The General Assembly of North Carolina do enact:

Section 1. That the Eastern North Carolina Insane Asylum is hereby constituted a corporation, and shall be and remain a corporation under that name, and the said Eastern North Carolina Insane Asylum is hereby invested with all the property and rights held by the colored insane asylum near Goldsboro, and by that name to-wit, The Eastern North Carolina Insane Asylum, it may acquire and hold for the purpose of the accommodation, maintenance, support and care of the colored insane of this state all such property and estate as may be devised, bequeathed or in any way given or conveyed to it.

Sec. 2. The affairs of the Eastern North Carolina Insane Asylum shall be managed by a board of nine directors, of whom five shall be a quorum for the transaction of business, and the term of office for the first board to be appointed under this Act shall begin March first, one thousand eight hundred and eighty-one, or as soon thereafter as they may be confirmed by the senate, and continue until the first meeting—at which time they shall be divided into three classes: the seats of the first class shall be vacated at the expiration of the secend year, of the second class at the expiration of the fourth year, and of the third class at the expiration of the sixth year, from the time of their appointment, and afterwards they shall be appointed at the expiration of their respective terms for six years.

Sec. 3. The board of directors shall out of their number appoint three members as an executive committee, two of whom shall reside in or near the town of Goldsboro, who shall hold their office as such for one year, and shall have such powers, and be subject to such duties as the board of directors may prescribe, not inconsistent with the provisions of this Act.

Sec. 4. The board of directors shall complete the erection of the asylum and such out buildings as may be necessary for the purposes of its construction, as appropriations may be made for that object, and they shall direct and manage the affairs of the institution, and for its better government,.make all necessary by-laws, not inconsistent with the laws of the state, shall have power to receive, hold, manage, convey or otherwise dispose of, in the name of the institution, all such property or estate as may hereafter be given, or otherwise conveyed to the asylum; and the members of the board shall serve without reward, save their traveling expenses incurred in the discharge of their official duties.

Sec. 5. The board of directors shall convene at the asylum on the first Wednesday after the first Monday in each year, and at such other times as they shall appoint, and investigate the administration of its affairs and report on the same to the general assembly, with such remarks and recommendations as to them shall seem expedient.

Sec. 6. The board of directors shall appoint a superintendent of the institution and prescribe his duties. He shall be a skillful physician, educated to his profession, of good moral character, of prompt business habits, of kindly disposition, and a married man, and he shall reside in the institution. He shall hold his office for six years from and after his appointment, unless sooner removed by the board, who may, for infidelity to his trust, gross immorality, incompetency to discharge the duties of his office, fully proved and declared, and the proof thereof recorded in the book of their proceedings, remove him and appoint another in his place.

Sec. 7. The board of directors, when in their judgment it may become necessary, may appoint an assistant physician, and with the advice and consent of the superintendent prescribe his duties. He shall hold his place for four years from and after his appointment, unless sooner removed by the board for good cause, which shall be specified and recorded in their proceedings.

Sec. 8. The board of directors at their annual meeting shall (on the nomination of the superintendent) appoint a steward, matron and other officers, whose appointment is not elsewhere vested, who shall hold their places for one year from the first of January ensuing their appointment, unless sooner removed by the board for good cause, which cause shall be specified and recorded in their proceedings, and other officers shall be appointed for the unexpired term of those removed. The public treasurer shall be treasurer ex-officio.

Sec. 9. The board of directors, at their annual meeting, shall fix the salaries and compensation of the superintendent and the officers and employees whose services may be necessary for the management of the asylum: Provided, That the salaries shall not be diminished during the term of the incumbents.

Sec. 10. The superintendent shall exercise exclusive direction and control over all the subordinate officers and employees engaged in the service and labors of the asylum, and in every case of misconduct may discharge such employees, as have been employed by himself or his predecessor, and shall report to the board of directors the misconduct of all other subordinates.

Sec. 11. The board of directors shall make all such by-laws and regulations for the government of the institution as shall be necessary, among which regulations shall be such as shall, in the language of the constitution, make the institution as nearly self supporting as is consistent with the purpose of its creation. The board shall cause the by-laws and regulations, the report of the superintendent, and that of the treasurer to be published with their report to the general assembly, copies of which shall be sent to the clerk of the superior court of each and every county in the state.

