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prisoner; and that every person may know the true bounds of said rules, they shall be recorded in the county records, and the marks thereof shall be renewed as occasion may require.

Code, s. 3466; R. C., c. 87, s. 11; 1741, c. 33, s. 3.

1340. Bonds returned to court. Every bond taken of any person confined for an offense, or otherwise than on process issuing in a civil case, shall be returned to the court by whose order or process such person is confined, or which may be entitled to cognizance of the matter, and shall be of the force and effect of a recognizance; and on breach thereof shall be forfeited, and shall be collected as a forfeiture, in the name and for the use of the state, and applied as other forfeited recognizances.

Code, s. 3467; R. C., c. 87, s. 12.

1341. Bond on capias in civil action. Every bond given by any person committed in arrest and bail, or in custody after final judgment, shall be assigned by the sheriff to the party at whose instance such person was committed to jail, and shall be returned to the office of the clerk of the court where the judgment was rendered, and shall have the force of a judgment; and if any person, who shall obtain the rules of any prison, as aforesaid, shall escape out of the same, before he shall have paid the debt or damages and costs according to the condition of his bond, the court where the bond is filed, upon motion of the assignee thereof, shall award execution against such person and his sureties for the debt or damages and costs, with interest from the time of escape till payment; and no person committed to jail on such execution shall be allowed the rules of prison: Provided, the obligors have ten days' previous notice of such motion, in writing; but they shall not be admitted to deny the making of the bond in their answer, unless by affidavit they prove the truth of the plea.

Code, s. 3469; R. C., c. 87, s. 14; 1759, c. 65. ss. 2, 3.

II. PRISONERS KEPT AND CARED FOR.

1342. United States prisoners kept. When a prisoner shall be delivered to the keeper of any jail by the authority of the United States, such keeper shall receive the prisoner, and commit him accordingly; and every keeper of a jail refusing or neglecting to take possession of a prisoner delivered to him by the authority aforesaid, shall be subject to the same pains and penalties as for neglect or refusal to commit any prisoner delivered to him under the authority of the state. And the allowance for the maintenance of any pris

oner committed as aforesaid shall be equal to that made for prisoners committed under the authority of the state.

Code, s. 3456; R. C., c. 87, s. 1; 1790, c. 322, ss. 1, 2.

1343. Jailer to cleanse jail, furnish food and water. The sheriff or keeper of any jail shall, every day, cleanse the room of the prison in which any prisoner shall be confined, and cause all filth to be removed therefrom; and shall also furnish the prisoner plenty of good and wholesome water, three times in every day; and shall furnish each prisoner fuel, not less than one pound of wholesome bread, one pound of good roasted or boiled flesh, and every necessary attend

ance.

Code, s. 3464; R. C., c. 87, s. 9; 1816, c. 911, s. 2.

1344. May purchase necessaries. Prisoners shall be allowed to purchase and procure such necessaries, in addition to the diet furnished by the jailer, as they may think proper; and to provide their own bedding, linen and clothing, without paying any perquisite to the jailer for such indulgence.

Code, s. 3463; R. C., c. 87, s. 8; 1795, c. 433, s. 6.

Note. Jailer injuring prisoner liable for treble damages and guilty of misdemeanor, see s. 3661.

1345. Escape apprehended, guard; compensation. Whenever the sheriff of the county, or keeper of the jail, shall apprehend that there is danger of a prisoner escaping, through the insufficiency of the jail or other cause, it shall be his duty, without delay, to make information thereof to a judge of the superior court, the attorney general, or a solicitor, if any of those officers be in the county, and if not, then to three justices of the peace, and they are authorized, if they deem it advisable, to furnish the sheriff or keeper of the jail with an order in writing, addressed to the commanding officer of the militia of the county, setting forth the danger, and requiring him forthwith to furnish such guard as to him may appear to be suitable for the occasion. For which service the persons ordered on guard shall receive such compensation as militiamen in actual service for defense of the state; and on application for pay, the letter to the commanding officer, on which the guard was ordered, and the certificate of such officer, countersigned by the sheriff or jailer, together with the deposition of the officer of the guard, stating the time of service, and that it was faithfully performed, shall be sufficient to authorize the payment of the same.

Code, s. 3460; R. C., c. 87, s. 5; 1795, c. 433, s. 8.

1346. Prisoners to pay charges. Every person committed by lawful authority, for any criminal offense or misdemeanor, shall bear all reasonable charges for guarding and carrying him to jail,

and also for his support therein until released; and all the estate which such person possessed at the time of committing the offense shall be subjected to the payment of such charges and other prison fees, in preference to all other debts and demands; and if there be no visible estate whereon to levy such fees and charges, the amount shall be paid by the county.

Code, s. 3461; R. C., c. 87, s. 6; 1795, c. 433, s. 7.

1347. Guarding and removing, by what county paid. The expense for guarding prisons shall be paid by the county wherein the prison is situated; and for conveying prisoners, as also the expense attending such prisoners while in jail, when the same may be chargeable on the county, shall be paid by the county from which the prisoner is removed.

Code, s. 3462; R. C., c. 87, s. 7; 1808, c. 757, s. 2.

1348. Transferred to successor by indenture. The delivery of prisoners, by indenture between the late and present sheriff, or the entering on record in court the names of the several prisoners, and the causes of their commitment, delivered over to the present sheriff, shall be sufficient to discharge the late sheriff from all liability for any escape that shall happen.

