You likely know that prisoners that the officials believe can be trusted with a bit of authority are called "trustees." I would guess these are prisoners with short remaining sentences not there for mayhem, murder, or torture. While doing my research, I found a remarkable level of trust: trustees with firearms.
My grandpa, who once worked for a lumber company and used "rented" chain gang convicts for labor, once told me that not only did certain trustee prisoners in some prisons have guns and were used as prison guards, they were also told that if they shot another escaping prisoner, the shooter would be pardoned and released. Probably nothing written down. FWIW.
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