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EDWARD LLOYD, ESQUIRE, GOVERNOR.
of nine, and one or more watchmen, if thought necessary by the
keeper, shall patrol the said penitentiary at least twice in every
hour, from that time until the return of the time of labour in the
morning of the next day. |
NOV. 1809.
CHAP. 138. |
49. AND BE IT ENACTED, That as soon as the
said penitentiary-house
shall be completed, or so far finished as to receive and securely
to hold criminals who may be condemned to labour therein, according
to the provisions of this act, the commissioners heretofore
appointed to superintend the erection of the said building shall immediately
report the same to the governor and council of this state;
and if, upon viewing the said building, or upon good information,
shall be satisfied that the said house is in sufficient readiness to carry
the said penitentiary institution into operation, they shall immediately
appoint a keeper and twelve inspectors of the said penitentiary,
the inspectors to continue in office until the next annual appointment
shall take place; and the said keeper and inspectors shall
proceed immediately to appoint proper assistants, procure materials,
and prepare all things for the reception and management of criminals,
according to the directions of this act; and the governor shall
thereupon issue his proclamation (a), and cause the same to be published
in such of the public news-papers as he may think proper,
declaring the said penitentiary-house ready of the reception of
criminals who may be condemned to work and labour therein, and
in thirty days from the date of the said proclamation, this act, and
every part thereof, shall commence and be in full force and effect,
until which time it shall be and is hereby suspended.
(a) The governor's proclamation,
under this section, issued on the 30th of
September 1811. |
Governor and
council to appoint
a keeper and 12
inspectors, as soon
as the penitentiary
house shall be finished,
&c. |
50. AND BE IT ENACTED, That all male criminals,
who, before
the commencement of this act (b), shall have been condemned to
serve and labour on the public roads of Baltimore county, or in
making, repairing or cleaning, the streets or basin of Baltimore-town,
and whose time of service and labour is unexpired, shall, at
the court of oyer and terminer and gaol delivery for Baltimore
county, next immediately after issuing the said proclamation, be
brought into the said court by the superintendent of the criminals,
and may openly pray the court to commute the judgment severally
pronounced against them to a confinement in the said penitentiary,
according to the directions in this act contained, during the residue
of the time for which such convict shall have been condemned
to serve and labour, and upon such prayer being entered on record,
the said court shall pronounce such commutation, and the same shall
be recorded, and the prisoner shall then be sent to the penitentiary,
and there detained for the residue of the time for which they are
respectively condemned.
(b) See 1811, ch. 2, and ch. 206. |
Criminals condemned
to the
roads may pray
the court to commute
the judgment
to confinement
in the penitentiary. |
51. AND BE IT ENACTED, That if any person
shall hereafter be
convicted of any crime committed before the passing of this act,
he or she shall be sentenced to undergo such pains and punishment
as by the laws now in force are prescribed and directed, unless such
convict shall openly pray the court, before whom such offender shall
be tried, that sentence may be pronounced agreeably to the provisions
of this act for the like offence, in which case the said court
shall comply with the said prayer, and pass such sentence on such |
Persons convicted
of crimes committed
before the
passing of this act
to be punished according
to laws
before in force. |
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