The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1918-04-16
Grand Jury Recommendation

: The grand jury last week conclude
. it's inspection of county offices, count
) institutions and other affairs, and pr
: sented its report to Judge Lippinco
on Thursday. The report follows:
| April 18th, 191
To the Honorable William D. Lippil
colt, Judge of the Court of Quartz
Sessions, of Burlington county, I
4 j.
We, the Grand Jury of the Decen
Der term, 1917, desire to submit /
your Honor the following comment
and recommendations concerning tn
various departments and institution
of this county:
| After a careful inspection of tn
county Jail, both by the jury as
whole and by subcommittee appoint
ed from our number, we are unan
imously of the opinion that it is poor
ly planned and out of date. Som
of the cells are insuficiently hghte,
and ventilated, the sanitary arrange
ments are antiquated, the provision
for safely caring for prisoners con
fined for higher crimes are inadequat
and it is not what such a penal in
stitution should be.
When building conditions becom,
more favorable it is the belief of thi.
grand jury that the county should lool
toward remodeling the whole interior
of the building to conform as nearly
as possible to the best modern stan
dards for such an institution. Sucl
radical alterations in the structure al
present, however, seem to be out Of
the question and we therefore recon.
mend the following minor improve
ments:
1. That cement floor be laid in
the portion of the basement now paw
ed with bricks. Such change will
make it far easier to keep clean the
cells and corridors in that part of the
building.
2. That in the basement cells, rails
ed platforms be constructed of cement
or in some other suitable way upon
which the sleeping mattresses may be
placed instead of upon the floor as at
present.
3. That hot water supply pipe be
run in every bath tub in the institu-
ton, that these tubs be kept clean and
that all prisoners be compelled to
battle and to wash their clothing at
frequent intervals during their stay
in Jail. At present only cold water
can be run into the bath tubs and such
condition does not conduce to per-
sonal cleanliness.
A. The law directs that call per-
sons under the age of eighteen who
are put in Jail shall be kept separate
and apart so that no communication
can take place between them and other
persons above such age confined there
in on a charge or conviction of crime"
No adequate arrangements at present
exist in our Jail for the incarceration
of young persons where they cannot
communicate with other prisoners and
we recommend that some proper way
be found to comply with the law in
this respect.
From the examination of the Jail
records it appears that some justices
of the Peace in our county frequently
sentence prisoners arrested for drunk
enness and disorderly conduct to six
or nine months in the county Jail.
While they appear to have the legal
right to do so, we believe that many
times these sentences are unnecessar-
lily long and we recommend that pol
icy of shorter terms for such minor
be adopted.
A. satisfactory visit was paid to the
county asylum and county farm. The
jury were impressed with the cleanli-
ness and generally satisfactory con-
ditions at both institutions.
We desire to urge upon the Board
of Freeholders the need for the COM
pletion and opening of the new tuber-
culosis hospital at the earliest time
possible.
At the county clerks Office it is our
opinion that the room in
which the records are filed should at
once be made as nearly fire proof as
possible. These records are priceless
and if destroyed never could be re-
placed. The wooden balcony and
wooden floor in the room where they
are kept constitute a menace to their
safety. Their preservation in the
past is no guarantee for the future
and we hope that the Board of Free
holders will take steps to remove all
woodwork from this room and make
at least that portion Of the building
entirely freproof-
The grand jury for the April term,
1917, recommended that steps be taken
to have the records of judgments
carefully gone over and re-indexed.
We most fully endorse their recon-
mendation. We are sure that a new
index system of this kind would prove
invaluable to the citizens of our coun-
ty and would be well worth the expen-
diture necessary to do the work.
The records in the surrogate's office
also should have better fire protection
by the substitution of steel shelves
and filing cabinets for the wooden
fittings now in the vault at that place.
Needed changes of this character are
sometimes postponed until disaster
comes and then it is too late to repair
the loss caused by delay in making the
necessary provision to protect such
valuable county property.
We are informed that new sys-
tenn of road patrol is contemplated by
our Board of Freeholders and we de-
sire to express our hearty approval
of such plan. In future as roads
are reconstructed or resurfaced in
different parts of the county, we urge
that they at once be protected from
rapid deterioration by the installation
of the "patrol system" along their
routes.
We would respectfully request that
copy of these recommendations be
sent to the Board Of Freeholders and
to the several county departments to
which they relate.
espectfully submitted,
HENRY TATNALL BROWN,
Foreman
R. B. Eckman, Secretary.