Code, s. 3470; R. C., c. 87, s. 15; 1777, c. 118, s. 12.

III. OF ADJOINING COUNTY USED.

1349. By ministerial officers, when. The sheriffs, constables, and other ministerial officers of any county, in which there may be no jail, shall have authority to confine any prisoner arrested on process, civil or criminal, and held in custody for want of bail, in the jail of any adjoining county, until bail be given or tendered. And any sheriff or jailer having a prisoner in his custody, by virtue of any mode of commitment provided in this chapter, shall be liable, civilly and criminally, for his escape, in the same manner as if such prisoner had been confined in the prison of his proper county.

Code, s. 3459; R. C., c. 87, s. 4; 1835, c. 2, s. 3.

1350. When no jail, or jail unsafe. Whenever it shall happen that there shall be no jail, or an unfit or insecure jail, in any county, the superior court judges, justices of the peace, and all judicial officers of such county may commit all persons who may be brought before them, whether in a criminal or civil proceeding, to the jail of any adjoining county, for the same causes, and under the like regulations that they might have ordered commitments to the usual jail; and the sheriffs, constables, and other officers of such county,

in which there may be no jail, or an unfit one, and the sheriffs or keepers of the jails of the adjoining counties, shall obey any order of commitment so made.

Code, s. 3458; R. C., c. 87, s. 3; 1835, c. 2, s. 2.

Note. Failure to obey order of commitment, see s. 3603.

1351. When jail destroyed. Whenever the jail of any county shall be destroyed by fire or other accident, any justice of the peace of such county may cause all prisoners who may then be confined therein to be brought before him; and upon the production of the process, under which any prisoner was confined, shall order his commitment to the jail of any adjacent county; and the sheriff, constable or other officer of the county, deputed for that purpose, shall obey the order; and the sheriff or keeper of the common jail of such adjacent county shall receive such prisoners upon the order aforesaid.

Code, s. 3457; R. C., c. 87, s. 2; 1835, c. 2, s. 1.

IV. FARMING OUT PRISONERS.

1352. Counties and towns may. The board of commissioners of the several counties, within their respective jurisdictions, or such other county authorities therein as may be established, and the mayor and intendant of the several cities and towns of the state, shall have power to provide under such rules and regulations as they may deem best for the employment on the public streets, public highways, public works, or other labor for individuals or corporations, of all persons imprisoned in the jails of their respective counties, cities and towns, upon conviction of any crime or misdemeanor, or who may be committed to jail for failure to enter into bond for keeping the peace or for good behavior, and who fail to pay all the costs which they are adjudged to pay, or to give good and sufficient security therefor: Provided, such prisoner or convict shall not be detained beyond the time fixed by the judgment of the court: Provided further, the amount realized from hiring out such persons shall be credited to them for the fine and bill of costs in all cases of conviction: Provided also, it shall not be lawful to farm out any such convicted person who may be imprisoned for the nonpayment of a fine, or as punishment imposed for the offense of which he may have been convicted, unless the court before whom the trial is had shall in its judgment so authorize.

Code, s. 3448; 1866-7, c. 30; 1872-3, c. 174, s. 10; 1874-5, c. 113; 1876-7, c. 196, s. 1; 1879, c. 218.

1353. Party hiring may prevent escape. The party in whose service said convicts may be, may use the necessary means to hold and keep them in custody, and to prevent their escape.

Code, s. 3454; 1876-7, c. 196, s. 3.

1354. Sheriff has control. All convicts hired or farmed out by the county or other municipal authorities shall at all times be under the supervision and control, as to their government and discipline, of the sheriff, or his deputy, of the county in which they were convicted and imprisoned, and the sheriff, or his deputy, shall be deemed a state officer for the purpose of this section. Code, s. 3453; 1876-7, c. 196, s. 2.

V. CONVICTS ON PUBLIC ROADS.

1355. What convicts so sentenced. When any county has made provision for the working of convicts upon the public roads, or when any number of counties have jointly made provision for working convicts upon the public roads, it shall be lawful for, and the duty of the judge holding court in such counties, to sentence to imprisonment at hard labor on the public roads for such terms as are now prescribed by law for their imprisonment in the county jail or in the state's prison, the following classes of convicts: First, all persons convicted of offenses the punishment whereof would otherwise be wholly, or in part, imprisonment in the common jail; second, all persons convicted of crimes the punishment whereof would otherwise wholly or in part be imprisonment in the state's prison for a term not exceeding ten years. In such counties there may also be worked on the public roads, in like manner, all persons sentenced to imprisonment in jail by any magistrate, and also all insolvents who shall be imprisoned by any court in said counties for nonpayment of costs in criminal causes may be retained in imprisonment and worked on the public roads until they shall have repaid the county to the extent of the half fees charged up against the county for each person taking the insolvent oath. The rate of compensation to be allowed each insolvent for work on the public roads shall be fixed by the county commissioners at a just and fair compensation, regard being had to the amount of work of which each insolvent is capable.

1887, c. 355; 1889, c. 419.

1356. Under control of county authorities. The convicts sentenced to hard labor upon the public roads, under the provisions of the preceding section, shall be under the control of the county authorities, and the county authorities shall have power to enact

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