Ellis Unit is one of the correctional facilities under the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Located in Huntsville, the Ellis Unit was designed to be the strictest prison in the system and served as the location for the death penalty for Texas men from 1965 to 1999.
In this post, we’ll show you everything about TDCJ Ellis Unit including the capacity of the prisons, the history of Ellis Unit from its inception until present, physical address to reach, visiting hours, etc. Let’s dive into our post to find out more information about it!
History of Ellis Unit
Designed by George Beto, the Ellis Unit under TDCJ was created to be the strictest prison in the system. This unit opened in July 1965 and was named after Oscar B. Ellis, a former Texas prison director.
Ellis Unit was initially used as the location housing the male death row that has moved from Huntsville Unit. Since the prisoners housed at the Ellis Unit were very tough, strong, and quite dangerous, at that time this unit was under the responsibility of Wallace Pack, a prison warden assigned to cover up cases of brutality and horrific conditions that occurred at the Ellis Unit.
In April 1981, Wallace Pack was drowned by Eroy Brown, a prisoner who had been convicted of armed robbery and burglary. Brown also shot and killed Billy Moore, the unit’s farm manager. Brown had planned the murder since he wanted to uncover a prison theft scheme.
In November 1998, six convicts made an escape attempt; Martin Gurule was one who managed to escape and was later found dead at a location near the prison grounds. Finally, attempted prison escapes hastened the agency’s decision to move death row inmates to a new location. Another factor in the move on the death penalty was the overcrowding at the Ellis Unit, as TDCJ officials said.
Six months after the case of the escape attempt occurred at Ellis Unit, the TDCJ eventually decided to move the death row inmates. Reportedly, TDCJ approved the relocation of the men’s death row on Friday, May 21, 1999, and the male death row was relocated to the Polunsky Unit in West Livingston, Texas.
In fact, the death row transfer that took ten months was reportedly the largest transfer of condemned prisoners in history and was performed under strict security. In 2011, the furniture and wood plant at the Ellis Unit were moved to the Lewis Unit.
Read also: About TDCJ Polunsky Unit
Capacity of TDCJ Ellis Unit
The TDCJ’s prison unit called Ellis Unit, with approximately 11,427 acres (4,624 ha) of space located in a forest area shared with the Estelle unit, currently houses up to 2,400 male prisoners. The custody levels at Ellis Unit range from G-1 minimum to G-5 maximum.
With such a large area, there is no doubt that Ellis Unit is an ideal location for prison farming operations, including fields for growing food, cotton fields, chicken egg-laying operations, and pig and cattle farming. This prison unit also operates a garment factory, a chair factory, and a bus repair facility, all of which employ convicts in various positions.
Due to the fact that there were no tempered air systems nor air conditioning systems in the prison as of 2022, Ellis Unit sometimes had temperatures higher than 90 degrees Fahrenheit.
Programs at the Ellis Unit
In addition to providing farming, the Ellis Unit also takes notice of the educational needs of prisoners with basic education, literacy, and GED instruction. There are some vocational training Ellis Unit offers, including horticulture, computer maintenance technician, cabinetmaking, and heating, ventilation, and air conditioning.
Ellis Unit also offers treatment and rehabilitation programs for prisoners who want to escape from drug abuse, entanglement in a gang, and also sexual misconduct. Furthermore, the additional programs at the Ellis Unit teach the prisoners to acquire life skills as preparation before re-entering their social environment.
Ellis Unit Visiting Hours
If you accidentally have a loved one housed at the Ellis Unit, you may really want to know about visiting hours. To meet your loved ones at Ellis Unit, you will have two hours in duration that could be either contact or non-contact.
You can visit the Ellis Unit on Saturdays and Sundays from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. An inmate housed at the Ellis Unit is allowed up to one visit per week. If you need to travel more than 300 miles, you can also request a special visit by contacting the Warden’s office.
Ellis Unit Address
If you want to visit your loved one at the Ellis Unit in person, you can reach them at:
Ellis Unit
1697 FM 980
Huntsville, TX 77343
Aside from in-person visits, you can also send mail to an inmate at the Ellis Unit. When you decide to send mail to your loved one at Ellis Unit, you have to provide his or her name and ID number. Then, send your email to:
Ellis Unit
1697 FM 980
Huntsville, TX 77343
If you also have questions regarding information about an inmate housed at Ellis Unit, you can also make a phone call to the Ellis Unit Representative at (936) 295-5756 (**010).
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