The Louisiana Legislature in 1840 passed an act to permit the establishment by the three municipalities of workhouses or prisons to house and employ "all persons legally committed by any magistrate authorized to commit vagrants." On March 14, 1842, the Sheriff of the Criminal Court notified the First Municipality Council that he would no longer accept vagrants or others sent to the Parish Prison for violations of municipal ordinances. The Police Committee of the Council proposed, and the body accepted, an ordinance establishing a workhouse, house of refuge, and prison for the First Municipality. This new facility was to be established in "that part of the police jail adjoining the parish prison."

The workhouse, etc. was governed by a board of inspectors made up of the Mayor, Recorder, and members of the Police Committee. The keeper of the police jail served as warden of the institution. He was instructed to keep the inmates in secure custody; to superintend their labor; to keep a list of all tools and other property used by the inmates; and to keep a bound register of the names of the prisoners committed to the workhouse (along with their places of birth, times of commitment, and dates of discharge).