policy of the Department and appoints the executive personnel of
the institutions upon the recommendation of the Superintendent
of Prisons (Code 1955 supp., Art. 27, secs. 754, 756A).

The Department supervises and operates the State Use Industries
which provides employment for the prisoners in the various penal
institutions. 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 re-
ligious and charitable institutions providing the goods are for their
own use and not for resale. In addition to the State Use Industries,
employment of prisoners is also provided in the public works pro-
gram of the State. The earnings of the prisoners are credited to
their respective institutional accounts and certain expenditures are
permitted during their incarceration, and the balance is payable to
them upon release.

The Division of Classification and Education of the Department
of Correction supervises the classification 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, as well as the educational functions.

The Department of Correction is further responsible for conduct-
ing an annual inspection of the county jails in Maryland and makes
recommendations for their improvement (Code 1961, Art. 27, sec. 789).

Appropriations 1955 1956
General Fund ................................ $66,935 $72,540
Staff: 11

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.