The Town Chain Gang
Kennewick’s new municipal code establishes forced labor for inmates to settle debts and minor offenses.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
An ordinance providing for the imprisonment and working of the town prisoners. Whenever any person is convicted of any offense against the laws or ordinances of the town, the Police Justice shall enter a judgement that unless such fine, costs, and expenses are immediately paid or secured, the defendant shall be committed to the town jail. Such fines may be discharged at the rate of three dollars per day. The town marshal is required to work these prisoners on public streets, squares, alleys, sewers, ditches, and other town property. If prisoners refuse to labor when directed, they shall be confined in the town jail, with no food except bread and no drink except water, for twenty-four hours. This ordinance does not require female prisoners to perform labor, nor does it require any labor on Sundays.
“It shall be the duty of the town marshal... to work [prisoners] upon such streets, alleys, crossings, ditches or other property... and if necessary may shackle them.”
This 1905 ordinance reflects the era's reliance on criminalized poverty, where debt-peonage effectively functioned as a public works program. Today, the debate has shifted from chain gangs to the constitutionality of cash bail and court-imposed debt, highlighting a persistent tension between municipal revenue and civil rights.
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