Establishing the Penitentiary's Pay
Legislators grapple with the cost of housing inmates at the Steilacoom jail while the permanent penitentiary site remains a mystery.
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.
Mr. Clark from the Judiciary committee reported a bill authorizing Egbert H. Tucker, Sheriff of Pierce county, to receive pay for the future expense of keeping Penitentiary convicts which may have been, or may hereafter be placed in his charge. This bill is almost as good as making the Steilacoom Jail the Penitentiary, until we really find out where the Territorial Penitentiary is to be built. On motion of Mr. Biles the board per week was fixed at $4, and the per diem of Sheriff was fixed at $5.00 per day.
“This bill is almost as good as making the Steilacoom Jail the Penitentiary, until we really find out where the Territorial Penitentiary is to be built.”
The struggle to find a site for a state institution—and the immediate, often messy costs of relying on stop-gap facilities—is a foundational conflict in Washington state governance that continues today regarding correctional and mental health facilities.
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