Sec. 12. The board of directors shall hold meetings at the asylum from time to time, and diligently examine into the government and condition, as often as they may deem necessary.

Sec. 13. Every insane colored person confined in jail for any other cause than crime, may be removed to the Eastern North Carolina Insane Asylum, upon the order of the clerk of the superior court of the county in which the jail is situated.

Sec. 14. The judges of the superior courts in the respective districts shall allow to be committed to the asylum as a patient any person who may be confined in jail on a criminal charge of any kind or degree, or upon a peace warrant, whenever the judge shall be satisfied by a verdict of a jury of inquisition that the alleged criminal act was committed while such person was insane.

Sec. 15. For admission into the asylum, in other cases, the following proceedings shall be had: Some respectable citizen residing in the county of the alleged insane person shall make before and file with a justice of the peace of the county, an affidavit in writing, which shall be substantially as follows:

State of North Carolina,
____________ County.

The undersigned, residing in said county, maketh oath
that he hath carefully examined _____ _____ , the alleged
lunatic, and believes him (or her) to be an insane person,
and he (or she) is, in the opinion of the undersigned, a fit
subject for admission into the insane asylum.

Dated ____ day of __________, 18___
A _____________ B ______________ (Affiant)
Subscribed and sworn to:
C _____________ D ______________ (J.P.)

Whereupon, unless the person or persons, in whose care and custody the alleged insane is, will agree to bring him or her before the said justice without a warrant, the justice shall issue a precept, directed to the sheriff or a constable as follows:

State of North Carolina.
To the Sheriff or Constable of ____________ County—Greeting:

Whereas, information on oath has been laid before me,
that _____ ______ is an insane person: You are hereby
commanded to bring him (or her) before me, or some
other justice of the peace of said county, within the next
ten days, in order that necessary proceedings maybe had
respecting his (or her) insane condition.

Given under my hand this ___ day ___________ of 18___
C _____________ D _______________ , J. P.

Upon the bringing of the alleged insane person before the justice by his or her friends, or upon the return of the precept with the body of the insane person, the justice shall cause to be associated with him two or more justices of the county, who together shall proceed to examine into the condition of mind of the supposed insane person, and shall take the testimony of at least one respectable physician, and such other of them as they may think proper. If the justices, or any two of them, shall decide that such person is insane, and some friend, as he may do, will not become bound, with good security, to restrain him or her from committing injuries, and to keep, support and take care of him or her, until the cause for confinement shall cease, the said justices, or any two of them, shall direct the insane person to be removed to the asylum as a patient, and to that end they shall direct a warrant to the sheriff or constable, and at the same time shall transmit to the board of directors, the examination of the witnesses, and a statement of such facts as the said justices shall deem pertinent to the subject matter, which warrant shall be substantially as follows:

The State op North Carolina,
To the sheriff or constable of __________ county—greeting:

Whereas, It has been made to satisfactorily appear to
us, C _____ D _____ and E _____ F _____ , justices of the peace
of said county, that A _____ B _____ , a citizen of the state, is
an insane person, that he has a legal settlement in said
county, and is a fit subject for the insane asylum, and
that his being at large is injurious to himself, and disadvantageous
if not dangerous to the community: You
are hereby commanded to take the said A _____ B _____ ,
and convey him to the Eastern North Carolina Insane
Asylum at Goldsboro, and there deliver him to the superintendent
thereof for safe-keeping.

Given under our hands this ___ day of ______________ , 18___
C ______ D ______ , J. P.
E _______ F ______, J. P.

