✨ Gaol Regulations and Procedures
[Page 97]
Punishment Regulations.
- Any prisoner
I. Being insolent or threatening violence to any person, whomsoever, other than an officer of the Gaol.
II. Injuring or destroying the property of the Government.
III. Or being guilty of any other misconduct not provided against in these rules, subversive of the peace, order, or good government of the Gaol,
shall be punishable by being placed in solitary confinement for any period not exceeding (7) seven days, and in addition thereto, (at the option of a Visiting Justice), a diminution of his rations, and in addition, in case of destruction or injury to any property of Government by a prisoner who shall have money or property in the lands of the Gaoler, such money or property may be wholly or partially forfeited by order of a Visiting Justice, to repay such destruction or injury.
- Every prisoner who shall be guilty of any of the offences next hereinafter mentioned, that is to say
I. Attempting to escape.
II. Conniving at and concealing a prisoner or prisoners attempting to escape.
III. Assaulting any officer of the Gaol,
shall, in addition to any punishment to which he may by law otherwise be sentenced, be punishable by close confinement for any period not exceeding (14) fourteen days, and by diminished rations.
- Every prisoner who shall be guilty of any of the offences next hereinafter mentioned, that is to say
I. Mutiny or outbreak.
II. Assaulting an officer with intent to grievous bodily harm.
III. Setting on fire, or attempting to set on fire, the Gaol building or other property,
shall, in addition to any punishment to which he may by law otherwise be sentenced, be punishable by close confinement for any period not exceeding one calendar month, and by diminished rations.
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Complaints touching the above, and all other offences committed by prisoners shall be heard and determined upon due proof upon oath by one or more Visiting Justice or Justices.
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Every sentence of punishment, with the nature of the offence, shall be entered in the defaulter’s book, and signed by the Visiting Justice.
Attempts to Escape.
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Any prisoner leaving his allotted place while at work, with intent to escape, or otherwise making any attempt to escape, will render himself liable to be shot by the guard or other person in whose charge he may be; and each prisoner is hereby cautioned that if he makes any such attempt he does so at his own risk and peril.
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Any prisoner attempting to escape, or who, having escaped, shall be recaptured, shall be put in irons for such term as the Sheriff or Visiting Justices shall direct.
Visiting and Letters.
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No prisoner shall be permitted to receive visits, except by express permission from the Sheriff or Visiting Justice. The permission shall be in writing; and visits shall only be permitted on Saturdays, unless otherwise stated in the permission.
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Visitors shall be admitted one at a time, and each in his turn.
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Every such visit must be in the presence of the Gaoler or a Turnkey, and must not last more than twenty minutes.
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Prisoners shall not be permitted to send or receive letters without permission from the Sheriff or Visiting Justice. All letters so sent or received must pass unsealed through the hands of the Gaoler, who is at liberty, if he thinks fit, to open and read them.
Officers of the Gaol.
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The Gaoler shall every day inspect every yard, cell, and portion of the Gaol and see that the cells are kept clean.
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He shall see every prisoner at least once in twenty-four hours, and once a week shall go through the prison at uncertain hours of the night, entering the same in the day book.
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He shall also examine the locks, bolts of all the cells, wards, and gates, daily, and shall also examine the irons of such prisoners as shall be in irons, at least twice every day, viz., every morning before going to work, and at night before they are locked up.
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The most exact order and cleanliness is to be enforced by the Gaoler. Every turnkey or officer on duty is to report to the Gaoler every defect or neglect connected with the Prison.
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The Gaoler shall be particularly attentive to see that all tools, ladders, and implements, shall be kept securely locked up except when in actual use; and he is required to keep an exact account of all such, and at least daily see that the list is correct.
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Upon the occasion of any irregularity or breach of discipline by any prisoner, the Gaoler is to report the same forthwith to the Sheriff or a Visiting Justice.
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The Gaoler will have power in case of attempted escape or flagrant breach of any of these rules, to place at once in close confinement, and in irons, if necessary, the prisoner or prisoners so offending: Provided always that the same shall be reported by him within twenty-four hours to the Sheriff or a Visiting Justice, by whom the matter shall be investigated and dealt with.
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No officer of the Gaol shall strike (unless in self-defence), or shall ill-treat a prisoner.
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No officer of the Gaol shall receive visitors inside the Gaol without permission from the Gaoler.
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Gaol Regulations and Procedures
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⚖️ Justice & Law EnforcementGaol, Prisoners, Regulations, Procedures, Cleanliness, Labor, Rations, Clothing, Punishment, Escape, Visits, Letters, Officers
Hawke's Bay Provincial Gazette 1862, No 24