TIP #244 - KENTUCKY PENITENTIARIES In a previous tip I gave some information on the penitentiary system in Kentucky. In looking through the old law books that the early lawyers used, I came across an entire chapter covering this topic and some of it is extremely interesting. If we have a skeleton in our closet, this will give us a good idea of the life style of the poor and infamous! Chapter CXLV of the Kentucky statutes begins with the act that was passed in February of 1798, taken from 2 Litt. 18. Some of the points covered in this act includes the following: 1 - Penitentiaries are for the purpose of confining such males and females as shall have been convicted of the offences punishable with imprisonment and labor. 2 - Male and female prisoners were kept separate and apart from each other. 3 - After conviction in a county, the Sheriff was to remove them to the penitentiary as soon as possible. The prisoner was to remain there during the term of their confinement. 4 - Crimes which were found to be capital crimes, or a felony of death crime involved detailed reports created by "inspectors". 5 - In order to keep the prisoners from becoming ones of "contagious disorders", i. e, rioting, the prisoners were ordered to hard labor, and to be separated from the other prisoners. They had separate quarters, the prisoners were to be washed and cleaned, examined by a physician. Their original clothes were burned or fumigated and if the latter, kept until the sentence had been Fulfilled. 6 - Prison garb consisted of "habits of coarse materials, uniform in colour and make, and distinguishing them from the good citizens of this commonwealth." 7 - Male prisoners had their heads and beards closed shave at least once a week. 8 - Meals were to consist of bread, Indian meal or other inferior food. 9 - Prisoner's work schedules were, except if they were ill, to be every day of the week except Sunday. They were given ½ hour off for breakfast; an hour for dinner during the months of November, December and January, a total of eight hours off; they were allowed 9 hours daily of non-labor during the rest of the year. 10 - The only visitors allowed were: The penitentiary keeper, his deputies, servants, assistants, inspectors, officers, ministers of justice, members of the general assembly, misters of the gospel, persons producing a written license signed by one of the inspectors. The door of the cell was to be locked behind them; it was lights-out at 9 p.m. 11 - The cells were to be white-washed with lime and water at least once a year. The floor were to be washed every week or oftener. Prisoners could help in doing this, under the watchful eye of the guards. 12 - The infirmary was to be one of the "apartments" or cells. If a prisoner needed was ill, he was to be examined by a physician in the infirmary; his name entered in a register. As soon as the physician released the prisoner, he returned to his cell. 13 - Penitentiary keepers were appointed by the Governor and could be removed at any time. 14 - The county which contained a penitentiary were allowed to appoint six inspectors who served a term of 6 months (could vary). These inspectors had to meet in a special "apartment" at the penitentiary every three months and appointed one of them as acting inspector. 15 - The jail keeper, his deputies or assistants had to pay $30 if a prisoner escaped. Further regulations followed due to an act passed in December 1802. Better record keeping was adopted where every expense created by a prisoner had to be recorded. These expenses might include the cost of justices attending the court leading to conviction, the clerk's fee for recording same, the sheriff's fees for summoning witnesses, maintenance costs, guard costs, paying witnesses for their attendance, etc. 16 - In case of a break-out, the keeper and one of the inspectors immediately issued a warrant to all sheriffs and constables throughout the commonwealth which authorized the latter to apprehend the escapee. The individual returning the prisoner was entitled to a reward of up to $100. 17 - If a prisoner was serving a term in excess of one year, the wife of the prisoner was allowed to file for alimony in a court of chancery. During the time of his imprisonment, the children of the prisoner were considered orphans and were to have guardians appointed for them by the county court. 18 - During a prisoner's time of imprisonment, he could be sued. Any writ or subpoena was to be left with his wife, if applicable, at his former place of residence. 19 - A prisoner was allowed to write his will while in the penitentiary. The will was kept by the keeper and if he reached discharge, the will was returned to him. 20 - The keeper of the jail was allowed to hire up to 4 guards to patrol the facility; if a prisoner escaped during their patrol, the watchman was liable for a $40 fine unless he could prove that he did the best he could, had been overpowered, etc. When more legislation was passed in December of 1806: 21 - It became the responsibility of the keeper to purchase and administer medicine to ill prisoners unless he felt a physician needed to be called in. In February 1808, the prisoners were allowed a special privilege: 22 - The agent of the penitentiary house was authorized to provide the prisoners with tobacco which they had to earn by their hard labor. 23 - Prisoners were forced to make goods for resale. If there were goods left unsold, these could be sold outside the prison. This is an interesting look inside the prison walls ... quite a change to what is now provided to prisoners, at our cost, in the way of televisions, radios, books, exercise equipment .... (c) Copyright 27 May 1999, Sandra K. Gorin, All Rights Reserved. sgorin@glasgow-ky.com Col. Sandi Gorin 205 Clements,Glasgow, KY 42141 (270) 651-9114 PUBLISHING: http://members.delphi.com/gorin1/index.html SCKY: http://cgi.rootsweb.com/~genbbs/genbbs.cgi/USA/Ky/BarrenObits TIPS: http://cgi.rootsweb.com/~genbbs/genbbs.cgi/USA/Ky/Tips KYBIOS: http://cgi.rootsweb.com/~genbbs/genbbs.cgi/USA/Ky/Bios ARCHIVES: http://searches.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/listsearch.pl BARREN CO WEB PAGE: http://ww4.choice.net/~jimphp/barrenco/