Chapter 529.
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/statutes-at-large/vol-26/chapter-529-3525015·A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
CHAP. 529.— An act for the erection of United States prisons and for the imprisonment of United States prisoners, and for other purposes.March 3, 1891. *Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled*,United States prisons. Attorney General and Secretary of the Interior to purchase sites for three. That the Attorney General and Secretary of the Interior be, and are hereby, authorized and directed to purchase three sites, two of which shall be located as follows: one north, the other south of the thirty-ninth degree of north latitude and east of the Rocky Mountains, the third site to be locatedLocation. west of the Rocky Mountains, and the same to be located geographically as to be most easy of access to the different portions of the country, and cause to be erected thereon suitable buildingsBuildings. for the confinement of all persons convicted of any crime whose term of imprisonment is one year or more at hard labor by any court of the United States in any State, Territory, or District under the jurisdiction of the Department of Justice of the United States, and the plans, specifications, and estimates of such sites and buildingsPlans, etc. shall be previously made and approved according to law. andCost. shall not exceed the sum of five hundred thousand dollars each.
Sec. 2. That the sum of one hundred thousand dollars is furtherAppropriation for workshops. appropriated, to be expended under the direction of the Attorney General, in the fitting of workshops for the employment of the prisoners: *Provided, however*, That the convicts be employed exclusively*Proviso*. in the manufacture of such supplies for the Government asTo manufacture Government supplies. can be manufactured without the use of machinery, and the prisoners shall not be worked outside the prison enclosure.
Sec. 3. That the Attorney General and the Secretary of the InteriorAttorney General and Secretary of Interior to select locality. be, and are hereby, authorized to select the State. District, or Territory in which to locate and erect the prisons: *Provided*, That*Proviso*. Consent of authorities. the consent of the authorities of such State, District, or Territory be first obtained. Sec. 4. That the control and management of said prisons be vestedPrison officers, etc. in the Attorney-General, who shall have power to appoint a superintendent. assistant superintendent, warden, keeper, and all other officers necessary for the safekeeping, care, protection, and discipline of such United States prisoners.
He shall also have authority to Rules, etc.promulgate such rules for the government of the officials of said prisons and prisoners as he may deem proper and necessary. Sec. 5. That the transportation of all United States prisoners convictedTransportation of prisoners. of crimes against the laws of the United States in any State, District or Territory, and sentenced to terms of imprisonment in a 840FIFTY-FIRST CONGRESS. Sess. II. Chs. 529, 530. 1891. penitentiary, and their delivery to the superintendent, warden, or keeper of such United States prisons, shall be by the marshal of the District or Territory where such conviction may occur, after the Expenses.erection and completion of said prisons.
That the actual expenses of such marshal,including transportation and subsistence, hire, transportation and subsistence of guards, and the transportation and subsistence of the convict or convicts, be paid, on the approval of the Attorney General out of the judiciary fund. Sec. 6. That every prisoner when discharged from the jail andDischarged prisoners. Transportation home. prison shall be furnished with transportation to the place of his residence within the United States at the time of his commitment under sentence of the court, and if the term of his imprisonment shall have been for one year or more, he shall also be furnished with Clothing, etc.suitable clothing, the cost not to exceed twelve dollars, and five dollars in money.
Sec. 7. That this act shall not apply to minors, who, in the judgmentMinors not included. of the judges presiding over United States courts, should be *Proviso*.committed to reformatory institutions. *And provided*, That nothing in this act shall be construed as prohibiting the courts of the United States from sentencing to or confining prisoners, either civil Military prison.or military, in the United States military prison at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. Sec. 8. That the said Attorney General, in formulating rules andCommutation for good behavior. regulations for the conduct of said prisons, is hereby authorized to establish rules for commutation for good behavior of said convicts, but not for a longer time than two months for the first year’s imprisonment, and two months for each succeeding year.
Sec. 9. That the Attorney-General shall be authorized to designateDesignation of prisons. to which of said prisons persons convicted in such States or *Proviso*.Territories shall be carried for confinement: *Provided*, That in the construction of the prison buildings provided for in this act there shall be such arrangement of cells and yard space as that prisoners Separation of youthful prisoners.under twenty years of age shall not be in any way associated with prisoners above that age, and the management of the class under twenty years of age shall be as far as possible reformatory.
Approved, March 3, 1891.