Ramsey Unit

The W. F. Ramsey Unit (previously Ramsey I 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.[1] The prison is located on Farm to Market Road 655, 4 miles (6.4 km) west of Farm to Market Road 521,[2] and south of Houston.[3] The 16,369-acre (6,624 ha) unit is co-located with the Stringfellow Unit and the Terrell Unit.[2]

W. F. Ramsey Unit
Location1100 FM 655
Rosharon, Texas 77583
Coordinates29.2863889°N 095.5463889°W / 29.2863889; -095.5463889
StatusOperational
Security classG1-G3, G5, Administrative Segregation, Outside Trusty
CapacityUnit: 1,570 Trusty Camp: 321
OpenedJuly 1908
Former nameRamsey I Unit
Managed byTDCJ Correctional Institutions Division
WardenVirgil Mc Mullen, James Powers
CountyBrazoria County
CountryUSA
Websitewww.tdcj.state.tx.us/unit_directory../r1.html
Aerial photograph of the Ramsey Units, January 23, 1995, United States Geological Survey
Topographical map of the Ramsey Units, July 1, 1984, United States Geological Survey

History

The unit opened in July 1908.[2] The Ramsey Prison Farm consisted of five former plantations.[4] In 1935, Ramsey housed African American prisoners.[5] In 1963, before racial desegregation took place, the Ramsey I Unit housed white prisoners.[6]

In 2011, the Central Unit closed. The former truck distribution center at Central moved to Ramsey.[7]

Operations

The Ramsey Unit is within the attendance zone of the Alvin Community College. Ramsey was included through H.B. No. 2744,[8] filed on March 6, 2007.[9]

The University of Houston–Clear Lake offers a master's degree program at Ramsey. Prisoners may pay the State of Texas after their release.[10]

Notable inmates

Notable inmates of the Ramsey Unit include:

Current (As of 2015):

Former:

  • David Ruíz, plaintiff of Ruiz v. Estelle, served time at the historic Ramsey Farm.
  • Michael Morton - Exonerated of the crime which he was convicted of. He had requested a transfer to Ramsey so he could complete a master's degree program there.[16]

References
  1. "2010 CENSUS - CENSUS BLOCK MAP: Rosharon CDP, TX." U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved on January 21, 2018.
  2. "Ramsey Unit." Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Retrieved on July 16, 2010.
  3. "Texas Department of Criminal Justice offers gang members chance for new life." Texas Department of Criminal Justice. September/October 2009. Retrieved on November 19, 2010.
  4. "Convict Leasing and State Account Farming (1883-1909)." Texas State Library and Archives. Retrieved on April 29, 2011.
  5. Trulson, Chad R., James W. Marquart, and Ben M. Crouch. First Available Cell: Desegregation of the Texas Prison System. University of Texas Press, 2009. 81. Retrieved from Google Books on July 16, 2010. ISBN 0-292-71983-3, ISBN 978-0-292-71983-5.
  6. Trulson, Chad R., James W. Marquart, and Ben M. Crouch. First Available Cell: Desegregation of the Texas Prison System. University of Texas Press, 2009. 82. Retrieved from Google Books on July 16, 2010. ISBN 0-292-71983-3, ISBN 978-0-292-71983-5.
  7. Ward, Mike. "Texas closing prison as part of cutbacks" (Archive). Austin American-Statesman at the Killeen Daily Herald. Wednesday August 3, 2011. Retrieved on September 23, 2011.
  8. "H.B. No. 2744." Texas Legislature. Retrieved on March 11, 2011. "(3) the territory located in Brazoria County, situated to the west of the Alvin Community College District boundary as it existed on January 1, 2003, extending west to the eastern border of Fort Bend County, and south to County Roads 49, 34, and 255, including the City of Rosharon and the Darrington and Ramsey Units of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice."
  9. "Bill: HB 2744." Texas Legislature. Retrieved on March 11, 2011.
  10. Stevens, Wesley. Learning to Sing in a Strange Land: When a Loved One Goes to Prison. Wipf and Stock Publishers, January 8, 2009. ISBN 1621897966, 9781621897965. p. 83 (Google Books PT97).
  11. Keys, Perryn. "JASPER: THE ROAD BACK: Did prison time turn man into one of Byrd's killers?" Beaumont Enterprise. June 9, 2008. Retrieved on July 23, 2010.
  12. "Berry, Shawn Allen" (Archive). Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Retrieved on December 28, 2015.
  13. "Offender Information Detail Brooks, David Owen" (Archive). Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Retrieved on December 28, 2015
  14. Perkinson, Robert. Texas Tough: The Rise of America's Prison Empire. First Edition. Metropolitan Books, 2010. 254. ISBN 978-0-8050-8069-8.
  15. "Tuck, David Henry" (Archive) Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Retrieved on December 28, 2015.
  16. Colloff, Pamela (December 2012). "The Innocent Man, Part Two". Texas Monthly. Retrieved 2019-05-12.
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