When any prisoner shall be received into said penitentiary, the superintendent [warden] shall cause to be entered into a register the date of such admission, the name, age, nativity, nationality, with such other facts as can be ascertained of parentage, education, occupation, and early social influences as seem to indicate the constitutional and acquired defects and tendencies of the prisoner. Based upon these, an estimate shall be made of the present condition of the prisoner, and the best probable plan of treatment.
The physician of said penitentiary shall carefully examine each prisoner when received and shall enter in a register to be kept by him, the name, nationality or race, the weight, stature and family history of each prisoner, also a statement of the condition of the heart, lungs, and other leading organs, the rate of the pulse and respiration, the measurement of the chest and abdomen, and any existing disease or deformity, or other disability, acquired or inherited.
Upon the superintendent's [warden's] register shall be entered from time to time minutes of observed improvement or deterioration of character, and notes as to the method and treatment employed; also all alterations affecting the standing or situation of such prisoner, and any subsequent facts or personal history which may be brought officially to his knowledge bearing upon the question of the parole or final release of the prisoner.
History: 1953 Comp., § 42-1-31.2, enacted by Laws 1955, ch. 149, § 3.
ANNOTATIONSBracketed material. — The bracketed material was inserted by the compiler and is not part of the law.
The references to "warden" in the first and third paragraphs were inserted by the compiler, as the 1977 amendments to a number of sections of this article, found in Laws 1977, ch. 257, §§ 64, 66, 69, 71, 76, 77 to 79, compiled as 33-2-6, 33-2-9, 33-2-12, 33-2-15, 33-2-32, 33-2-36, 33-2-37 NMSA 1978, substituted "warden" for "superintendent" so that retention of reference to "superintendent" in this section may have been a legislative oversight. But see, however, 33-1-2 NMSA 1978 defining "superintendent."
Cross references. — For physician's opinion on inmate's disability, see 33-2-13 NMSA 1978.
Section does not require entry of prisoner's release date on any record. Rather it requires the keeping of records regarding matters which bear upon the question of final release. Apodaca v. Rodriguez, 1972-NMSC-067, 84 N.M. 338, 503 P.2d 318.
Records of state penitentiary are public records and should be made available for public inspection in accordance with the provisions of Laws 1947, ch. 130. 1951 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 51-5342.