Pennsylvania Statutes Title 71 P.S. State Government § 1472. Visitations and inspections by Department

It shall be the duty of the commissioner to visit and inspect, or cause to be visited or inspected by an officer, inspector, or agent of the department at such time as the commissioner may determine, at least once in each year, all State institutions, charitable institutions, prisons, almshouses, poorhouses, hospitals, houses, places, institutions, associations, societies, and homes, under the supervision of the department as provided in section nine of this act,  1 and to inquire and examine into their methods of instruction, discipline, detention, imprisonment, care, or treatment, the care, treatment, government or management of their inmates, or those committed thereto or being imprisoned, detained, treated, or residing therein, the official conduct of their inspectors, trustees, managers, directors, or other officer or officers, charged with their management by law or otherwise, or having the management, care, custody, or control thereof, the buildings, grounds, premises, and equipment thereof or connected therewith, and all and every matter and thing relating to their usefulness, administration, and management, and to the welfare of the inmates thereof or those committed thereto or being imprisoned, detained, treated, or residing therein; and for these purposes the commissioner or other officer, inspector, or agent of the department shall have free and full access to the grounds, premises, and buildings of, and to all the records, books, or papers of or relating to, any such State institution, charitable institution, prison, almshouse, poorhouse, hospital, house, place, institution, association, society, or home, and full opportunity to interrogate or interview any inmate thereof or any person or persons committed to or being imprisoned, detained, treated, or residing therein.

All persons connected with any such State institution, charitable institution, prison, almshouse, poorhouse, hospital, house, place, institution, association, society, or home, as officers, or charged with the management thereof by law or otherwise, or in any way having the care, custody, control, or management thereof, or connected therewith as employés, are hereby directed and required to give the commissioner, or such officer, inspector, or agent of the department, such means, facilities, and opportunity for such visitation, examination, inquiry, and interrogation as is hereby provided and required or as the department, by its duly ordained rules or regulations, may require.

Whenever, upon such visitation, examination, and inspection of any penitentiary, prison, reformatory, almshouse, or poorhouse, any condition is found to exist therein which, in the opinion of the commissioner, is unlawful or detrimental to the proper maintenance, discipline, hygienic conditions of such penitentiary, prison, reformatory, almshouse, or poorhouse, or to the proper care, maintenance, custody, and welfare of the inmates thereof or the persons committed thereto or being treated, detained, or residing therein, the commissioner shall direct the officer or officers charged by law with or in any way having or exercising the control, government, or management of such penitentiary, prison, reformatory, almshouse, or poorhouse, to correct the said objectionable condition in the manner and within the time specified by the commissioner. In case of the neglect, refusal, or failure of any such officer to comply with such directions, the commissioner shall certify the facts in the case to the district attorney of the proper county, whose duty it shall be thereupon to proceed by indictment or otherwise to remedy the said objectionable condition.