 Although the Chief Magistrate (now Commissioner of Police) was given control over prisons in 1841, the legislation to create the department did not come into being until 1853.CSD was part of the Hong Kong Police Force until 1879 when the role of Superintendent of Victoria Gaol was created.The department has been financially independent from the Hong Kong Police Force since December 1920, when the Superintendent of Victoria Gaol was re-titled as the Superintendent of Prisons.