Research

Scope and Content Note

These volumes provide information on two related topics: inmate conduct, whether good or bad; and punishments for misconduct.

1. Inmate conduct: Conduct reports are from institution officers to the Superintendent or Assistant Superintendent (1882-1894) or from the Chief of the Department of Discipline to particular institution officers (1894-1897) and provide: date; name and number of inmates (no inmate numbers in Volume 7, 1894-1897); offense, or an indication of good or improved behavior; and by whom reported (1882-1894 only).

2. Punishments for misconduct: These are recorded separately next to the conduct reports except for those from 1894-1897 (Volume 7), where conduct and punishment are recorded together in a single report by the Chief of the Department of Discipline. The separate punishment reports were recorded by the Superintendent or Assistant Superintendent and provide: date; name and number of inmate(s); and punishment(s) for reported offense(s).

Institution bylaws required that a report of misconduct be filed in a "Complaint Book" before any inmate could be punished for an offense.