and upon such other proofs as may be produced before him, direct, by order, the discharge of such patient, upon such security to the people of the state as he may require, for the good behavior and maintenance of the patient. The certificate and the proof and the order granted thereon shall be filed in the clerk's office of the county in which the hospital is situated, and a certified copy of the order in the hospital from which the patient is discharged. The superintendent may grant a parole to a patient not exceeding thirty days, under general conditions prescribed by the commission. The commission may, by order, discharge any patient in its judgment improperly detained in any institution. A poor and indigent patient discharged by the superintendent, because he is an idiot, or an epileptic, not insane, or because he is not a proper case for treatment within the meaning of this chapter, shall be received and cared for, by the superintendent of the poor or other authority having similar powers, in the county from which he was committed. A patient, held upon an order of a court or judge having criminal jurisdiction, in an action or proceeding arising from a criminal offense, may be discharged upon the superintendent's certificate of recovery, approved by any such court or judge. § 75. Clothing and money to be furnished discharged patients. -No patient shall be discharged from a state hospital without suitable clothing adapted to the season in which he is dis charged; and if it cannot be otherwise obtained, the steward shall, upon the order of the superintendent, furnish the same, and money not exceeding twenty-five dollars, to defray his necessary expenses until he can reach his relatives or friends, or find employment to earn a subsistence. § 76. Transfer of nonresident patients.-If an order be issued by any judge, committing to a state hospital a poor or indigent person, who has not acquired a legal settlement in this state, the commission in lunacy shall return such insane person, either before or after his admission to a state hospital, to the country or state to which he belongs, and for such purpose may expend so much of the money appropriated for the care of the insane as may be necessary, subject to the audit of the comptroller. 877. Insane Indians.-Poor and indigent insane Indians liv. ing within this state or upon any of the Indian reservations shall be committed to, confined in, and discharged from the state hospitals for the insane in the same manner and under the same rules and regulations as other poor and indigent insane persons; and all the provisions of this chapter shall apply to the Indians residing within this state the same as to other persons. State Hospital for Insane Criminals. $$ 90-93 ARTICLE IV. STATE HOSPITAL FOR INSANE CRIMINALS. SECTION 90. Establishment and purposes of the Matteawan State hospital. 91. Medical superintendent. 92. Medical superintendent as treasurer of the hospital. 93. Salaries of resident officers. 94. Powers and duties of medical superintendent and assistants. 96. Power of removal. 97. Transfer of insane convicts to the Matteawan State hospital. 98. Disposal of insane convicts after expiration of term of imprison ment. 99. Convicts on recovery, to be transferred to prison. 100. Certificate of conviction to be delivered to medical superintend ent and copy filed. 101. Transfer of state hospital to Matteawan State hospital. 102. Authority to recover for the support of patients. 103. Tenure of office. 104. Communications with patients. $90. Establishment and purposes of the Matteawan State 1904 hospital. The grounds, buildings and property located at .525. Matteawan, in the county of Dutchess, and used for the purposes of the hospital for insane criminals, are hereby declared to be the Matteawan State hospital, to be used for the purpose of holding in custody and caring for such insane persons as may be committed to the said institution by courts of criminal jurisdiction, and for such convicted persons who may be declared insane while undergoing sentence at any of the various penal institutions of the state. § 91. Medical superintendent.—The superintendent of state prisons shall, whenever there is a vacancy, appoint a medical superintendent for the Matteawan State hospital, who shall be a well-educated physician of at least five years' actual experience in a hospital for the care and treatment of the insane. The superintendent of state prisons, subject to the approval of the state commission in lunacy, shall make by-laws and regulations for the government of the hospital and the management of its affairs. § 92. Medical superintendent as treasurer of the hospital.— The medical superintendent shall be the treasurer of the hospital, and before entering upon his duties, shall file with the comptroller of the state his undertaking to the people with |