Sec. 16. Whenever the justices of the peace, under the provisions of the preceding section, shall direct any insane person to be removed to the asylum as a patient for safe-keeping, it shall be their duty to make a full report of their proceedings to the clerk of the superior court of their county. The following interrogatories with their respective answers by competent witnesses shall likewise be transmitted with the other papers to the board of directors:

Question 1. What is the name of the patient?
Question 2. Is he or she white or colored?
Question 3. What is his or her age?
Question 4. Is he or she married or single?
Question 5. What is the supposed cause of insanity?
Question 6. In what way is the disease exhibited?
Question 7. Has any medical treatment been pursued? If so, what kind, and by whom?
Question 8. How long has he or she been insane? Count from first symptoms.
Question 9. Has the patient manifested any propensity to injure himself or others? If so, in what way?
Question 10. Has he or she been subject to epilepsy?
Question 11. Has any of his or her ancestors been insane ? If so, state what ancestors, and what was the character of their insanity?
Question 12. Has he or she any family, and, if so, what persons compose it?
Question 13. Are any of them insane, and what is the character of such insanity?
Question 14. What is the occupation of the patient?
Question 15. How many attacks of mental disease has the patient had?
Question 16. Are the parents of the insane person related by blood? If so, what is the degree of relationship?
Question 17. Has the applicant property ? If so, state in what such property consists, and what is the value thereof?
Question 18. Is the applicant under any forcible restraint? If so, what?
Question 19. Has the patient received any aid from the county? If so, what?
Question 20. Give name and address of the friends of the patient, with whom the superintendent can regularly correspond in his behalf.

Sec. 17. Whenever an insane person shall be conveyed to the asylum, and the superintendent is in doubt as to the propriety of his or her admission, he may convene the board of directors (any three of whom shall constitute a board) for the purpose of examining and deciding if such person is a proper subject for admission, and if a majority of such board decide that he or she is such, he or she shall be received into the asylum; but such board may, at any time thereafter, deliver said insane person to any friend, who will become bound, with good security, to restrain him or her from committing injuries, and to keep, maintain and take care of him or her in the same manner as he or she might have become bound under the authority of the justices of the peace.

Sec. 18. Whenever the superintendent shall deem an insane person to be incurable, and that his or her being at large would not be injurious to himself or herself, or dangerous to the community, he shall certify the fact to the clerk of the superior court of the county from which the patient was sent, and also to the board of directors (any three of whom shall constitute a board) who may, if deemed expedient, remove such patient from the asylum.

Sec. 19. When an affidavit in writing shall be made before a justice of the peace, by a citizen of the state, that any person who has been found by the inquisition of a jury to be a lunatic, or "non compos mentis" and whose estate in the hands of his or her guardian shall be sufficient to support him or her and family, if he or she has any, is mischievously inclined, and that his or her going at large is dangerous to the community, it shall be lawful for said justice to issue his warrant requiring the sheriff to bring him or her before two justices of the peace within ten days, in order that the complaint maybe duly examined, and the sheriff, when he executes the warrant, is to notify the guardian.

Sec. 20. If the said justices, on the return of the warrant, are satisfied that the facts stated in the complaint are true, it shall be their duty to issue process to the sheriff commanding him to take such insane person and convey him or her to the Eastern North Carolina insane asylum, and there to deliver him or her to the superintendent thereof for safe-keeping: Provided, however, That the mischievous disposition of such insane person shall have been proved by at least two competent witnesses, who have been acquainted with him or her for more than twelve months.

Sec. 21. If the insane person, mentioned in the preceding section, be sent to the asylum, a copy of the proceedings shall be returned by the justice to the clerk of the superior court of his county, who shall have power from time to time to make such orders or decrees concerning the payment of the expenses of sending him or her to said asylum, or sending him or her back, should he or she be discharged therefrom, as to said clerk shall seem just and reasonable under the circumstances of the case.

Sec. 22. Any judge of the superior or supreme courts may make an order for the discharge from the asylum of any person confined there under this Act, if the superintendent thereof shall certify to him in writing that he is well satisfied that such person is not mischievous, and would not be dangerous to the community if discharged: Provided, That the signature to the certificate be duly acknowledged or proved before the clerk of the superior court of Wayne County, and shall be certified by him under his official seal. All bonds executed for restraining insane persons from committing injuries and for their safe-keeping, support and care shall be payable to the state of North Carolina in the sum of five hundred dollars at least, and shall be transmitted to the clerk of the superior court of the county wherein the insane person is settled for safe-keeping, and may be put in suit by any person injured by the insane person, by reason of his or her insane condition, and shall be put in suit by the solicitor for the judicial district in which the county of the insane person's residence is situated for any other breach thereof, wherein the damages received shall be for the use of the insane person, and shall be at least fifty dollars.

