Philadelphia Home Rule Charter § 5-1200 Functions.
§ 5-1200. Functions.
The Department of Prisons shall have the power and its duty shall be to perform the following functions:
(a) City Prisons. The Department shall have general supervision over, and direction and control of the management of, all City correctional facilities now or hereafter owned or operated by the City. The Department shall study and implement standards and methods for the government and administration of correctional facilities and the betterment of their inmates.
(b) Inmate Labor. The Department shall:
(1) Establish and arrange for the maintenance of industries and, where feasible, farms, in or in connection with City correctional facilities for the compensable employment of all physically capable persons sentenced to such institutions;
(2) Arrange for the compensable employment of inmates of City correctional facilities at such work or labor within or upon the grounds of any City institution as may be necessary for its maintenance;
(3) Transfer to the City or other public agencies, by sale or otherwise, articles manufactured or produced in any City correctional facility which cannot be used therein;
(4) Require each City correctional facility to keep proper records of the labor performed by its inmates, of the compensation paid to them, of the articles manufactured or produced therein, and of their disposition.
(c) Re-entry of Returning Citizens. The Department shall maintain a program for facilitating the reintegration of individuals returning from incarceration.
(d) The Department of Prisons shall exercise all the powers and perform all the duties previously exercised and performed by the Board of Trustees of the House of Correction and, with respect to penal, reformatory and correctional institutions, the Department of Public Welfare.