Section 7. The boards of inspectors of the State penitentiaries, and of the Pennsylvania Industrial Reformatory at Huntingdon, upon the request of a board of managers of a State industrial farm, are hereby authorized to transfer to such State industrial farm from their respective institutions any prisoners of special or mechanical ability therein who may be found in the judgment of such board and the board of managers of such State industrial farm suitable for the purpose, and provide transportation and proper guards for such prisoners and while such prisoners remain at such State industrial farm they shall be subject to the orders of the inspectors of the institution from which they were transferred as to their return, and in all other respect, except as to discipline and government. While at such State industrial farm they shall be under the control, discipline, and government, and subject to the orders, of the board of managers of such State industrial farm and its executive officers.
The expense of transporting and transferring prisoners used in the construction of buildings and equipment to and from any State industrial farm shall be paid by the State Treasurer upon the warrant of the Auditor General out of any moneys appropriated for the establishment of such State industrial farm. The Auditor General shall issue warrants for such purpose upon the order of the executive officers of the board of managers of such State industrial farm.
The maintenance of such prisoners as are transferred from a State penitentiary or reformatory shall be paid by the institution from which they are transferred, but the cost of such maintenance in excess of the average per capita cost of maintaining prisoners at the institution from which such prisoners shall have been transferred shall be refunded to any such institution out of any moneys appropriated for the establishment of the State industrial farm.
Section 8. When any State industrial farm shall have been established and ready for operation, a superintendent and matron and such other officers as may be deemed necessary shall be appointed by the proper board of managers. Any persons so appointed shall hold their offices respectively during the pleasure of the board of managers. The compensation of all such persons shall be fixed by the board of managers.
Section 9. When in any district the arrangements for the reception of inmates shall have been completed, the Court of quarter sessions of every county embraced in such district shall transfer from the county prisons and jails respectively to the State industrial farm of the district all persons who shall have been sentenced to any of said county prisons and jails for any crime, misdemeanor or felony, murder and voluntary manslaughter excepted, or who shall have been committed to any of such county prisons and jails for non-payment of any fine or penalty, or for non-payment of costs, or for default in complying with any order of court entered in any prosecution for desertion or non-support, and any other persons legally confined in any of said county jails or prisons except persons confined awaiting trial or detained as witnesses; Provided, That any person whose term will expire within thirty days shall not be transferred.
Thereafter, when any person is convicted in any of the said courts of any offense, crime, misdemeanor, or felony, murder and voluntary manslaughter excepted, the punishment of which is or may hereafter be imprisonment in any county jail or prison, the said court shall, if sentence of imprisonment for thirty days or more be imposed upon such person, commit such person to the State industrial farm of the district in which said court may have jurisdiction. If sentence of imprisonment for more than ten but less than thirty days be imposed, the court may in its discretion commit such person to the State industrial farm for the district.
Courts of record and courts not of record of the counties included in any such district shall hereafter commit to the State industrial farm of the district all persons who might be lawfully committed to the county jail or prison on charges of vagrancy, drunkenness, or disorderly conduct, or for default or non-payment of any costs, fine, or penalty, or for default in complying with any order of court entered in any prosecution for desertion or non-support, where in any such case the commitment will be for a period of thirty days or more. If the commitment be from ten to thirty days the committing authority may in its discretion commit any such person to the State industrial farm.
The superintendent may under the direction of the court of quarter sessions remove any inmate to the county jail for the unexpired term of his or her term of commitment, or to the poorhouse of the proper city or county, or to any hospital or lunatic asylum in such county as circumstances may require.
Section 10. The cost of transporting any persons committed to a State industrial farm shall be paid by the county from which the prisoner is committed, and the sheriff of the county shall receive the same mileage, and fees for prisoners committed to a State industrial farm as are now allowed by law for transporting prisoners committed to the State penitentiaries. When any prisoner is discharged from a State industrial farm the superintendent thereof shall procure for him a railroad ticket to any point to which said prisoner may desire to go not farther from such State industrial farm than the point from which he was sentenced, and it shall be the duty of the superintendent, or his duly authorized agent, to accompany the prisoner to the railroad station, deliver the ticket to the proper railroad conductor, and formally release the prisoner on the train which he takes for his destination.
Section 11. It shall be the purpose of every State industrial farm to employ the prisoners committed, or transferred thereto, in work on or about the buildings and farm, and in growing produce and supplies for its own use, and for the other institutions of the Commonwealth, in the preparation of road materials and in making brick, tile, paving material, and such other products or materials as may be found practicable for the use of the Commonwealth, or any political subdivision therein, and in other industries which may be approved by the board of managers of the State industrial farm and the Committee on Delinquency of this Commonwealth. Should any State industrial farm produce supplies or materials in excess of its needs and demands, or in excess of the demands of the Commonwealth, or of any political subdivision thereof, such surplus may be sold by the Committee on Delinquency at the prevailing market price.