Location | 1391 FM 3328 Tennessee Colony, Texas, US |
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Coordinates | 31°45′16″N95°49′22″W / 31.7545333°N 95.822777°W |
Status | Operational |
Security class | G1-G5, Outside Trusty, Transient |
Capacity | Unit: 3,150 Trusty Camp: 321 |
Opened | June 1980 |
Managed by | TDCJ Correctional Institutions Division |
Warden | Patrick Cooper |
County | Anderson County |
Country | USA |
Website | www |
The George Beto Unit (B) is a men's maximum security prison of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice located in unincorporated Anderson County, Texas, US. [1] The unit is located along Farm to Market Road 3328, 6 miles (10 kilometers) south of Tennessee Colony. The prison, co-located with Coffield Unit, Michael Unit, and Powledge Unit prisons and the Gurney Unit transfer facility, has 20,518 acres (8,303 ha) of land. [2] The unit currently houses over 3,400 offenders.
The unit opened in June 1980. It has the Correctional Institutions Division Region II Maintenance headquarters. [2] The unit was named after George Beto, who served as prison director from 1962 to 1972. [3] In 2008 Perryn Keys of the Beaumont Enterprise said that Beto "has been described as a gladiator’s playground — a hardcore joint, even as prisons go." [4] That year, Ricardo Ainslie, an author and a professor in the educational psychology department of the University of Texas, said that when he toured Beto with the warden, he was "scared (expletive)." [4] Joyce King, author of the 2002 book Hate Crime: The Story of a Dragging in Jasper, Texas, said that Beto's reputation as a "gladiator" prison stems from the fact that most of its prisoners are in their mid-20s, relatively young. As of that year, some inmates are at the equivalent of a 4th year high school student (senior), and a few are near their 30s. King also said "The dubious distinction is also a warning—gladiators either fight because they must or because they like to." [5]
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In 2014 Curtis Garland, Jr., a prisoner from Dallas who began a 12-year sentence for family violence in 2012, died of an asthma attack. His family believed that prison officials did not disclose the true details related to the death. [6]
Beto has housing for its warden. The warden housing, in one duplex unit, is a part of three duplexes. One other duplex has housing for the warden of another unit, and one is unoccupied as of 2002. [7]
The prison places its confirmed gang members in the F Wing. The far southern wing, PTRC,[ clarification needed ] is a pre-release wing. [8]
The prison currently has three unoccupied wings that are kept for emergency overflow. The three wings are old administrative segregation wings from when the unit housed MROP[ clarification needed ] offenders. Currently, the only occupied wings are A, B, C, D, E, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, P, T, U, O (transient wing), X (PHD, Seg, solitary wing).[ citation needed ]
Inmate Name | Register Number | Status | Details |
---|---|---|---|
Raul Omar Villarreal | 05128548 / 01306432 | Serving a life sentence; eligible for parole in 2029. | One of six perpetrators of the 1993 Murders of Jennifer Ertman and Elizabeth Peña in which the two girls were brutally gang raped and tortured before being killed. [9] Villarreal was originally given a death sentence. [10] [11] |
James Byrd Jr. was an African American man who was murdered by three white men, two of whom were avowed white supremacists, in Jasper, Texas, on June 7, 1998. Shawn Berry, Lawrence Brewer, and John King dragged him for three miles behind a Ford pickup truck along an asphalt road. Byrd, who remained conscious for much of his ordeal, was killed about halfway through the dragging when his body hit the edge of a culvert, severing his right arm and head. The murderers drove on for another 1+1⁄2 miles before dumping his torso in front of a Black church.
Texas State Penitentiary at Huntsville or Huntsville Unit (HV), nicknamed "Walls Unit", is a Texas state prison located in Huntsville, Texas, United States. The approximately 54.36-acre (22.00 ha) facility, near downtown Huntsville, is operated by the Correctional Institutions Division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. The facility, the oldest Texas state prison, opened in 1849.
Patrick O'Daniel Unit is a Texas Department of Criminal Justice prison housing female offenders in Gatesville, Texas. The unit, with about 97 acres (39 ha) of land, is located 4 miles (6.4 km) north of central Gatesville on Farm to Market Road 215. The prison is located in a 45-minute driving distance from Waco. In addition to its other functions, O'Daniel Unit houses the state's female death row inmates.
The James V. Allred Unit is a prison for males located on Farm to Market Road 369 in Wichita Falls, Texas, United States, 4 miles (6.4 km) northwest of downtown Wichita Falls. The prison is near Iowa Park. The prison, with about 320 acres (130 ha) of land, is a part of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice Region V.
