2506 ARTICLE 59

An. Code, 1924, sec. 22. 1912, sec. 21. 1904, sec. 21. 1888, sec. 21. 1886, ch. 487, sec. 22.

1910, ch. 715, sec. 21 (p. 188).

24. It shall be mandatory upon the officers or others in charge of such
institutions under the supervision of the Board to furnish all informa-
tion that may be requested by said Board or its Chairman, and give
free access to any member thereof and to the Chairman of said Board
to visit the insane or feeble-minded in their keeping; any refusal to do
so on the part of anyone shall be a misdemeanor, punishable by fine or
imprisonment, in the discretion of the court in which the case may be
tried. Any member of the Board may visit any sanitarium or other insti-
tution where sick or infirm persons are received, cared for or treated, for
compensation or free, for the purpose of ascertaining whether insane per-
sons are confined therein without authority and contrary to the provisions
of the law. All persons having charge of and connected with any such
sanitarium or institution shall permit any member of the Board to have
full access to any portion thereof, and shall give such information and
afford such facilities for the inspection and inquiry as the member of the
Board making such visit may require.

An. Code, 1924, sec. 23. 1912, sec. 22. 1904, sec. 22. 1888, sec. 22. 1886, ch. 487, sec. 23.

1910, ch. 715, sec. 22 (p. 188).

25. The Board of Mental Hygiene is empowered by sections 17 to 19,
24 to 26, 28, 40 and 42 to 49 to issue compulsory process for the atten-
dance of witnesses and the production of papers, to administer oaths and
examine persons under oath, and exercise the same powers as belong to
a justice of the peace in all cases where, from evidence laid before them,
there is reason to believe that any person is wrongfully deprived of his or
her liberty, or had been cruelly, improperly or negligently treated in any
place or institution or almshouse; but in all cases in which said Board
shall take action or determine any question affecting any insane person
or persons supposed to be insane, or any institution in which such insane
or supposed insane person is confined, the managers of said institution
shall have the same right to appeal from said action or determination of
said Board as is now allowed by law in cases instituted before justices of
the peace of the State; the Board shall be empowered to present the offen-
ders before the grand jury of the city or county in which such offense may
have occurred.

An. Code, 1924, sec. 24. 1912, sec. 23. 1904, sec. 23. 1888, sec. 23. 1886, ch. 487, sec. 24.

1910, ch. 715, sec. 23 (p. 188).

26. The Board shall annually report to the governor in the month
of December its acts and proceedings; also a report of all the different
institutions, public and private, and whether corporate or under indi-
vidual management or control, including almshouses and county asylums
where the insane or feeble-minded are kept. The report shall include a
concise review of the work of the several institutions under the supervi-
sion of the Board for the year preceding, and such suggestions and recom-
mendations as to said institutions and as to the general interests of all
persons under its supervision as it considers expedient, and information
embodying the experience of this country and other countries relative to
the best and most successful methods of caring for such persons as come
under the supervision of the Board.