Secretary State Board of Control.
The last Kansas Legislature made few changes in the laws regulating the
treatment and government of prisoners in the several prisons. The State
has always endeavored to treat its prisoners as humanely as possible,
and but few laws were ever passed relative to this because the prisons
are under a board that has authority to make all necessary rules for
governing these institutions.
The principal changes made by the last Legislature were in the scope of
the several boards. The penal institutions, namely, the Penitentiary,
Boy’s Reformatory, Boy’s Industrial School and Girl’s Industrial School
were placed under the Board of Corrections. The Schools for the Deaf
and Blind were placed under the control of the Board of Administration
which has charge of all the State Schools. The Board of Control has
charge of the charitable institutions, namely, asylums, State Orphans’
Home and has supervision over all private hospitals, home-finding
societies and charitable institutions in the State.
The two important laws passed were the parole law and the payment of
wages to prisoners. The new parole law permits the judge to parole any
person except in certain cases, before he or she has been committed to
an institution. The law best explains itself.
“Any person convicted of any felony, except murder, forcible rape,
arson, or robbery, such convictions being for a first offense and
imprisonment in the penitentiary, Kansas State Reformatory, or
Industrial Schools for Boys and the Industrial School for Girls, the
court before whom the conviction was made may parole such person either
before or after sentence has been pronounced, if the court is satisfied
that if permitted to go at large he would not again violate the law. He
may be permitted to remain at large until such parole has terminated,
provided that the court shall have no power to parole any person after
he has been delivered to any of these institutions.”
This is considered one of the best laws passed regulating paroles.
The bill providing for the payment of wages to convicts provides that
the Board of Corrections may allow a prisoner not less than $.10 nor
more than $.25 each day for work done, over and above the day’s task
as assigned. This money is to be sent to the family of the prisoner,
which is dependent upon him for their care and keep. If the prisoner
have no family, the money can accumulate until the expiration of the
prisoner’s term and is then given to him. He may draw at any time
from such fund for his personal needs so long as he does not use it
improperly. This law does not fulfill its purpose. Its weakness is that
in the average prison, a convict is assigned about all the work he
can do and has but little time for extra work, owing to his physical
condition. A better plan proposed would be for the State to allow to
the prisoner a specified sum for each day at work, or for the county
from which the prisoner comes to pay the family a certain monthly sum,
paying such sum as may be agreed upon by the county commissioners.
By the old method, the Board allowed them $.033 per day. For certain
offenses the prisoners are fined and the fine is paid from this fund.
The payment of a wage or the providing of some plan of caring for the
needy families is a growing question, and so far Kansas has found no
satisfactory method, but this question will probably be taken up by the
next Legislature.
Another law passed was that permitting the county commissioners,
in counties having over 35,000 population, to appoint a matron for
the county jails. This has often been done, but was never legally
authorized until the last Legislature.
Taking the Kansas laws as a whole, they seem to be adequate to meet the
present prison conditions. The State law places all these institutions
under the Board who have exclusive control in their management and in
adopting of rules and regulations necessary to their government. The
only question is the proper method of dealing with the families of the
convicts. There has been little complaint regarding the treatment of
the prisoners and there will be but few changes in the laws until some
demand is made.