Introduction. In modern conditions, several promising directions in the study of the penitentiary system of the Russian Federation are being actualized. In the context of these scientific developments, the research into the historical and legal aspects of the legislative policy of late Imperial Russia to improve the organizational structure, management bodies and functioning of institutions of the penal system has become particularly relevant. Theoretical analysis. During the modernization of the penitentiary system of Russia in the late XIX – early XX centuries, laws, circulars and instructions were adopted to improve the efficiency of the management of individual places of detention of the civil department and prison guards. The legal regulation of the penal enforcement legislation made it possible to structure and improve the activities of the management, supervision and support staff of the prison department. Еmpirical analysis. It has been revealed that purposeful activities aimed at optimizing office work, establishing a correct and monotonous order of documentation, accounting and reporting in the offices of prison castles occupied an important place in the activities of the Main Prison Administration, Prison departments of the Provincial Government in the provinces. Results. During the implementation of the prison reform in the Russian Empire in 1879, a systematic modernization of the penitentiary system in the country took place. The legal regulation of the activities played the primary role in improving the management and organization of the work of all structures of the prison department, which is documented by the materials of penitentiary institutions of the Saratov province of late XIX – early XX centuries.