PRINTER'S NO. 2358
No. 1834 Session of 1975
INTRODUCED BY HAMMOCK, OCTOBER 15, 1975
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY, OCTOBER 15, 1975
AN ACT
1 Amending the act of July 11, 1923 (P.L.1044, No.425), entitled,
2 as amended, "An act to authorize and provide for the transfer
3 and retransfer of person or persons confined in any
4 penitentiary, prison, workhouse, house of correction, or any
5 other institution for adult prisoners, under sentence of law,
6 convicted but awaiting sentence, awaiting trial, or confined
7 for any other purpose to some other prison, penitentiary,
8 workhouse, house of correction, or other institution for
9 adult prisoners," further restricting the transfer of adult
10 prisoners.
11 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
12 hereby enacts as follows:
13 Section 1. Sections 1 and 2, act of July 11, 1923 (P.L.1044,
14 No.425), referred to as the Prisoner Transfer Law, amended July
15 10, 1969 (P.L.150, No.60), are amended to read:
16 Section 1. Be it enacted, &c; That the Deputy Commissioner
17 for Treatment of the Bureau of Correction in the Department of
18 Justice is hereby authorized and empowered and, upon petition
19 being presented to him by the board of inspectors, if there be
20 such board, otherwise the superintendent or official in charge
21 of any penitentiary, prison, workhouse, house of correction, or
22 other institution for adult prisoners, located within any
1 county, or by the county commissioners of the county in which
2 the institution is located, setting forth that the said
3 penitentiary, prison, workhouse, house of correction, or other
4 institution for adult prisoners, cannot, by reason of
5 overcrowded condition or other existing conditions, furnish
6 proper and sufficient accommodations for the care, custody,
7 control, and safety of the inmates thereof, and that it is
8 requested that a certain number of inmates, set forth in such
9 petition, should be transferred therefrom, may make an order
10 authorizing and directing the said board of inspectors, if there
11 be such board, otherwise the superintendent or official in
12 charge, to transfer to another prison, penitentiary, workhouse,
13 house of correction, or other institution for adult prisoners,
14 such person or persons whom the board of inspectors, if there be
15 such board, otherwise the superintendent or official in charge,
16 shall specify and designate: Provided, however, That before any
17 transfer is made as aforesaid the court of common pleas of the
18 county wherein any such penitentiary, prison, workhouse, house
19 of correction, or any other institution for adult prisoners is
20 located, shall give its consent to such transfer. The court
21 shall withhold such consent until the inmate has an opportunity
22 to present his objection to the transfer at a hearing called by
23 it if it has reason to believe that the transfer is for
24 disciplinary purposes or that it may place an extraordinary
25 hardship on the inmate. In the event of the overcrowded
26 condition or other existing condition of such penitentiary,
27 prison, workhouse, house of correction, or other institution for
28 adult prisoners, be remedied, so that it shall again be able to
29 furnish proper and sufficient accommodations for the care,
30 custody, control, and safety of inmates thereof, the Deputy
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1 Commissioner is hereby authorized and empowered, upon petition
2 being presented to him by the said board of inspectors, if there
3 be such board, or by the superintendent or other official in
4 charge, or by the county commissioners of the county in which
5 the institution is located, to retransfer to said penitentiary,
6 prison, workhouse, house of correction, or other institution for
7 adult prisoners, any or all inmates heretofore transferred under
8 the terms of this act.
9 Section 2. That said petition shall set forth the names of
10 the persons whom the said board of inspectors, if there be such
11 board, otherwise the superintendent or official in charge, deem
12 it advisable to transfer or retransfer, together with (1) in
13 case of persons committed, the date of their commitment, and the
14 term for which they were sentenced, or (2) in case of persons
15 convicted but awaiting sentence, the date of conviction, or (3)
16 in case of persons in custody while awaiting trial, the fact
17 that they are so held, or (4) in case of persons otherwise
18 confined, the reason for their confinement, and shall further
19 set forth the reasons for which authority is desired to transfer
20 or retransfer the persons therein named. A copy of such petition
21 shall be sent, by registered mail, to the county commissioners
22 of the county from which the prisoner is transferred, except
23 when the county commissioners petition the Deputy Commissioner,
24 as well as to the county commissioners of the county to which
25 the prisoner is transferred or retransferred. There shall be
26 attached to the petition the certification of the petitioner
27 that the inmates to be transferred have been given written
28 notice of the reasons for the transfer and an opportunity to
29 respond thereto in writing.
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