Allan B. Polunsky Unit is a prison in West Livingston, unincorporated Polk County, Texas, United States, located approximately 5 miles (8.0 km) southwest of Livingston along Farm to Market Road 350. The Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) operates the facility. The unit houses the State of Texas death row for men, and it has a maximum capacity of 2,900. Livingston Municipal Airport is located on the other side of FM 350. The unit, along the Big Thicket, is 60 miles (97 km) east of Huntsville.
O. B. Ellis Unit is a Texas Department of Criminal Justice prison located in unincorporated Walker County, Texas, 12 miles (19 km) north of Huntsville. The unit, with about 11,427 acres (4,624 ha) of space, now houses up to 2,400 male prisoners. Ellis is situated in a wooded area shared with the Estelle Unit, which is located 3 miles (4.8 km) away from Ellis. From 1965 to 1999 it was the location of the State of Texas men's death row.
Michael Graczyk is an American journalist.
The John M. Wynne Unit (WY) is a men's prison of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, located in northern Huntsville, Texas, at the intersection of Farm to Market Road 2821 West and Texas State Highway 75 North. The Windham School District has its headquarters in the unit. Wynne, the second oldest prison in Texas, was named after John Magruder Wynne, who served as a prison employee and later as a board member of the prison system from 1878 to 1881. The unit, on a 1,412 acres (571 ha) plot of land, is co-located with the Holliday Unit.
Joe Kegans Intermediate Sanctions Facility is an Intermediate Sanctions facility of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice located along the northeast edge of Downtown Houston, Texas. The approximately 1 acre (0.40 ha) facility for men is located .5 miles (0.80 km) south of Interstate 10.
The Louie C. Powledge Unit is a Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) prison for men located in unincorporated Anderson County, Texas. The approximately 20,518-acre (8,303 ha) unit, co-located with the Beto, Coffield, and Michael prison units and the Gurney Unit transfer facility, is along Farm to Market Road 3452. The facility is located off of Farm to Market Road 645, 7 miles (11 km) west of Palestine.
The W. F. Ramsey Unit is a Texas Department of Criminal Justice prison farm located in unincorporated Brazoria County, Texas, with a Rosharon postal address; it is not inside the Rosharon census-designated place. The prison is located on Farm to Market Road 655, 4 miles (6.4 km) west of Farm to Market Road 521, and south of Houston. The 16,369-acre (6,624 ha) unit is co-located with the Stringfellow Unit and the Terrell Unit.
The Mark W. Michael Unit (MI) is a Texas Department of Criminal Justice men's prison located in unincorporated Anderson County, Texas. The unit is along Farm to Market Road 2054, 4 miles (6.4 km) south of Tennessee Colony. The unit, on 20,518 acres (8,303 ha) of land, is co-located with the Beto, Coffield, and Powledge prison units and the Gurney Transfer Unit. The unit is in proximity to Palestine and the Rusk ironworks, and it is in about a one-hour driving distance from Dallas.
The Holliday Transfer Facility, is a Texas Department of Criminal Justice transfer facility for men located in Huntsville, Texas. Holliday is along Interstate 45 and .5 miles (0.80 km) north of Texas State Highway 30. The unit, on a 1,412-acre (571 ha) plot of land, is co-located with the Wynne Unit.
The H. H. Coffield Unit (CO) is a Texas Department of Criminal Justice prison for men in unincorporated Anderson County, Texas. The prison, near Tennessee Colony, is along Farm to Market Road 2054. The unit, on a 20,518 acres (8,303 ha) plot of land, is co-located with Beto, Gurney, Michael, and Powledge units. With a capacity of 4,139 inmates, Coffield is the TDCJ's largest prison. Coffield opened in June 1965.
The James "Jay" H. Byrd Jr. Unit (DU) is a Texas Department of Criminal Justice prison for men located in Huntsville, Texas. The 93 acres (38 ha) diagnostic unit, established in May 1964, is 1 mile (1.6 km) north of Downtown Huntsville on Farm to Market Road 247. The prison was named after James H. Byrd, a former prison warden.
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The Barry B. Telford Unit (TO) a.k.a. Telford Unit is a Texas state prison located in unincorporated Bowie County, Texas. The facility, along Texas State Highway 98, is 2 miles (3.2 km) south of Interstate 30. It has a "New Boston, Texas" mailing address, and is in proximity to Texarkana. The Telford Unit is operated by Texas Department of Criminal Justice Correctional Institutions Division, administered within Region II.
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George Beto Unit