1855-453. 1. [SEC. 1760.] There shall be established in the town of JackInsane Asylum son, parish of East Feliciana, an asylum for the insane, to be called the "Insane Asylum of the State of Louisiana." created. Board of Ad ministrators appointed by the Governor for 2. [SEC. 1761.] The Governor, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, shall appoint five persons, who shall constitute a Board of Administrators under the name and style of the the term of two "Board of Administrators of the Insane Asylum of the State of Louisiana," one of whom shall be elected President by the members of the Board. years. Vacancies, how filled. The Board shall remain in office for two years. They shall meet on the first Monday of each month, and as much oftener as the President may deem necessary; and at each regular meeting said Board shall have power to fill any vacancy which may occur by resignation, or otherwise. 3. [SEC. 1762.] The President and any three of the members What shall form shall form a quorum, and in the absence of the President, any four of said members shall choose one from among themselves to act as President pro tempore. a quorum. 1861-217. Powers of the Board of Administrators. 1855-453. Officers to be elected by the Board of Administrators. appointed by 4. [SEC. 1763.] The Board shall have power to make all rules and regulations for their own government, not contrary to law; to make all necessary contracts; provided, however, that no member of said Board shall in any manner be connected with the taking of such contracts, and they shall further have the right to accept any donation or legacy in the name of the Asylum and for its use, to sue and be sued, plead and be impleaded, in all actions appertaining to the Asylum. 5. [SEC. 1764.] They shall have power to elect a Physician, a General Superintendent, and a Matron, to be employed in the service of the Asylum, with such salaries as may be determined by the Board. 6. [SEC. 1765.] At every regular meeting, the Board shall apCommittee to be point two of its members, whose duty it shall be to visit said the Board, and Asylum at least once a week, for the purpose of ascertaining the manner in which the regulations are complied with, and at each monthly meeting to report the condition of the Asylum. its duties. Report to be made annually the General The Board shall furnish the Legislature, on the second Monday of each session, a detailed statement of the annual receipts and expen by the Board to ditures of said Asylum; a statement of the names of the insane persons in the Asylum; of the number and names of those admitted; Assembly. of those deceased, and of those cured and discharged during the current year. Treasurer to be ed-not to be a Board-his duties. 7. [SEC. 1766.] The Board shall elect annually a Treasurer, who shall be ex officio Secretary, and who shall not be a member of the 1861-217. Board, and who shall give bond and security for the faithful per- annually electformance of his duty, to be approved by the majority of said Board. member of the It shall be his duty to collect all debts due to said Asylum; to receive, bond and bis quarterly, upon the warrant of the President, whatever appropriations may be made by the State for its benefit; to take care and keep an exact account of the property, credit and revenues, and to make all necessary payments under such rules and regulations and restrictions as may be established by the Board. Said Treasurer and Secretary, elected by the Board, shall receive, as an annual salary for his services, the sum of six hundred dollars, paid quar- His salary. terly on the warrant of the President, out of the funds annually appropriated by the State. of a member 8. [SEC. 1767.] The seat of any member who shall absent himself without sufficient cause from the regular meetings, shall be 1835-453. vacated by a majority of said Board, and the vacancy shall be imme- When the seat diately filled in the manner heretofore provided for. In the absence may be declared of the President, a majority of the members shall have power to call a meeting of the Board, whenever the necessities of the Asylum Vacancy, how may require it. vacant. filled. admitted. trict Judges. 9. [SEC. 1768.] Whenever it shall be made known to the Judge of the District or Parish Court by the petition and oath of any Lunatics, how individual that any lunatic or insane person within his district ought to be sent to, or confined in, the Insane Asylum of this State, it shall be the duty of the said District or Parish Judge to issue a war- Duty of the Disrant to bring before him, in chambers, said lunatic or insane person, and after proper inquiry into all the facts and circumstances of the case, if in his opinion he ought to be sent to, or confined in, said Insane Asylum, he shall make out his warrant to the Sheriff of the Sheriffs. parish, commanding him to convey the lunatic or insane person to the Insane Asylum, for which duty the Sheriff shall have the right to demand the same fees as are now allowed by law for the convey- Compensation ance of convicts to the penitentiary of the State, which shall be paid out of the parish treasury, upon the order of the District or Parish Judge, and likewise all other expenses previously incurred in bringing said insane person before the District or Parish Judge. Duty of the to Sheriffs. Powers of the 10. [SEC. 1769.] The Board of Administrators shall have authority to receive insane persons, not sent to the Asylum by a District or Parish Judge, on such terms and conditions as they may deem fit to adopt; and money so received shall be applied to the tain cases. support of the institution. lunatics in cer Monthly amounts to be paid by the lunatics. Persons in indigent circumstances ex. cepted. of District Courts relative to the admission of lunatics in the Asylum. 11. [SEC. 1770.] All persons, received in the Asylum as insane, shall be charged at a rate not less than ten dollars a month, unless the Police Jury of the parish from whence the insane person came, a Municipal Council, if from a city or town, or Clerk of the court, shall certify that said person is in indigent circumstances. 