Pennsylvania Act 1869-66 — BOARD OF PUBLIC CHARITIES

Act text

BOARD OF PUBLIC CHARITIES
                  Act of Apr. 24, 1869, P.L. 90, No. 66               Cl. 67
                                  AN ACT

     To create a Board of Public Charities.

        Section 1.  Commissioners; appointment by Governor
        The Governor, with the advice and consent of the Senate,
     shall, as soon as practicable after the passage of this act,
     appoint five commissioners, who, together with the general agent
     and secretary hereinafter mentioned, shall constitute a board of
     public charities; one of the persons so appointed shall hold
     office for one year, one for two years, one for three years, one
     for four years, and one for five years, unless sooner removed;
     appointments to fill vacancies caused by death, resignation or
     removal before the expiration of terms, may be made for the
     residue of such terms, by the governor, subject to the consent
     of the senate, and all appointments to fill vacancies caused by
     expiration of terms shall be made in the same manner, and shall
     be for the period of five years each.  1869, April 24, P.L. 90,
     Sec. 1.
        Section 2.  Oath of commissioners
        The commissioners, before entering upon their duties, shall
     respectively take and subscribe the oath required of other state
     officers, which shall be filed in the office of the Secretary of
     the Commonwealth, who is hereby authorized and directed to
     administer said oath; they shall have power to elect a president
     out of their own number, to appoint a general agent and
     secretary, and to adopt such regulations for the transaction of
     the business of the board and the management of its affairs as
     they may deem expedient.  1869, April 24, P.L. 90, Sec. 2.
        Section 3.  Meetings
        The said board shall be provided with a suitable room in the
     State Capitol, in which it shall hold its meetings, and it shall
     meet therein at least once in every three months; the time for
     such regular meetings to be fixed at the time of its
     organization; the commissioners shall receive no compensation
     for their services but their actual traveling and other
     necessary expenses, which shall be paid by the State Treasurer
     upon the certificate of the Auditor General.  1869, April 24,
     P.L. 90, Sec. 3.
        Section 4.  Officer; term; duties; salary
        The general agent and secretary of the board of public
     charities shall hold his office for three years, unless sooner
     removed; he shall be a member of the board ex-officio; and it
     shall be his duty to cause a correct record of its proceedings
     to be kept, oversee and conduct its out-door business, visit all
     charitable, penal, reformatory, and correctional institutions in
     the state at least once in each year, except as hereinafter
     provided, and as much oftener as the board may direct; he shall
     prepare a series of interrogatories, with the necessary
     accompanying blanks, to the several institutions of charity,
     reform, and correction in the state, and to those having charge
     of the poor in the several counties thereof, or any subdivision
     of the same, with a view to illustrate in his annual report the
     causes and best treatment of pauperism and crime, and shall have
     free access to all reports and returns now required by law to be
     made; and he may also propose, for the approval of the board,
     such general investigations as he may think best.  He shall be
     paid annually the sum of five thousand dollars ($5,000), and his
     additional traveling expenses. 1869, April 24, P.L. 90, Sec. 4;
     1913, May 1, P.L. 149, Sec. 1.
        Section 5.  Power
        The said commissioners shall have full power, either by
     themselves or the general agents, at all times to look into and
     examine the condition of all charitable, reformatory, or
     correctional institutions within the State, financially and
     otherwise; to inquire and examine into their methods of
     instruction, the government and management of their inmates, the
     official conduct of trustees, directors, and other officers and
     employees of the same; the condition of the buildings, grounds,
     and other property connected therewith, and into all other
     matters pertaining to their usefulness and good management; and
     for these purposes they shall have free access to the grounds,
     buildings, and all books and papers relating to said
     institutions; and all persons now or hereafter connected with
     the same are hereby directed and required to give such
     information, and afford such facilities for inspection, as the
     said commissioners may require; and any neglect or refusal on
     the part of any officer or person connected with such
     institution to comply with any of the requirements of this act
     shall subject the offender to a penalty of one hundred dollars
     ($100.00), to be sued for and collected by the general agent in
     the name of the board. The commissioners shall also have power
     to employ such experts, clerks, stenographers, and other
     employees of all kinds as the business of the board of public
     charities and that of the committee on lunacy may require.
        Whenever, upon the examination of any jail, prison,
     penitentiary, or almshouse, any condition shall be found to
     exist therein which, in the opinion of said commissioners, is
     unlawful or detrimental to the proper maintenance, discipline,
     and hygienic condition of such institution, or to the proper
     care, maintenance, and custody of the inmates therein the said
     commissioners shall have power to make such recommendation to
     the warden, inspectors, trustees, sheriff, commissioners,
     overseers of the poor, or other officer or officers charged by
     law with the government of such institution, as said
     commissioners may deem necessary and proper to correct the said
     objectionable condition; and in case of the neglect, failure, or
     refusal of such officer or officers to comply with such
     recommendation, or in case of his or their failure to make such
     attempt to comply therewith as shall be satisfactory to the said
     commissioners, within ninety days from the date of service of
     said recommendation upon them, the said commissioners shall
