Chapter 2556. To regulate enlistments and punishments in the United States Revenue-Cutter Service
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CHAP. 2556.— An Act To regulate enlistments and punishments in the United States Revenue-Cutter Service. May 26, 1906. [[S. 4129](/us/bill/34/s/4129).] [[Public, No. 178](/us/pl/34/178).] *Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled*, Revenue-Cutter Service.Regulations governing enlistments and punishments. That all persons composing the enlisted force of the Revenue-Cutter Service shall be enlisted for a term not to exceed three years, in the discretion of the Secretary of the Treasury, who shall prepare regulations governing such enlistments and for the general government of the Service.
Sec. 2. Punishments by commander.Of officers.That no commander of a vessel of the Revenue-Cutter Service shall inflict upon any commissioned or warrant officer under his command any other punishment than private reprimand, suspension from duty, arrest, or confinement, and such suspension, arrest, or confinement shall not continue longer than ten days, unless a further Of other persons.period be necessary to bring the offender to trial: nor shall he inflict or cause to be inflicted upon any other person under his command for a single offense, or at any one time, any other punishment than confinement, with or without single irons, on board ship; confinement, on bread and water, with or without single irons, on board ship: deprivation of liberty on shore for a period not exceeding three months: extra duties, and, in case of absence without leave falling short of desertion, forfeiture of two days’ pay for each day of unauthorized *Provisos.*Confinement.absence: *Provided,* That such confinement shall not continue, longer than ten days, unless further confinement be necessary to bring the offender to trial, and, when on bread and water, a full ration shall be Records.served every third day: *Provided.* That all punishments inflicted by the commander or by his order, except reprimand, shall be fully entered upon the ship’s log.
Sec. 3. Trials by Revenue Cutter Service courts.That offenses against the discipline of the Revenue-Cutter Service too grave in character to be adequately dealt with directly by the commanding officer, as hereinbefore provided, may be punished by Revenue-Cutter Service courts, to be convened by or under the Composition.direction of the Secretary of the Treasury. Such courts shall consist of not less than three commissioned officers of the Revenue-Cutter Service, and shall, under rules approved by the Secretary of the Treasury. be governed in their organization and procedure substantially in accordance with naval courts, but the jurisdiction of Revenue-Cutter Service courts List of offensesshall be limited to the following offenses, namely:
Disobeying lawful order of superior officer, refusing to obey lawful order of superior officer; striking, assaulting, or attempting or threatening to strike or assault a superior officer while in the execution of the duties of his office; drunkenness on duty; drunkenness; gambling: misappropriation of mess funds; misuse of Government property or supplies: fraudulently signing vouchers; theft in an amount under one hundred dollars; scandalous conduct tending to the destruction of good morals; desertion; absence from duty without leave or after leave has expired; neglect of duty; conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman; malicious or willful destruction of public property; aiding or enticing others to desert; smuggling liquor on board a vessel of the Revenue- Cutter Service; cruelty toward or oppression or maltreatment of any subordinate person in the Service; using obscene or abusive language; violating or refusing obedience to any lawful order or regulation Punishments.Of officers.issued by the Secretary of the Treasury or the President.
Such courts shall have power to impose upon a commissioned officer none other than the following punishments, namely: Summary dismissal from the Service: suspension from duty for a period of two years or any part thereof upon reduced pay, which shall in no case be less than one-half nor more than three-fourths of the duty pay of such officer; reduction of rank in his own grade: retention of his present number on the official register for a specified time; impris-201onment for a period not to exceed two years; official reprimand.
TheOf other persons. only punishments that may be imposed by such courts upon any person in the Revenue-Cutter Service other than a commissioned officer shall he the following, namely: Dishonorable discharge; forfeiture of not to exceed two months’ pay; imprisonment on land for a period not to exceed one year; confinement aboard ship not to exceed one month; confinement in single irons, on bread and water, or on diminished rations, not exceeding thirty days, but a full ration shall in all cases be given at least every third day; confinement in single irons; reduction to next inferior rating: deprivation of liberty for a period not to exceed three months; extra duties, and the imposing of these punishments will be regulated in accordance with rules prescribed by the Secretary of the Treasury.
A commissioned officer of the saidProsecutor. Service may be designated by the convening authority as official prosecutor to prosecute the case in the interests of the Government, and whose general powers and duties will be prescribed by the Secretary of the Treasury. The proceedings, findings, and sentences of Revenue-CutterReview, etc. Service courts shall be subject to review by the Secretary of the Treasury. as the convening authority, and the records of such courts shall be filed in the division of Revenue-Cutter Service, Treasury Department, and no sentence of such court shall be carried into effect until approved by the said Secretary: *Provided,* That in the case*Proviso.*Sentence of dismissal. of a commissioned officer a sentence of dismissal shall not be carried into effect until approved by the President of the United States.
Sec. 4. That the Secretary of the Treasury may designate, as thePlace of punishment. place of execution of the sentence of a Revenue-Cutter Service court involving imprisonment, any prison or penitentiary that receives Federal prisoners. Sec. 5. That it shall be lawful for the commanding officer of a vesselArrests, etc., for desertion. of the Revenue-Cutter Service to apprehend and arrest or cause to be apprehended and arrested, by the force under his command, a deserter from the Revenue-Cutter Service wherever found, and shall have authority to call upon all persons to assist in such arrests, and all persons so assisting are hereby invested with the power and authority of deputy United States marshals, and shall deliver the offender on board of the vessel from which he deserted: *Provided,* That a reward*Provisos.*Rewards. for the apprehension and delivery of a deserter from the Revenue- Cutter Service, as hereinbefore provided, not to exceed fifteen dollars, may be offered by the commanding officer of the vessel from which the person deserted, and this reward, or any part thereof, may be deducted and paid from money due said deserter: *Provided.* That noReenlistment, etc. of deserters. person who has deserted from the Revenue-Cutter Service shall afterwards be employed in said Service, or enlisted in any other military or naval service under the United States, unless he shall have delivered himself aboard the vessel from which he deserted, or been apprehended, and the disability shall have been removed by a board of commissioned officers of the said Service convened for a consideration of the case, and the action of the said board shall have been approved by the Secretary of the Treasury.
Sec. 6. That the jurisdiction conferred by this Act for the punishmentJurisdiction of civil authorities. of offenses against the discipline of the Revenue-Cutter Service shall not be regarded as exclusive, but offenders may, in the discretion of the Secretary of the Treasury, be turned over to the civil authorities for trial by any court having jurisdiction of the offense. Sec. 7. That for offenses against the laws of the United States otherProsecution of other offenses. than those specified in this Act, offenders shall be turned over to the civil authorities for trial.
Approved, May 26, 1906.