§17-5-12. Work which may be performed by convicts other than on state road force.

Convicts of either sex not employed in the state convict road force as provided by article five, chapter seventeen, may be employed by the warden under the directions of the state commissioner of public institutions in work for the state penitentiary or any farm now or hereafter under control of the state and in work for any public, nonprofit enterprise or program sponsored by the state or any of its governmental subdivisions, but such convicts actually confined within the penitentiary and not available for outside work shall as far as possible, be used in the making of articles required by the state departments and institutions. The warden may charge the various state departments and institutions for such convict-made supplies the actual costs of the materials used in the manufacture of the articles furnished them and, in addition thereto, an amount sufficient to defray the maintenance cost of the prisoners employed in such manufacture and to keep in repair with suitable replacements the machinery, tools and appliances used in the manufacture of such articles, to the extent of the fair market price thereof, the amount of which shall be stated by the state commissioner of public institutions. Any articles and supplies so manufactured and not required by the state departments and institutions may be sold by the warden to municipalities and counties and the agencies thereof, or to federal agencies, upon the same terms and conditions, but in no event shall such articles be sold to private persons, firms or corporations, or be sold or consumed otherwise than by public departments and institutions of government.

This article shall not impair any contracts now existing between the state commissioner of public institutions and any person, firm or corporation for the use of convict labor for manufacturing within the walls of the penitentiary, nor prevent the hiring of convicts either within or without the walls as otherwise provided by this article.