An indeterminate sentence is one in which a maximum and a minimum term of sentence is prescribed. For each prisoner receiving an indeterminate sentence, a record is kept which includes a "biographical sketch covering such items as may indicate the causes of the criminal character or conduct of the prisoner,... a record of the demeanor, education, and labor of the prisoner while confined in such prison;..." (Ala. Acts 161, p. 148-149 [1919]). Whenever the minimum term of sentence of a prisoner had expired, this record was sent to the Board of Pardons for review. (Ala. Acts, 161, p. 149 [1919]). This series consists of the records created for indeterminate sentence prisoners and executive orders for parole. Information available in these records includes the convict's name, crime, date sentence began, sentence, maximum and minimum term, race, sex, age at conviction, war service, health, birthdate, next of kin, education, previous occupation, serial number, statement approving parole, signatures of the attorney general, secretary of state, and state auditor as members of the Board of Pardons (1901-1939), and the signature of the governor. These records were created under the Board of Pardons, the Parole Bureau, and during the administrations of Governors Charles Henderson (1915-1919), Thomas Erby Kilby (1919-1923), William Woodward Brandon (1923-1927), Bibb Graves (1927-1931 and 1935-1939), and Benjamin Meek Miller (1931-1935).
