Litchfield enquirer., 1875-03-25
JAIL REFORM .

We have been called upon for SO many more papers of recent issues than we could supply, that we reprint the follow. ing articles of the past two weeks. and one we published on the same subject in 1872
 From the Enquirer. March 11th, 1s75.l Reform Needed at Our Jail.
 We referred incidentally. last week, to the mode of running our jail now prac- ticed, and to the claim of our High Sher- if that he was making no money out of it. In what we shall say regarding this mat ter we shall try to avoid all discourteous personalities. We think we can prove that Sheriff Baldwin is. in point of fact, making a very considerable amount of money under the present mode of board ing and working prisoners in our jail; but whether or not he is cognizant of that fact, is question we do not feel obliged to discuss.
 In order that our readers may under stand the matter, it will be necessary to refer briefly to the law and practice regard ing the custody, board and working of prisoners. High Sherifs have by law, ''the charge and custody of the jails in their respective counties" This authority is usually committed by the sheriff to 8 deputy jailer. In this county such was always the practice till the present sheriff came into office; but for nearly four years. there has been no legally appointed jailer resident at the County House. e.-only an agent of the sheriff For the board of each prisoner, three dollars week is al- lowed by the State, and the county is obliged to furnish the jail with necessary fuel at an expense, on an average, of about $1OO per year. For the management of the jail, since the sheriff has himself been sole jailer, he has employed a man and his wife, at an expense of $500 per year, wages, and their board. All the domestic work of the jail is done by the prisoners. SO that the only expense to which the sheriff is at for jail management is the salary of the agent and the agents wife. and the raw material for their board. It has always been the practice in this eoun- ty, also, to allow the jailer to sss at farm or other outdoor work such of the pris- oners as were in jail on sentence, and to take the proceeds of their labor. The present sheriff has habitually worked gangs of prisoners of from three to twelve ip number on his own land, and at such jobs as he found profitable to employ them. Of course the income from this labor has varied greatly with the season of the year and the number of prisoners. from all we can learn from the persons who have of late years had charge of the jail, we judge that an average of Sa GOO a year is low estimate to place upon the value of the avails of the prisoners labor. to our present sheriff.
 In former years, when there was much smaller number of prisoners than now, the jailer was generally allowed by the county commissioners, as a compensation for his services. the board money of pris- oners and the avails of their labor, fur nishing, however, his own fuel, and pay ing into the county treasury SSO0 rent for the County House. During the war, when the average number of prisoners was very low, the rent paid was merely nominal: but, with a yearly average of ten or twelve prisoners, $500 rent twas perhaps . fair arrangement to make with the jailer. When our present sheriff came into office, in June 1869, the jail was rented to MT. Harris B. Gibbud for tha year ending April list 1870, for $45O, and he had agreed, also, to furnish his own fuel In August 1869, Sheriff Baldwin re- moved Mir. Gibbud, took possession of the jail. and has ever since not only re- fused to pay rent or to account to either county or State for the avails of prison ers' labor. but has compelled the county to furnish the jail with fuel. His course in this regard was severely censared and lost him many votes in the election oi 1872. At that time the Republican con. yention nominating sheriff passed the following resolution:
 ResolUed, That our nominee is hereby direct. ca to follow, If elected, the uniform practice oi previous Republican sheriffs of this county, snd allow the county commissioners to rent the County House to the jailer thereof for such sum as he can reasonably pay therefor. thereby securing to the county treasury 6 revenue suff- | clent to avoid any necessity in the future o1 calling upon the towns for voluntary assess- ments to meet the general expenses of the conn ty.
 Had the Democratic county Convention of that year needed our request, taken this matter in hand, and passed and en- forced a similar resolution, the county would have saved at least S1, 800 during Sheriff Baldwin's second term. We now come to the question whether the sheriffis making or losing money ir his management of the jail His allow. ance for prisoners board is taxed at the end of each term of the Superior court and is paid over to him by the clerk, from whose records we take the following fig ures showing the enact amount he has TO. ceived for prisoners board at the end oi