Ramsey Unit

W. F. Ramsey Unit
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	James Mossbarger
County	Brazoria County
Country	USA
Website	www.tdcj.state.tx.us/unit_directory../r1.html

Topographical map of the Ramsey Units, July 1, 1984, United States Geological Survey

The W. F. Ramsey Unit (previously Ramsey I Unit) is a Texas Department of Criminal Justice prison farm located in Rosharon, Brazoria County, Texas. The prison is located on Farm to Market Road 655, 4 miles (6.4 km) west of Farm to Market Road 521,^[1] and south of Houston.^[2] The 16,369-acre (6,624 ha) unit is co-located with the Stringfellow Unit and the Terrell Unit.^[1]

History

The unit opened in July 1908.^[1] The Ramsey Prison Farm consisted of five former plantations.^[3] In 1935, Ramsey housed African American prisoners.^[4] In 1963, before racial desegregation took place, the Ramsey I Unit housed white prisoners.^[5]

In 2011, the Central Unit closed. The former truck distribution center at Central moved to Ramsey.^[6]

Operations

The Ramsey Unit is within the attendance zone of the Alvin Community College. Ramsey was included through H.B. No. 2744,^[7] filed on March 6, 2007.^[8]

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]

Notable inmates

Notable inmates of the Ramsey Unit include:

Current (As of 2015^[update]):

Shawn Allen Berry - Murderer of James Byrd, Jr.^[10]^[11]
David Owen Brooks - perpetrator of the Houston Mass Murders^[12]
Carlos Coy (South Park Mexican)^[13]
David Henry Tuck - perpetrator of the 2006 Harris County, Texas hate crime assault^[14]

Former:

David Ruíz, plaintiff of Ruiz v. Estelle, served time at the historic Ramsey Farm.^[15]

References

^ ^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. "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.
^ "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.
^ 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).
^ 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.
^ "Offender Information Detail Brooks, David Owen" (Archive). Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Retrieved on December 28, 2015
^ "Coy, Carlos" (Archive). Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Retrieved on December 28, 2015.
^ "Tuck, David Henry" (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.

External links

[Profile-1] "Ramsey Unit." Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Retrieved on July 16, 2010.

[2] "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.

[Accountfarm-3] "Convict Leasing and State Account Farming (1883-1909)." Texas State Library and Archives. Retrieved on April 29, 2011.

[4] 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.

[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.

[6] 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.

[7] "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."

[8] "Bill: HB 2744." Texas Legislature. Retrieved on March 11, 2011.

[9] 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).

[keysDidPrison-10] 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.

[11] "Berry, Shawn Allen" (Archive). Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Retrieved on December 28, 2015.

[12] "Offender Information Detail Brooks, David Owen" (Archive). Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Retrieved on December 28, 2015

[TDCJinfo-13] "Coy, Carlos" (Archive). Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Retrieved on December 28, 2015.

[14] "Tuck, David Henry" (Archive) Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Retrieved on December 28, 2015.

[Perkinson254-15] Perkinson, Robert. Texas Tough: The Rise of America's Prison Empire. First Edition. Metropolitan Books, 2010. 254. ISBN 978-0-8050-8069-8.

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