Ramsey Unit
It has been suggested that Draft:Ramsey Prison Farm be merged into this article. (Discuss) Proposed since May 2023. |
The W. F. Ramsey Unit (previously Ramsey I Unit) is a Texas Department of Criminal Justice prison farm located in unincorporated Brazoria County, Texas,[1] with a Rosharon postal address; it is not inside the Rosharon census-designated place.[2] The prison is located on Farm to Market Road 655, 4 miles (6.4 km) west of Farm to Market Road 521,[3] and south of Houston.[4] The 16,369-acre (6,624 ha) unit is co-located with the Stringfellow Unit and the Terrell Unit.[3]
| Location | 1100 FM 655 Rosharon, Texas 77583 |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 29°17′11″N 95°32′47″W / 29.2863889°N 095.5463889°W |
| Status | Operational |
| Security class | G1-G3, G5, Administrative Segregation, Outside Trusty |
| Capacity | Unit: 1,570 Trusty Camp: 321 |
| Opened | July 1908 |
| Former name | Ramsey I Unit |
| Managed by | TDCJ Correctional Institutions Division |
| Warden | Kristi Pittman |
| County | Brazoria County |
| Country | USA |
| Website | www |
History
The unit opened in July 1908.[3] The Ramsey Prison Farm consisted of five former plantations.[5] In 1935, Ramsey housed African American prisoners.[6] In 1963, before racial desegregation took place, the Ramsey I Unit housed white prisoners.[7]
In 2011, the Central Unit closed. The former truck distribution center at Central moved to Ramsey.[8]
Operations
The University of Houston–Clear Lake offers a master's degree program at Ramsey. Prisoners may pay the State of Texas after their release.[9]
The Texas Legislature designated portions of Angleton ISD that by September 1, 1995 had not been annexed by Alvin Community College as in the Brazosport College zone.[10] As Ramsey Unit is not in the maps of Alvin CC, it is in the Brazosport College zone.[11] There was a section of H.B. No. 2744,[12] filed on March 6, 2007,[13] which would have changed the boundary between Alvin CC and Brazosport CC to put the Ramsey Unit in the Alvin CC service boundary.
Notable inmates
Notable inmates of the Ramsey Unit include:
Current (As of 2015[update]):
- Shawn Allen Berry - Murderer of James Byrd, Jr.[14][15]
- Carlos Coy (South Park Mexican)[16]
- David Henry Tuck - perpetrator of the 2006 Harris County, Texas hate crime assault[17]
- Roy Oliver - Murderer of Jordan Edwards[18]
- Eddie Ray Routh - serving life without parole for the murders of Chris Kyle and Chad Littlefield.[19]
- Feanyichi Ezekwesi Uvukansi - Perpetrator of 2012 shooting outside a southwest Houston nightclub that left three people dead and rapper Trae tha Truth injured.[20][21]
- Aaron Dean, former police officer convicted of manslaughter for killing Atatiana Jefferson.[22][23]
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.[24]
- David Owen Brooks - perpetrator of the Houston Mass Murders[25]
References
- ^ "2020 CENSUS - CENSUS BLOCK MAP: Brazoria County, TX" (PDF). U.S. Census Bureau. p. 16 (PDF p. 17/67). Retrieved 2022-08-12.
Ramsey Unit
- ^ "2010 CENSUS - CENSUS BLOCK MAP: Rosharon CDP, TX." U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved on January 21, 2018.
- ^ a b c "Ramsey Unit." Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Retrieved on July 16, 2010.
- ^ "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.
- ^ "Convict Leasing and State Account Farming (1883-1909)." Texas State Library and Archives. Retrieved on April 29, 2011.
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ Ward, Mike. "" (Archive). Austin American-Statesman at the Killeen Daily Herald. Wednesday August 3, 2011. Retrieved on September 23, 2011.
- ^ 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).
- ^ Texas Education Code Sec. 130.170. BRAZOSPORT COLLEGE DISTRICT SERVICE AREA.: "(2) the Angleton Independent School District, except the part annexed by the Alvin Community College District before September 1, 1995."
- ^ The Taxation Map and College Zone map of Alvin Community College do not show Ramsey Unit, and based upon Texas Education Code Sec. 130.170. it would be in the Brazosport College zone.
- ^ "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."
- ^ "Bill: HB 2744." Texas Legislature. Retrieved on March 11, 2011.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "Berry, Shawn Allen" (Archive). Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Retrieved on December 28, 2015.
- ^ Perkinson, Robert. Texas Tough: The Rise of America's Prison Empire. First Edition. Metropolitan Books, 2010. 254. ISBN 978-0-8050-8069-8.
- ^ "Tuck, David Henry" () Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Retrieved on December 28, 2015.
- ^ https://offender.tdcj.texas.gov/OffenderSearch/offenderDetail.action?sid=09347254
- ^ "Routh, Eddie Ray" ([1]). Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Retrieved on April 15, 2021.
- ^ "Feanyichi Ezekwesi Uvukansi | Texas Prison Inmates". The Texas Tribune. Retrieved June 7, 2020.
- ^ Rogers, Brian (July 6, 2012). "Gang rivalry alleged in club killings". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved June 7, 2020.
- ^ "Aaron Dean serving sentence at state prison in Southeast Texas". 28 December 2022.
- ^ "Texas Department of Criminal Justice Inmate Search".
- ^ Colloff, Pamela (December 2012). "The Innocent Man, Part Two". Texas Monthly. Retrieved 2019-05-12.
- ^ "Offender Information Detail Brooks, David Owen" (). Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Retrieved on December 28, 2015
External links
- "Ramsey Unit." Texas Department of Criminal Justice.
- Map of Ramsey Unit: Texas Tribune