CONVICT LABOR FOR ROAD WORK. 215 
Virginia. 
State. — Persons convicted of crime and sentenced to the State penitentiary and 
persons convicted and confined in public jails, shall be delivered to the superintendent 
of the penitentiary and shall constitute theState convict road force. No prisoner 
under 16 years old shall be so worked, and it shall be discretionary with the court 
as to whether those over 16 and under 21 years old shall be worked. Persons con- 
victed of violating city or town ordinances shall be primarily liable to work on the 
chain gang or public work within such city or town. The superintendent of the 
penitentiary shall be allowed for keeping and supporting such prisoners the fees 
allowed jailers for similar service, which are as follows: For each prisoner, per day, 
40 cents; but where there are 3 and less than 10 prisoners, for each, 30 cents; and 
where there are more than 10 prisoners, for each, 25 cents; which fees shall be paid 
by the State for prisoners convicted of violations of State laws and by cities or towns 
for prisoners convicted of violation of the ordinances thereof. Rules and regulations 
in force at the penitentiary shall be applicable to the State convict road force, unless 
manifestly inconsistent, and unless the State highway commissioner shall deem it 
necessary to alter or amend them. If any jail prisoner shall escape and be recap- 
tured, he may be sentenced to from 30 days to 6 months for such escape, and for suffi- 
cient additional time at 50 cents per day as will pay the cost of his recapture, such 
additional time not to exceed one year. The superintendent may discharge a pris- 
oner wherever he may be in the State when his term shall expire, and shall furnish 
him transportation to the county or city from which he came and, if he need it, a suit 
of coarse clothing. Each prisoner so discharged may, in the discretion of the board 
of directors of the penitentiary, be allowed not exceeding $10. Said superintendent 
shall detail, or appoint with the approval of the State highway commissioner, guards 
for the convict road force. Persons competent to supervise the work under construc- 
tion shall, as far as practicable, be detailed or appointed as guards. The said super- 
intendent, with the approval of the State highway commissioner, may appoint an 
assistant to have charge of the said road force. A county which maintains and works 
a chain gang on its roads may retain its jail convicts in said chain gang. As far as 
practicable, and at the request of the State highway commissioner, trusties may be 
made of the convict road force. The superintendent shall provide suitable and 
movable quarters, wagons for transporting the convicts and camp fixtures, cooking 
utensils, beds, clothing, and food, in the same manner as for convicts in the peniten- 
tiary. The number of convicts desired for work in any county shall be sent to such 
county by the said superintendent on the requisition of the State highway commis- 
sioner. An engineer appointed by the State highway commissioner, and paid by the 
county having the benefit of his services, shall have charge and supervision of the 
work done by such convicts, and such work shall be done according to plans and 
specifications furnished by the said highway commissioner. Necessary medical 
attention shall be provided by the county in which a convict may be working. 
The cost of organizing, equipping, and working said convicts is provided for by the 
creation of the State convict road force fund, which consists of the fees allowed by 
law to jailers for supporting prisoners, and the sum of $145,000 appropriated 
therefor annually by the legislature. County authorities may arrange to improve 
any main traveled road by contract, and may secure the services of such num- 
ber of convicts for work thereon as will amount to a contribution on the part of the 
State of not exceeding 40 per cent of the total contract price of such improvement, 
estimating such labor at $1 per day per convict. (Code of 1887, sees. 3532, 4147; 
Acts 1906, chs. 73, 74; Acts 1908, chs. 65, 84; Acts 1910, ch. 267; Acts 1912, ch. 58; 
and Acts 1914, ch. 199.) 
Persons in jail and unable to arrange bail may, at their election and with approval 
of the Commonwealth's attorney, be worked in a chain gang or on the State convict 
road force. If such person be convicted when tried, he shall be credited with the 
time he shall so work on his sentence; or, if he be fined, he shall be credited with 
50 cents on such fine for each day he shall have so worked; and if he be acquitted 
he shall be paid 50 cents for each day he shall have so labored. (Acts 1906, ch. 59.) 
Counties. — In any county or city in which no chain gang has been organized the 
judge of the circuit court or of the corporation court of such city shall, upon appli- 
cation of the board of supervisors of any county in which a chain gang has been 
established order any person confined in the jail of his county or city and liable to 
work on chain gangs, to be delivered to such other county to be worked on its chain 
gang. The county receiving such prisoners shall keep and maintain them out of 
its road fund. (Code of 1904, title 16, ch. 43.) 
The council of each city and town, and the board of supervisors of each county, 
or, if they do not act, the judge of the corporation court of such city or town, or of 
