Executive

The department traces its origin to 1625 when Dutch colonial authorities appointed a schout-fiscal to examine the accounts of New Amsterdam. In 1658, a Board of Audit consisting of a director general, receiver general, and a council member assumed auditing responsibilities. After the English took control of the colony in 1664, the auditing function was carried out by a royally appointed auditor general.

From the opening of the first State prison in 1797 until the present day, New York State's correctional system has had a wide influence on the direction of criminology and penology in the United States. Among the important early institutions established in New York State were: Newgate Prison (1797), Auburn Prison (1818), New York House of Refuge (1824), Sing Sing Prison (1828), Dannemora Prison (1845), Western House of Refuge (1849), Elmira Reformatory (1876), and Bedford Hills Reformatory for Women (1901).

The first state-sponsored program using visual aids for educational purposes was funded by the New York State Legislature in 1886. At this time, the Superintendent of Public Instruction contracted with the American Museum of Natural History to provide free illustrated lectures on scientific subjects such as anatomy, physiology, zoology, and physical geography. At first, these lectures were only given in New York City and were attended by teachers and the general public. Soon after, lecture materials were provided to normal schools throughout the state.

The origins of this agency can be traced back to the founding of an association on January 7, 1862 whose purpose was to afford relief to sick, wounded, and destitute New York State soldiers stationed in the Washington, D.C. area. Recognizing the usefulness of such an organization, the state legislature appropriated $30,000 for transportation, care, and hospital supplies for sick and wounded New York State soldiers. Under authority of this act (Chapter 458, Laws of 1862) Governor Edwin D. Morgan appointed S. H. Swetland agent in charge of disbursing these funds.

Clinton Correctional Facility is a receiving prison, admitting inmates on direct commitment from the courts as well as by transfer from other institutions. The direct court commitments are received from the Third and Fourth Judicial Districts embracing 18 counties. Clinton is a maximum security walled institution for male prisoners convicted of felonies. Clinton prison had its origins with the passage of Chapter 245 of the Laws of 1844 providing for the establishment of a prison for the employment of convicts in the mining and manufacturing of iron.

Matteawan State Hospital was established by a commission created by a law of 1886 (Chapter 192) "to inquire into and determine the best method of meeting the demand for additional accommodations" and land for the inmates of the State Asylum for Insane Criminals at Auburn. The following year (Laws of 1887, Chapter 545), this act was amended, authorizing the commissioners to select a site on which to build a new asylum. On the recommendations of the commissioners, an appropriation was made for a new asylum for insane criminals to be constructed at Matteawan (Laws of 1888, Chapter 45).

Continuation and expansion of community services during World War II depended largely on volunteers and initially was organized primarily by women. The Office of Civilian Mobilization (OCM) was created to recruit volunteers for participation in the civilian war effort in areas such as child care, recreation, health services, war production, food production and preservation, and salvage. As World War II progressed and the United States' involvement grew, the citizens of New York considered it their duty to support the war effort overseas by volunteering their services at home.

The Federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) was established by Presidential Executive Order No. 7034 on May 6, 1935 to coordinate execution of the Federal work relief program. The Federal Writers' Project (FWP) was approved the following July as part of Federal Project One, the WPA Arts Program. The FWP was supervised by WPA's Division of Women's and Professional Projects (1935-1939), Division of Professional and Service Projects (1939-1941), and Division of Community Service Projects (1941-1942).

The facility at Bedford Hills originated with a law of 1892 (Chapter 637), "An Act to provide for the establishment of a reformatory for women, and making an appropriation therefor." The reformatory, to be known as the "reformatory for women," was to be located in New York or Westchester County. The governor was to appoint five state residents, including at least two women, as a board of managers who were to purchase land and buy or construct buildings.

Due to serious overpopulation of Newgate, New York's first state prison, the state legislature in 1816 authorized the creation of a commission to secure a site in Auburn for a second state prison similar to Newgate. The commissioners were appropriated {dollar}20,000 for the purchase of the land and were required to submit a plan of the proposed prison to the chancellor and judges of the Supreme Court for approval before construction began (Chapter 85, Laws of 1816). By 1818 the prison was ready to house inmates.