TWENTY-SIXTH LEGISLATURE. No. 11. STATE OF MAINE. HOUSE. IN THE YEAR OF OUR LORD ONE THOUSAND EIGHT HUNDRED AND FORTY-SIX. AN ACT in relation to fugitives from justice. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Represent2 atives in Legislature assembled, as follows: 3 SECTION 1. Whenever any person shall be found 4 within this State, charged with any offence committed 5 in any other State or territory and liable, by the con6 stitution and laws of the United States, to be deliv7 ered over upon the demand of the Executive of such 8 other State or territory, any court or magistrate, au9 thorized to issue warrants in criminal cases, may, upon 10 complaint under oath, setting forth the offence and 11 such other matters as are necessary to bring the case 12 within the provisions of law, issue a warrant to bring 13 the person so charged before the same or any other 14 court or magistrate, within the State, to answer to 15 such complaint, as in other cases. Wm. T. Johnson, Printer to the State. SEC. 2. If, upon the examination of the person 2 charged, it shall appear to the court or magistrate, 3 that there is reasonable cause to believe that the com plaint is true, and that such person may be lawfully 5 demanded of the Executive, he shall, if charged with 6 an offence, bailable by the laws of this State, be re7 quired to recognize with sufficient sureties, to appear 3 before such court or magistrate, at a future day, al9 lowing a reasonable time to obtain the warrant of the 10 Executive, and to abide the order of the court or 11 magistrate; and if such person shall not so recognize 12 he shall be committed to prison, and be there detained 13 until such day, in like manner as if the offence 14 charged had been committed within this State; and 15 if the person so recognizing shall fail to appear, 16 according to the condition of his recognizance, he 17 shall be defaulted, and the like proceedings shall be 13 had, as in the case of other recognizances entered 19 into before such court or magistrate; but if such per20 son be charged with an offence not bailable by the 21 laws of this State, he shall be committed to prison, 22 and there detained until the day so appointed for his 23 appearance before the court or magistrate. SEC. 3. If the person so recognized or committed 2 shall appear before the court or magistrate, upon the 3 day ordered, he shall be discharged, unless he shall be 4 demanded by some person authorized by the warrant 5 of the Executive to receive him, or unless the court 6 or magistrate shall see cause to commit him, or to re7 quire him to recognize anew, for his appearance at 8 some other day, and if, when ordered, he shall not so 9 recognize, he shall be committed and detained as 10 before; provided, that whether the person so charged 11 shall be recognized, committed or discharged, any 12 person, authorized by the warrant of the Executive, 13 may at all times take him into custody, and the same 14 shall be a discharge of the recognizance, if any, and 15 shall not be deemed an escape. SEC. 4. The complainant, in any such case, shall 2 be answerable for all the actual costs and charges, 3 and for the support in prison, of any person so com4 mitted, to be paid in the same manner as by a creditor 5 for his debtor committed on execution; and if the 6 charge for his support in prison shall not be so paid, 7 the jailer may discharge such person, in like manner 8 as if he had been committed for debt on an execution. SEC. 5. This act shall take effect from and after its 2 approval by the governor. STATE OF MAINE. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, June 13, 1846. Ordered, That 350 copies of the foregoing bill, reported from the committee on the judiciary, be printed for the use of the Legislature. SAMUEL BELCHER, Clerk. To the Governor and Executive Council of the State of Maine. The Inspectors of the Maine State Prison respectfully present the following REPORT: The present number of convicts is sixty, being a decrease of fifteen since the last annual report. This is a very small number, taking into consideration the population of the State. If this may be taken as proof that crime has diminished, some cause should be assigned for this diminuation; and it is but fair to conclude that the temperance reform has exerted a strong influence in preventing crime, and that the attention to the moral discipline of convicts while in prison has induced many to abandon their former habits of idleness and dissipation, and apply themselves to some useful employment after being discharged, where they soon find that it is not difficult, again to obtain the confidence of their neighbors and the public, and establish for themselves a character that will entirely obliterate the disgrace of their former conduct. The almost universal inquiry in regard to the prison has been concerning its pecuniary situation; but seldom have any questions been asked in relation to the health and discipline of its inmates, 1 |