Beacon, Dutchess County. (Note.-Commissioner of public safety, elected by the people at large, for a term of four years, at a salary of $300 a year.) Chapter 539, Laws of 1913. TITLE II. City Officers; Powers and Duties Generally. § 10. The officers of said city shall be as follows: the commissioner of public safety, elected by the people at large, for a term of four years. * * * § 17. The commissioner of public safety. He shall have charge and supervision of the sanitary, health, charity and correction departments, and shall make all rules and regulations for the conduct thereof, not in conflict with the laws of the state or ordinances of the city. He shall provide in all ways possible for the peace, safety, health, care, comfort and protection of the inhabitants of the city, and of their property, and shall recommend ordinances when advisable or necessary, to the council for such purposes. The health officer of the city shall be under his authority. He shall be the inspector of all plumbing, weights and measures, and he shall impartially enforce all laws and ordinances appertaining to his department. He shall be acting judge during the absence or inability to act of the city judge. He shall receive a salary of three hundred dollars a year, payable monthly. (As amended by chapter 547 of the Laws of 1915.) Binghamton, Broome County. (Note.-Commissioner of charities elected for a term of two years. Salary fixed by board of estimate and apportionment.) Chapter 751, Laws of 1907. TITLE XI. Department of Charities. Section 297. Commissioner of charities; clerk. 298. Bond of commissioner. 299. Powers and duties of commissioner. Section 300. Orders for relief to be in writing. 301. Cash: relief; temporary employment. 302. Audit of claims. 303. City owner of supplies. § 297. Commissioner of charities; clerk. The charities department shall be under the control and management of a commissioner of charities, to be elected as in this act provided. He may, when authorized by the board of estimate and apportionment, appoint a clerk, to hold office during his pleasure. § 298. Bond of commissioner. Before entering upon the performance of his duties, the commissioner shall give a bond to the city, in such amount as the common council shall prescribe, with sureties, to be approved by the mayor, and conditioned for the faithful performance of his duties and the full accounting to the city for all moneys or property which shall come into his hands. as such commissioner. § 299. Powers and duties of commissioner. The commissioner of charities shall have the general care, management, administration and supervision of the charities, almshouses, houses of correction, orphan asylums and all other similar institutions, the control or government of which belongs or is intrusted to the city. He shall, with the approval of the board of estimate and apportionment, make regulations for the expenditure of the moneys appropriated for the support or relief of the poor and for the general supervision of such expenditures. He shall investigate fully the circumstances of all persons alleged to be destitute or without proper means of support, or without proper guardianship or who are in danger of becoming or are a public burden upon said city; and also the circumstances of their relatives or other persons whose duty it is to relieve or maintain them or contribute to their support; also to institute and prosecute any and all actions and proceedings authorized by law to compel any and all persons liable for the care, maintenance, education or support of any such destitute or dependent persons to contribute thereto, and to indemnify the city and public against any expenditures on account thereof. He shall also prosecute any and all bonds, undertakings or recognizances given for any of the purposes herein mentioned or in any manner relating thereto. Any and all moneys recovered in any such suit, action or proceeding or otherwise paid to or received by the said commissioner on account of the care, maintenance, relief, education or support of any such persons, shall be deposited by the commissioner with the city treasurer as a trust fund, and the same shall be applied and expended by the said commissioner for the purpose on account of which the same were paid. Any surplus remaining in said fund at the close of the fiscal year shall be treated as an unexpended balance of money appropriated for such department. The commissioner shall furnish to and file with the comptroller a monthly statement in detail of all receipts and expenditures, including the aid and relief granted by him, with the names and addresses of all recipients. He shall possess all the power and authority of overseers of the poor in the several towns of the county of Broome, and be subject to the same duties, obligations and liabilities. He shall have the power to examine, under oath, any person applying for relief. § 300. Orders for relief to be in writing. All orders for relief of a poor person, issued by the commissioner, shall be in writing, and any order for such relief, any part of which is paid, directly or indirectly, in spirituous or fermented liquors, shall be void and uncollectible. § 301. Cash relief; temporary employment. In cases where, in the opinion of the commissioner, cash relief should be extended to a poor applicant, he may, with the approval of the mayor, extend such cash relief to an amount not exceeding five dollars in any one case. He may, also, when practicable, with the approval of the mayor, furnish temporary employment to indigent persons applying for relief, who are chargeable to the city of Binghamton, agree with such person on the compensation to be paid therefor, and the same shall be paid in money. § 302. Audit of claims. All claims against the city, on account of any poor relief, authorized by the commissioner of charities, shall be presented to the comptroller, accompanied by the written order of the commissioner, and shall be audited and paid in the same manner as other claims are audited and paid under the provisions of this act. § 303. City owner of supplies. The city shall continue to be the owner of all articles or supplies furnished to any poor person or applicant until the same are consumed. If any person to whom the same shall be furnished shall sell or exchange them for money or intoxicating liquor, or in any way dispose thereof, other than in the manner directed, he shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. Buffalo, Erie County. (Note.-Chapter 217, Laws of 1914, provides for a commission form of government.) § 305. Until otherwise provided by the council the department of public affairs shall include within its jurisdiction the relief of the poor. § 306. Except in case of extreme exigency and for a period of not exceeding one month, and under such regulations as the council shall prescribe, it shall not be lawful for the city to grant aid or relief to any person with whose support the city is not chargeable under the general poor laws of the state, but all such persons shall be referred to the proper state or county officer. § 307. All the books and records of the department of poor shall be open for examination at all times by any taxpayer of the city, and the names and residence of all persons relieved, with other pertinent facts, shall be kept in such books and records. § 308. The council shall by ordinance provide for the proper investigation and relief of the city poor except that hospital aid or treatment, designated "indoor relief," in abodes provided by law for cases requiring permanent assistance, shall be granted only by the superintendent of the poor of Erie county, or other proper state or county officer under the general laws of the state, and all cases requiring such relief shall be referred to the proper state or county officer. Orders for provisions, boots and shoes, fuel and other necessary articles to be furnished to applicants requiring temporary aid, designated "outdoor aid," and prescriptions for the furnishing of medicines shall be issued under such regulations and by such officers as the council may provide, and when so issued they shall be valid evidence of indebtedness against the city in the hands of the person, firm or corporation accepting and filling the same. § 309. It shall be a misdemeanor for any person or firm to furnish beer, liquors or intoxicating drinks of any kind on an order of the character provided in the preceding section, or to buy any such order from the person to whom it was issued, or from any other person, before it has been accepted and filled, or to furnish any article not specified or embraced therein. § 310. Any fraud practiced or false representation made by an applicant for city aid or relief, or by any other person, to procure aid or relief to be given, or to procure any order for outdoor aid to be accepted or filled, or to be paid by the city, or any willful act of any city officer or other person, designed to impede or in any way to interfere with the just and proper administration of this department shall be a misdemeanor. Canandaigua, Ontario County. (Note.-Commissioner of charity appointed by the mayor for a term of two years and receives same per diem compensation paid to overseers of the poor in towns.) * Chapter 371, Laws of 1913. TITLE I. § 7. City regarded as a town for certain purposes. * * The said city of Canandaigua shall also be considered. a town for the purposes specified in the "poor law," chapter fortytwo of the consolidated laws, being chapter forty-six of the laws of nineteen hundred and nine and the acts amendatory thereof. And the poor of said city shall be received and cared for in the |