The Saint Paul globe., 1905-01-18
BOARD WOULD RUSH
GUILTY TO PRISON
A Law Allowing Prisoners to
Plead at Once Is Rec
commended

Legislation asked for by the state
board of control, communicated yester-
day TO the legislature by the board
through the medium of its biennial re-
port, includes provision that will per-
init persons convicted of offenses pun
ishable by sentence to the state prison
or reformatory to go Immediately be-
fore a judge and plead guilty. The
proposed law provides that they shall
be immediately transported to the
prison 10 which they are sentenced.
The purpose of the law is to obviate
the necessity for a man, ready and
willing TO plead guilty to the crime
of which he is charged, remaining for
months in some poorly constructed and
unsanitary county Jail, awaiting the
sitting of a term of court before being
sentenced and committed to a penal
institution.
Another proposed change is to put
approximately one-half the cost of an
nual maintenance of inmates of state
institutions, not including the state
prison and reformatory, upon the coun-
ty from which the inmate is commit
ted. The proposed law requires an an
nual fee of $175 per capita for inmates
of the institutions for detectives, the
insane hospitals and the COR
rectional institutions. The new
law is urged as corrective
measure, for the board of con-
troll members claim that with the
state paying the entire cost of mainte-
nance OF the wards of the state, per-
sons are often committed to save rela-
tives and the counties from which they
come expense and care. The reform
suggested is in line with custom in
Wisconsin and Iowa and is said to
work adVantageously in those states.
The board of control also recon-
mends the removal of the girls train
ing school from Red Wing to some
other point in the state and law for
bidding the sale or giving away Of in
toXicantS TO prisoners on parole from
the prison, reformatory and training
school.
The present law relating to the
transportation of prisoners to the pris-
OILS and correctional institutions and
of the states wards to the various
state institutions, such as hospitals
for the insane, the various state
schools, ETC., is asked to be changed
with the effect that upon notification
the officers of the state institutions
will send for the prisoner or patient.
Statistics given by the board show
that for 1901 the state paid $14,4S2.74
for conveying prisoners to the state
prison and reformatory, one sheriff
alone receiving $2,SSS.S0. 1t is esti-
mated by the board that for the two
years just closed the various counties
paid $4,000 for the removal of chill
dren to the state training school, tbs
state public school and the various
hospitals for the insane. 1t is declared
that there would be large saving to
the state in the adoption of the plan
suggested, and that better service
could be given in sending a trained
nurse for the insane person than in
delegating the sheriff to deliver the
person to the hospitals.
The board favors, in it's report, the
abolition of the separate local boards
for the state school at Owatonna and
the school for the deaf at F'aribault.
The repeal of all standing appro-
priatiOns for state Institutions, an6
special levies is asked for, and a law
is recommended authorizing the state
auditor and the board to transfer 6
portion of the current expense funG
of the hospitals for the insane, asy-
lums, prisons, reformatory, state pub
He school, state training school, schoo
for feeble minded and schools for the
deaf and blind, to be used for any o1
the institutions in time of need arising
from unexpected increase in popula-
tiOn