Section 1. The General Assembly of North Carolina do enact, That the Penitentiary required to be built by Article eleven, section three, of the Constitution be erected at or near Raleigh, Wake County, on a site selected by the Commissioners.

Sec. 2. That a stockade including not less than four, nor more than six acres of land, shall be immediately erected inclosing said site, and that within this stockade shall be built five hundred cells for convicts, to be constructed in the most approved manner, after the most recent plans, to be sanctioned by the Commissioners hereafter to be appointed, embracing all improvements and necessary accommodations, and security for safe keeping and health, required in institutions of this kind, and to construct it on a plan that will hereafter admit of having added thereto other cells as may be required by the necessities of the State, without destroying the symmetry of the building, but as completing the original design; and to be enclosed by a wall of such dimensions and solidity as is usual in the best constructed institutions of this kind in our country; Provided, That the outer wall of the Penitentiary be constructed of granite rock or ground sand stone, and that the exterior wall of the cells be of the same durable and solid material, but that the walls in the interior, dividing the cells or forming corridors, may be of brick, if approved by aforesaid Commissioners, and that the building be well ventilated and capable of being warmed as may be desired, in the use of the most recent and approved means.

Sec. 3. That when any lands, right of way, quarry or quarries of rock, may be required for the construction of the Penitentiary, or to make access to, or egress from it convenient, and if for want of agreement as to the value of such property, the same cannot be purchased from the owner or owners, the same may be taken by the Commissioners at a valuation made by five disinterested persons, or a majority of them, to be appointed by the Commissioners of the County in which the property is held. Said persons shall make a proper return to the Clerk of the Superior Court of the award, which shall be placed on file in that office; Provided, however, That either party to this proceeding may have an appeal to the Superior Court. The award shall, on its final settlement, be paid by the Commissioners.

Sec. 4. That C. L. Harris, Alfred Dockery, S. F. Patterson, Alfred Howe and G. Wm. Welker, be and are hereby appointed Commissioners, who shall purchase the site selected, to consist of not less than twelve, nor more than twenty-five acres, if purchased, and have the conveyance of the same property made to the State and recorded in the office of the Register of Deeds for the County in which the Penitentiary shall be erected; Provided, That if any person or persons shall make a free gift of the tract of land selected as the site for the Penitentiary, they are authorized to have the same conveyed to the State for the use and benefit of the Penitentiary, and to have the deed recorded as aforesaid.

Sec. 5. That the Treasurer be authorized to pay to said Commissioners, from any moneys in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, such sums as may be needed for actual expenses in the erection of the said Penitentiary, together with the necessary implements and machinery for the profitable employment of the convicts therein, not to exceed the sum of fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) in any one year, from the taxes collected by the revenue bill ratified on the .... day of ............ eighteen hundred and sixty-nine, and that Act is so much amended as to embrace this appropriation. All requisitions shall be signed by the Commissioners and approved by the Governor; that said sums are appropriated.

Sec. 6. That said Commissioners shall, in every instance possible, make use of the labor of the convicts in the preparation of the material and the erection of the cells and wall, in order to lessen the public expense, and that they be allowed to use all proper and humane means to prevent their escape.

Sec. 7. Said Commissioners shall give bond and approved security to the State, in a sum approved by the Governor, for the faithful application of the money drawn by them from the Treasury: Provided, That the Commissioners shall not pay over any portion of the sum authorized by section five, until all the proposals for the location of the Penitentiary shall be fully complied with and shall report a full and correct account of the receipts and disbursements to the General Assembly every year until the building, as provided for in this Act, is completed. They shall contract for the performance of the work provided for in this Act, and the material used in the same by first rate workmen on such terms as are just and prudent: Provided, That in any contract so made, it shall be required that as much of the labor of the convicts as can be made available shall be used in the erection of the Penitentiary, and in the quarrying and preparation of the stone, and on such terms as are equitable and just to the State and the contractor. The contractor shall be required to give bond and sufficient security for the proper fulfillment of the contract, and he shall not be released from its terms or the sum contracted for be paid him, until the General Assembly is satisfied that, in all respects, the contract has been complied with; and all contracts made by the Commissioners shall be in writing, and shall be recorded in the office of the Register of Deeds for the County aforesaid.

Sec. 8. The Commissioners shall be authorized to appoint an Architect, Superintendent, assistants, and guard for the management and safe keeping of the prison, and fix their salaries until the meeting of the General Assembly. They shall also approve of the design of the building, and they may appoint one of their number, under instructions, to visit one or more of the largest and best managed State prisons or Penitentiaries in this country, and to obtain information that will aid them in the prosecution of their work: Provided, That none of the aforesaid Commissioners shall hold any position as Superintendent or any other office of the institution, nor be interested, directly or indirectly, in any contract made for the construction of the Penitentiary or any part relating thereto.

Sec. 9. That any vacancy occurring in the Board of Commissioners by death, resignation or otherwise, shall be filled by the Governor. Said Commissioners shall receive no compensation for their services over and above all the necessary and actual expenses incurred in the prosecution of the business intrusted to them by the General Assembly.

Sec. 10. That so soon as provision is made for their safe keeping and support, the Commissionets shall apply to the Governor, who shall order to be placed under their charge as many of the convicts, whose term of punishment is longest, as may be needed in the quarrying of stone, the preparation of the site and grounds, and in the erection of the cells: Provided, That, until permanent cells are erected, the convicts shall be kept in temporary cells provided within the stockade, on the site and the quarry.

Sec. 11. This Act shall be in force from its ratification.

Ratified the 12th day of April, A.D., 1869.

William W. Holden, Governor
Joseph W. Holden, Speaker of the House of Representatives
Tod R. Caldwell, Lt. Governor and President of the Senate

State of North Carolina
Office of Secretary of State,
Raleigh, September 1st, 1869.

I, Henry J. Menninger, Secretary of State, hereby
certify that the foregoing are true copies of the original
public acts and resolutions on file in this office.

Henry J. Menninger,
Secretary of State.