The Board establishes the policy of the Department and appoints the
executive personnel of the institutions upon the recommendation of
the Superintendent of Prisons (Acts 1953, ch. 758).

The Department supervises and operates the State Use Industries
which provide employment for the prisoners in the various penal insti-
tutions. The goods manufactured in State Use Industries shops are for
sale to the various agencies of the State of Maryland, the Federal
Government, the District of Columbia, and the states and territories
of the United States as well as to the political sub-divisions thereof.
Manufactured products are also available to religious and charitable
institutions providing the goods are for their own use and not for
resale. In addition to the State Use Industries, employment of pris-
oners is also provided in the public works program of the State. The
earnings of the prisoners are credited to their account and are pay-
able to them upon release.

The Division of Classification of the Department of Correction,
under the direction of the Classification Director, supervises the classi-
fication at each of the institutions of the Department, collecting and
recording all necessary information and data concerning the prisoners
to enable the proper classifying of all inmates in accordance with their
abilities and in order to aid in their rehabilitation.

The Department of Correction is further responsible for conducting
an annual inspection of the county jails in Maryland and makes
recommendations for their improvement (Code 1951, Art. 27, sec. 789).

Appropriations 1953 1954
General Fund $49,567 $54,815

Staff: II.

MARYLAND PENITENTIARY

Vernon L. Pepersack, Warden
954 Forrest Street, Baltimore 2 Telephone: Vernon 7-2135

The concept of a central penitentiary for an entire state was a
creation of eighteenth-century humanitarianism in America. It was
original in form in that for the first time a penal institution was de-
signed to serve more than a single county, town. or parish, and it was
original in purpose in that it proposed to treat its inmates not as
enemies of society to be punished, but as penitents to be reformed.
With this concept in mind the General Assembly of Maryland, in 1804,
appointed a Commission to construct such an institution; however,
because of financial difficulties the Penitentiary was not completed and
opened until 1811; the second institution of its type in the United
States. The institution has operated continuously since the date of its
opening. During its first 100 years, the Penitentiary was governed by
a Board of Inspectors or a Board of Managers. With the establish-
ment of the Board of Prison Control (now the Board of Correction)
in 1917, the institution was placed under its control.

The Penitentiary is a maximum security penal institution and
long-term offenders are confined here. All sentences of death are
also executed at, the Penitentiary.

Prisoners are employed at the State Use Industries shops which
are designed to provide employment and practical vocational training.