In July 1879, Caldwell became an official Kansas city as local residents sought services beyond what the township and county could provide, including fire and police protection, health codes, a water system, sidewalks, streets, and a cemetery. A mayor and five councilmen were quickly elected, and on August 21, 1879, the city council created a police force consisting of a marshal and assistant marshal. These officers regularly brought before the police judge ruffians, cardsharks, vagrants, drunks, fast wagon drivers, occasional murderers, and women arrested for being prostitutes parading the streets or being suspicious and unattended in public. Policing consumed more than one-third of the city budget, and as lawlessness rose, marshal pay increased from $33 a month plus fees to $100 during cattle drive season by 1883. Law enforcement in Caldwell was shaped by the tensions of a cowtown, which needed cowboy-friendly attractions to keep cattle herd money returning while residents also wanted safety and quiet for their families; officers therefore often ignored illegal alcohol and gambling but intervened in drunken brawls and shootings. Local debate continued over whether a well-liked honest citizen or a tough gunfighter made the better marshal, and few of Caldwell's 16 cowboy marshals would now be considered law-abiding public servants. In 1949, Max Scribner became Caldwell's first career police chief and is credited with introducing the trained, professional rural police officer, helping keep the area safe and quiet for more than 35 years. Early city politics were dominated by factionalism between southerners, who supported the cattle trade and minimal interference with Texas cowboys, and northerners, who were more often general retailers seeking less violence and a more stable population. In 1884, the rival groups agreed to build city hall on Central, then 5th Avenue, which geographically divided them, and later city offices alternated annually between the parties by backroom agreement. The original city offices and women's jail were upstairs, while the fire wagons and men's jail occupied the ground floor. City revenue came from heavy police court fines, merchant and professional taxes, and a street tax requiring each male resident either to work two days a year repairing dirt streets or pay cash; although liquor, gambling, and prostitution were illegal, the fines connected to them often functioned more like regular taxes than punishments, alongside fines such as $5 for cussing, $5 for drunkenness, and $1 for working on Sunday.