     certify the facts in the case, together with their
     recommendation, to the district attorney of the proper county,
     whose duty it shall be thereupon to proceed, by indictment or
     otherwise, to remedy the said objectionable condition.  1869,
     April 24, P.L. 90, Sec. 5., 1913, May 1, P.L. 149, Sec. 2.
        Section 6.  Visitation of institutions
        The said commissioners, themselves or their general agent,
     are hereby authorized and required, at least once in each year,
     to visit all the charitable and correctional institutions of the
     State receiving State aid, and ascertain whether the moneys
     appropriated for their aid are or have been economically and
     judiciously expended; whether the objects of the several
     institutions are accomplished; whether the laws in relation to
     them are fully complied with; whether all parts of the State are
     equally benefited by them, and the various other matters
     referred to in the fifth section of this act; and in their
     annual report to the Legislature, to embody the result of their
     investigations, together with such other information and
     recommendations as they may deem proper.  1869, April 24, P.L.
     90, Sec. 6.
        Section 7.  Prisons and almshouses to be visited by general
     agent
        The said board shall also require their general agent, at
     least once in every two years, to visit and examine into the
     condition of each of the city and county jails or prisons and
     alms or poor-houses, and shall possess all the powers relative
     thereto, mentioned in the fifth section of this act, and shall
     report to the legislature the result of the examination, in
     connection with the annual report authorized by this act. 1869,
     April 24, P.L. 90, Sec. 7.
        Section 8.  Reports by persons having charge of poor; notice
     of application for State aid; penalty for violations
        It shall be the duty of all persons having charge or
     oversight over the poor in any city or county of this State, or
     in any subdivision thereof, and all persons having charge or
     control of county jails or prisons or workhouses, and all other
     persons having charge or control over any other charitable,
     reformatory, or correctional institution, not now by law
     required to make an annual report of the condition of the same,
     to make report annually to the said commissioners at such time,
     upon such form, and in such manner, as they may prescribe, of
     such facts and statements concerning the same as they may
     require; and all charitable, reformatory, and correctional
     institutions now required by law to make annual reports shall
     hereafter make and transmit the same to the said commissioners,
     on or before the first day of September in each year; and all
     such institutions now receiving or that may hereafter desire to
     receive State aid shall annually give notice to said
     commissioners, on or before the first day in September in each
     year, of the amount of any application for State aid which they
     may propose to make, and of the several purposes to which such
     aid, if granted, is to be applied.  Any neglect or refusal on
     the part of any person having charge or oversight over the poor,
     or on the part of any person having charge or control over any
     jail, prison, workhouse, or charitable, reformatory or
     correctional institution, to make the report required by this
     act, or otherwise required by law, shall subject the offender to
     a penalty of one hundred dollars ($100.00), to be sued for and
     collected by the general agent in the name of the board.
        The commissioners may prescribe to all institutions receiving
     State aid a method of keeping their books; and the commissioners
     shall make no recommendation for the allowance of State aid to
     any such institution which shall not adopt said system.  1869,
     April 24, P.L. 90, Sec. 8; 1913, May 1, P.L. 149, Sec. 3.
        Section 9.  Inquiry into ground of request for State aid
        Whenever any such institution shall thus give notice of
     asking for State aid, the commissioners shall inquire carefully
     into the ground of such request, the purpose or purposes for
     which the aid is asked, the amount which will be required, and
     into any matters connected therewith; and in the annual report
     the result of such inquiries shall be given, together with the
     opinions and conclusions of the board thereon.  1869, April 24,
     P.L. 90, Sec. 9; 1913, May 1, P.L. 149, Sec. 4.
        Section 10.  Administration of oaths
        The several members of said board are each hereby authorized
     to administer oaths, in examining any person or persons relative
     to any matters connected with the inquiries authorized by this
     act.  1869, April 24, P.L. 90, Sec. 10.
        Section 11.  No member to be personally interested in any
     contract
        No member of said board shall be interested directly or
     indirectly in any contract for building, repairing or furnishing
     any institution, which by this act they or any one of them are
     authorized to visit or inspect; nor shall any trustee or other
     officer of any of the institutions embraced in this act, be
     eligible to the office of commissioner or general agent hereby
     created.  1869, April 24, P.L. 90, Sec. 11.
        Section 12.  Full report to be printed annually
        The board of public charities shall annually prepare and
     print, for the use of the legislature, a full and complete
     report of all their doings during the year preceding, stating
     fully in detail all expenses incurred, all officers and agents
     employed, with a report of the general agent and secretary,
     embracing all the respective proceedings and expenses during the
     year, and showing the actual condition of all charitable and
     correctional institutions within the state, with such
     suggestions as the board may deem necessary and pertinent; and
     the said general agent and secretary is hereby authorized to
     prepare the necessary blanks, and forward the same, in good
     season, to all institutions from whom information or returns may
     be needed, and to require a prompt return of the same, with the
     blanks properly filled.  1869, April 24, P.L. 90, Sec. 12.