Sec. 23. The form of the bond mentioned in the preceding section shall be as follows:

State of North Carolina,
____________ County.

Know all men by these present that we, A _____ B _____ ,
principal, and C _____ D _____ and E _____ F _____ , sureties,
are held and firmly bound unto the state of North Carolina
in the sum of _______ dollars for the payment whereof
we bind ourselves, and each of us.

Witness our hands and seals this the ___ day __________ of 18___.

The condition of the above obligation is this: Whereas,
the said A _____ B _____ , with the view of hindering
G _____ H _____ , an insane person, resident in the county
aforesaid, from being sent to the Eastern North Carolina
Insane Asylum, (or effect his release from the said
asylum, as the case may be,) hath undertaken to restrain
him (or her) from committing injuries and to keep, maintain,
support and take care of him (or her) : Now if said
A _____ B _____ shall faithfully comply with the conditions
of this obligation, then the same shall be void,
otherwise it shall be in full force.

A _____ B _____ , [Seal.]
C _____ D _____ , [Seal.]
E ______ F _____ , [Seal.]

Sec. 24. Whenever it shall be made to appear to the clerk of the superior court of the county, in which such insane person was resident, that the conditions of the bond are not faithfully complied with, the insane person shall be sent to the asylum by such clerk of the superior court, unless some other responsible and discreet friend will undertake to fulfil the duties of said obligation, and whenever said insane person shall be sent back to the asylum, he or she shall not be delivered on any new bond or the defaulting obligor.

Sec. 25. All dues to the asylum from any and all sources shall be paid into the public treasury, and the said Eastern North Carolina Insane Asylum shall be supported by appropriations from the public treasury. All moneys applied for the use and support of the institution and the insane therein, shall be paid out of the public treasury, on warrants drawn by the majority of the board of directors, or by the superintendent, and countersigned by at least two of the board of directors, and approved by the governor, and all disbursements shall be made upon the warrant of the superintendent.

Sec. 26. All money and the proceeds of property given to the asylum, and all money arising from any estate which may be owned by the asylum, and all sums derived from the payments for the support and care of pay patients, the charges for whose maintenance shall be fixed by the board of directors, shall be paid into the public treasury, and all donations in which there shall be special directions for its application, shall be kept as a distinct fund, and shall be faithfully applied as the donor may have directed.

Sec. 27. The board of directors shall have power to compromise or settle, on such terms as may seem to them equitable, all claims due the asylum for board of paying patients, whether in suit or otherwise.

Sec. 28. The board of directors shall have power to regulate admissions into the asylum, having regard to probabilities of curing the parties of their mental diseases, and, in the admission of patients, preference shall be given to the indigent insane: Provided, That the board of directors shall have power to regulate admissions as to receive cases of probable curability, as may best subserve the purpose of the institution.

Sec. 29. In order to secure their constant supervision and attendance, the officers and employees of the asylum shall be exempt from serving on juries, in the militia and from the duty of working on the public roads.

Sec. 30. The board of directors shall cause all their proceedings to be faithfully and carefully written and recorded in books, and to this end may employ a clerk (who may be the treasurer) and pay him a reasonable compensation for his services. The books shall at all times be open to the inspection of the general assembly.

Sec. 31. The board of public charities and the members of the general assembly shall be ex-officio visitors of the insane asylum. It shall be the duty of the board of public charities to visit the asylum from time to time, as they may deem expedient, to examine its condition and make report thereon to the general assembly, with such suggestions and remarks as they think proper.

Sec. 32. The close of the fiscal year shall be the thirty-first of December in each and every year, and all accounts
and estimates shall be made with reference thereto.

Sec. 33. All laws and clauses of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.

Sec. 34. This Act shall be in force from its ratification.

Ratified this the 5th day of March, A.D. 1881.

Thomas J. Jarvis, Governor
Charles M. Cooke, Speaker of the House of Representatives
James L. Robinson, Lt. Governor and President of the Senate

State of North Carolina,
Office Secretary of State,
Raleigh, May 14th, 1881.

I, William L. Saunders, Secretary of State, hereby
certify that the foregoing are true copies of the original
acts and resolutions on file in this office.

William L. Saunders,
Secretary of State.