12. [SEC. 1771.] Whenever application is made to the Clerk for Duties of Clerks a certificate, as above stated, it shall be his duty to examine, under oath, such witnesses as may be brought before him, and to give or refuse said certificate, as the case may in justice require; and the said Clerk is empowered, whenever he shall deem the same necessary, to summon before him, as in ordinary cases, any witness necessary, and said certificate, so given, shall entitle the person therein named to admission into the Lunatic Asylum without charge. ing any of the 13. [SEC. 1772.] If any person shall, without permission, enter Persons enter any of the buildings or inclosures appropriated to the use of the patients, or shall make any attempt to do so, or shall enter anywhere upon the premises belonging to said Asylum, and commit or attempt to commit any trespass or depredation thereon, or if he shall, either from within or without the inclosure, annoy or disturb the quiet of any patient confined therein, upon conviction thereof before the Mayor or any Justice of the Peace in the town of Justice of the Jackson, he shall be condemned to pay a fine not less than five nor more than one hundred dollars for the use of said Asylum, subject to appeal to the District Court as in other cases. And the District Court shall have concurrent jurisdiction over the offending party, Duties of the Peace in the town of Jackson relative to persons thus offending. the District Court. Jurisdiction of and, in pronouncing judgment, may impose a fine and imprisonment in the parish jail, for a term not less than ten nor more than thirty days, or both, at the discretion of the court. 14. [SEC. 1773.] If any person shall abduct or seduce any Persons seduc patient to elope or escape from said Asylum, or shall attempt to do ing any patient to escape from the Asylum, how punished. 1861-217. tracts. so, or shall aid or assist therein, every such person shall, upon conviction thereof, be condemned to pay a fine of not less than fifty dollars nor more than five hundred dollars, for the use of said Asylum, and at the discretion of the court be imprisoned in the parish jail not less than one month nor more than six months, or both, at the discretion of the court. 15. [SEC. 1774.] In all contracts for work, to be let out by the Board of Administrators, the said Board shall cause specifications Letting out con- to be made of the work to be done, and shall advertise the same for one month, previous to letting out of the contract, in a newspaper published in the parish of East Feliciana, and by notice posted up in the town of Jackson during the same time; and the parties wish ing to bid for such contract shall be required to make their bids by sealed proposals, which shall be opened at a public meeting of the Board by the President, on a day previously fixed, and the contract shall be awarded to the lowest solvent bidder, who shall give bond and security for the faithful execution of the same according to the published specifications. be entered into propriation of 16. [SEC. 1775.] Hereafter the Board of Administrators, or any officer of the Asylum, shall have no power to contract any debt, No contract to borrow money, issue drafts, or make any contract, or incur any beyond the apliability connected with the administration of said Asylum beyond the Legislature. the amount appropriated by the Legislature and the revenue of the institution for such purposes; and no such contract, debt, or liability, thus incurred, by any of said officers, shall be binding on the State, nor shall the State in any manner be liable for the same. of the Asylum sionally ex plicants for 17. [SEC. 1776.] The Physician of the Asylum shall professionally examine the lunatic or insane persons sent to the Asylum The Physician by the authority of the District or Parish Judge, and if, in his shall profes opinion said person is only feigning insanity, being a person charged amine the apwith a felonious crime, he shall report to the Board, who shall admission. investigate the facts, and if, in the judgment of the majority, said person should not be admitted as an inmate of the Asylum, the President of said Board shall cause such person feigning insanity, Disposal of per. and who had been previously committed to prison for a crime, to be with a crime confined in the parish jail, and shall immediately inform the Presi- insanity. dent of the Police Jury of the parish, or the proper authority in the parish of Orleans, where the rejected person has his domicile, of the fact and the reason of his rejection, and the provisions of this section shall also apply to such persons [as are] charged with a crime, who afterwards recover and become sane in said Asylum. sons charged and feigning He shall be con parish of his domicile. 18. [SEC. 1777.] The Sheriff of East Feliciana, or his Deputy, shall, within reasonable delay, convey said person feigning insanity to the parish of his domicile, for which duty the Sheriff shall have veyed to the the right to demand the same fees which are now allowed by law for the conveyance of convicts to the Penitentiary of the State, which shall be paid out of the parish treasury on the order of the President of the Police Jury of the parish of the domicile of the person rejected by the Board of Administrators, or the proper authority in the parish of Orleans. 1855-151. insane persons 19. [SEC. 1778.] Whenever any person, arrested to answer for any crime or misdemeanor, before any court of this State, shall be Courts to send acquitted thereof by the jury, or shall not be indicted by the grand to the Lunatic jury, by reason of the insanity or mental derangement of such tain cases. Asylum in cer inform the person, and the discharge and going at large of such person shall be deemed by the court to be dangerous to the safety of the citizens or to the peace of the State, the court is authorized and empowered to commit such person to the State Insane Hospital, or any similar institution in any parish within the jurisdiction of the court, there to be detained until he be restored to his right mind, or otherwise delivered by due course of law. 20. [SEC. 1779.] Whenever the grand jury, upon any inquiry Grand Juries to which they make as to the commission of any crime or misdemeanor, by any person, shall omit to find a bill for the causes aforesaid, it shall be the duty of such jury to certify the same to the court. court when bills not found on account of in sanity. Juries acquit ting on account 21. [SEC. 1780.] Whenever the jury upon the general issue of not guilty, shall acquit any person for the cause aforesaid, it shall be of insanity so to their duty, in giving their verdict of not guilty, to state that it was for such cause. state in their verdict. |