Prior to 1922, law enforcement in the City of Temple was in the hands of a City Marshall. W. I. McMahen served as the first City Marshall. Other City Marshals, who served prior to 1900, were Green Pattison, Sam Walker, William Taylor, Cap Lightfoot, and Sherman B. Williams.

Some of the early mayors didn't make the Marshal's job easy. Augustus Lewy (1886-1889) played poker all day every Sunday and tried other poker players during the week. On one occasion, a man charged with gambling came before Lewy and pled, "Not Guilty." Lewy called him a liar, said that he'd played with him the day before and fined him $16.70. Captain L. R. Wade (1894-1896) was so prone to fight at council meetings, it required both Marshal Taylor and Deputy Gene Dice to keep the Mayor and councilmen apart.

Local fun often involved hard liquor, fighting and shooting. As related to early citizens, the targets varied but included the decorated Christmas tree in the school house, the school house, passing trains, sundry citizens and the town in general. The first person killed in Temple was a man named McDonald. he was killed in Bigham Brother's Saloon. Marshal Taylor also recalled a painter being hanged from the culvert between Sixth and Eighth Streets at the Santa Fe tracks and a total of fourteen killings, including McDonald and the painter.

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