Visitation and Inspection of the Jails in the

Second Judicial District.

PUTNAM COUNTY JAIL.

The jail in Putnam county is a small one, and yet adequate for the demands upon it. On the day of visitation there were only three inmates or misdemeanants for terms of ten, twenty and thirty days. The original jail was built in 1862, since which time there has been an addition built upon it. There are six cells in the old part, and in the new, which was erected five years ago, two steel cells or cages in the center of the building. The women's cells are unfit for the purpose, and the sheriff has usually put the women convicts up stairs in one of the petit jury rooms. The county has only had three female convicts in a long term of years. The sheriff reports nothing detrimental to health, no sickness ever having manifested itself in the jail.

WESTCHESTER COUNTY JAIL.

The jail at White Plains, Westchester county, is a stone structure, fifty years old, although there has been an addition built since. There are 72 cells. At the time of the visit there were 90 prisoners, of whom 25 were court prisoners, the rest committed for periods from 10 to 59 days. There were five murderers among the prisoners, besides the desperate burgular in the tragedy at Bedford, when the merchant, Adams, was killed, and his son in turn killed two of the number. In the new part are kept the misdemeanants, and the

women are on the upper floor of the new part separated from the others. While there were 90 prisoners there the day of the visit, the present sheriff has had as high as 286, and former sheriffs report an aggregate at times of 500. This shows that the jail is inadequate for the needs of a county as large as Westchester, and efforts have been made from time to time to either secure a new jail or an addition to the present one. But the majority of the board of supervisors has been averse thus far to entailing the county with the expense of a new structure. The sheriff, who was a member of the board of supervisors for seven years, while a member was in favor of improvements, and has since taking the office submitted recommendations to the supervisors. One grand jury has made presentment against the condition of the jail, and sooner or later the supervisors will see the necessity of some relief in this direction. The most serious objection is the ventilation, and if nothing else be done, this should be attended to promptly. It is the impression of the Commission that the law requires 600 feet of breathing space for a prisoner, while at times in this jail there is not over 400 feet to a person.

RICHMOND COUNTY JAIL.

In Richmond county is a stone structure, thirty-six years old, two corridors and 24 cells for men, and 8 separate cells for women. On the day this jail was inspected there were 17 prisoners, ten of them court prisoners. The highest number ever confined in the jail has been 121, largely tramps for short terms. It hardly seems credible that a court-house located so near to the city of New York should be isolated from the world except by traveling by stage. This has been the condition of the Richmond county court-house until the past season when an electric road has been built, commenc

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ANNUAL REPORT OF STATE COMMISSION OF PRISONS.

ing at Stapleton and ending at the court-house. The fact that Richmond county is included in greater New York leads the officials to believe that in the near future there will be some decided improvements made in all the county buildings. The greatest criticism at present is the dampness in the jail, requiring a fire every day in the year. The supervisors should see that the premises are properly drained so as to obviate this objection.

ORANGE COUNTY JAIL.

In Orange county the jails are comparatively new. The jail at Goshen is a brick structure, with iron and steel cells, suitably arranged for different classes of prisoners. The women's department is on the second floor. There were 55 prisoners there on the 28th of September, four already indicted and 21 for the grand jury.

At Newburgh the latest improved cells have been put in position within the last four years. The prisoners on the 30th of September were 32; 11 for the court; burglary being the principal cause.

The main jail is at Goshen, but Newburgh being a half shire town has a jail within the court-house.

Orange county has already taken advantage of the law regarding the working of prisoners, and there were on the day of the visit thirty prisoners who had been sentenced to the county jail at hard labor. The labor imposed upon the prisoners has been the breaking of stone, under the direction of a committee of the board of supervisors, and the experiment has been a success thus far.

Visitation and Inspection of the Jails in the

Third Judicial District.

ALBANY COUNTY JAIL.

This jail was visited and inspected on December 28, 1896. It is a three story brick building and basement. Except in very rare instances, this jail is used only for the detention of prisoners awaiting examination, the action of the grand jury or trial, and of this number a large majority are police court and special sessions cases.

On the date of the inspection there were 64 prisoners, of whom only three were serving sentence in the jail for periods of 180 days each.

By arrangement with the police justices, three or four prisoners are constantly kept in the jail serving sentence for the purpose of having their labor in and about the jail.

Eight of the prisoners were females.

In the basement are situated the kitchen, a small dining room for employes, furnace, etc. On the main floor in the front part of the building are the sheriff's and other offices, and in the rear is the jail proper. The cells are in the center, with corridors on each side, with windows opening in the outside walls. There are five tiers of cells on each corridor, with four cells on each tier, making a total of 40 cells in this part of the building. Each cell is 5x7 feet. Buckets are used in these cells at night, and there is a closet in each corridor for use during the day. In addition to these cells there are on the second floor over the sheriff's offices.

four large cells about 15 feet square, which can accommodate four

to six prisoners each.

The female prisoners are confined in two of these cells.

On the third floor are five additional cells about 15 feet square, which can be used when required. There is a closet in each large cell.

There is a ventilator in each small cell running to the roof. The cells are heated by stoves and lighted with gas. Two prisoners are kept in each cell and canvas cots are used.

The average number of inmates is 60, but there have been 110 at one time.

This is an old building. What most impressed the Commission was the extreme neatness, cleanliness and supply of pure air throughout the building and for which the sheriff should receive special commendation. Inasmuch as the larger portion of the inmates is changing every few days the labor of keeping the jail clean is greatly increased.

ULSTER COUNTY JAIL AT KINGSTON, N. Y.

This jail was inspected on the 29th day of December, 1896. The jail is a rear extension of the court-house building. It was built in 1818 and is of stone. It has two floors with central corridors. There are ten cells on each floor, five on each side of the corridor. Each cell has a window in the outside wall. The cells are about 9 x 10 feet and two prisoners are confined in a cell. There are two closets in each hall emptying in the city sewer.

On the top floor of the court-house are two rooms for female prisoners, which insure their proper isolation, with a closet in each There were no female prisoners at the date of visitation.

room.