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Based on an examination of the archives of the colonial authorities in French Algeria, this article aims to examine the role of the administration throughout the legal process of confinement in specialized facilities between 1933 and 1962. From the analysis of its workings, its contradictions and its relationship with the “public”, one can piece together the profile of a conscientious administration faced with various structural challenges (Overcrowded facilities, financial problems, internal quarrels or disputes with other institutional actors) which constantly required a spirit of innovation and resourcefulness. These same issues were to be found in the field of human challenges where the administration had to deal with cases of legal pluralism, discrimination and ill-treatment. From a broader perspective, based on the study of the legal and administrative management of mental illness in the context of French colonization, the article seeks to envisage the possibility of identifying the existence of an administrative system in Algeria.