Mark W. Michael Unit

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Mark W. Michael Unit - Wikipedia

Coordinates: 31°47′41″N 95°54′11″W / 31.79472°N 95.90306°W

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Mark W. Michael Unit

Location	2664 FM 2054 Tennessee Colony, Texas 75886
Coordinates	31°47′39″N 95°54′12″W / 31.7942667°N 095.9034500°W / 31.7942667; -095.9034500
Status	Operational
Security class	G1-G5, Administrative Segregation, Outside Trusty, Safekeeping
Capacity	Unit: 2,984 Trusty Camp: 321
Opened	September 1987
Managed by	TDCJ Correctional Institutions Division
Warden	Veronica Lilly
County	Anderson County
Country	United States
Website	www.tdcj.state.tx.us/unit_directory../mi.html

Aerial view of the Coffield Prison Farm Property (The Michael, Beto, Coffield, Gurney, and Powledge units)

1977 United States Geological Survey map of the land which now houses the Michael Unit

The Mark W. Michael Unit (MI) is a Texas Department of Criminal Justice men's prison located in unincorporated Anderson County, Texas.^[1] 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.^[2] The unit is in proximity to Palestine and the Rusk ironworks,^[3] and it is in about a one-hour driving distance from Dallas.^[4]

The Michael Unit opened in September 1987.^[2] Texas officials referred to the facility as "model for the future."^[5] Robert Perkinson, author of Texas Tough: The Rise of America's Prison Empire, described Michael as "one of the meanest lockups" in Texas.^[6]

Operations

Michael was one of the first prisons to no longer use the "telephone-pole" layout,^[7] which has central pickets with dead-end cell blocks extending from them.^[8] The telephone-pole layout, while inexpensive to build, is difficult to police without building tenders, convicts paid to police other convicts. Instead Michael uses a modular pod design, which allows for riot control and visual surveillance. Most pods have double-bunk, reinforced concrete cells with security features such as slit windows and bolted-down metal toilets. Some pods have dormitories.^[7] Michael was one of several new prisons to have the ability to have many prisoners in extended lockdowns.^[3] State officials said that Michael's features allowing for extended lockdowns of prisoners were modeled on the United States Penitentiary, Marion.^[7]

Notable prisoners

Current:

Inmate Name	Register Number	Status	Details
Shannon Miles	07462349 / 02150490	Serving a life sentence without parole.	Perpetrator of the 2015 Murder of Darren Goforth, in which Miles killed him at a gas station.^[9]^[10]^[11]
Richard Acosta Jr.		Life without parole	Capital murder multiple persons

Former:

Michael Morton - Exonerated of the crime which he was convicted of. He was transferred to Michael after obtaining his master's degree.^[12]
Steven Jay Russell^[13] - The prisoner is a character in the film I Love You Phillip Morris
Elmer Wayne Henley^[4]^[14]

References

^ "2020 CENSUS - CENSUS BLOCK MAP: Anderson County, TX" (PDF). U.S. Census Bureau. p. 17 (PDF p. 18/41). Retrieved 2022-08-14. Mark W Michael Unit
^ ^a ^b "Michael Unit Archived 2010-07-25 at the Wayback Machine." Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Retrieved on July 23, 2010.
^ ^a ^b Perkinson, Robert. Texas Tough: The Rise of America's Prison Empire. First Edition. Metropolitan Books, 2010. p. 314. ISBN 978-0-8050-8069-8.
^ ^a ^b Rhor, Monica. "Serial killer wrestles with his crimes." Fox News. Sunday June 8, 2008. Retrieved on December 12, 2010. "Henley, who turned 52 in May, sits behind a glass divider in the visiting room at the Michael Unit, a Texas prison set amid cow pastures and sprawling ranches about an hour south of Dallas."
^ Perkinson, Robert. Texas Tough: The Rise of America's Prison Empire. First Edition. Metropolitan Books, 2010. p. 314-315. ISBN 978-0-8050-8069-8.
^ Perkinson, Robert. Texas Tough: The Rise of America's Prison Empire. First Edition. Metropolitan Books, 2010. p. 28. ISBN 978-0-8050-8069-8.
^ ^a ^b ^c Perkinson, Robert. Texas Tough: The Rise of America's Prison Empire. First Edition. Metropolitan Books, 2010. p. 315. ISBN 978-0-8050-8069-8.
^ Perkinson, Robert. Texas Tough: The Rise of America's Prison Empire. First Edition. Metropolitan Books, 2010. p. 44. ISBN 978-0-8050-8069-8.
^ "Texas Deputy Slaying: Suspect Shannon Miles Charged in Killing of Darren Goforth". NBC News. 2015-08-30. Retrieved 2024-02-16.
^ "Man Pleads Guilty To Killing Texas Deputy At Gas Station - CBS Texas". www.cbsnews.com. 2017-09-13. Retrieved 2024-02-16.
^ "Shannon Miles gets life in prison for murder of Deputy Goforth". KPRC. 2017-09-13. Retrieved 2024-02-16.
^ Colloff, Pamela (December 2012). "The Innocent Man, Part Two". Texas Monthly. Retrieved 2019-05-12.
^ Day, Elizabeth. "I love you Phillip Morris: a conman's story." The Observer. Sunday September 6, 2009. Retrieved on December 10, 2010.
^ "Henley, Elmer Wayne Jr" (Archive). Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Retrieved on December 28, 2015.

External links

"Michael Unit." Texas Department of Criminal Justice.

Texas Department of Criminal Justice

Prison units

Region I	Byrd Ellis Estelle (formerly Ellis II) Ferguson Goree Huntsville Lewis Polunsky (formerly Terrell) Wainwright (formerly Eastham) Wynne
Region II	Beto Boyd Coffield Hodge Michael Powledge Telford
Region III	Clemens Hightower Jester III Memorial (formerly Darrington) Ramsey Stiles Stringfellow Terrell (formerly Ramsey III) Vance
Region IV	Briscoe Connally Lynaugh McConnell Stevenson Torres
Region V	Allred Clements Dalhart Daniel Jordan Neal Roach Rudd Smith Wallace
Region VI	Crain♀ Hilltop♀ Hobby♀ Hughes Luther Mountain View♀ Murray♀ Pack Robertson
Private	Bridgeport Cleveland Diboll Estes Kyle Lockhart♀ B. Moore
Former units	Central Retrieve (later Wayne Scott)

State jail units

Region II	Cole Hutchins
Region III	Gist Henley♀ Kegans Lychner Plane♀
Region IV	Dominguez Lopez Ney Sanchez
Region V	Formby Wheeler
Region VI	Travis County Woodman♀
Private	Bartlett (closed 2017) Bradshaw (closed 2020) Dawson♂♀ (closed 2013) Lindsey Willacy County

Transfer units

Region I	Goodman Gurney Holliday
Region II	C. Moore
Region IV	Cotulla Fort Stockton Garza East (closed 2020) Garza West
Region V	Tulia Ware
Region VI	Marlin Middleton San Saba

Psychiatric units

Region III	Wayne Scott (formerly Jester IV)

Above facilities are male-only unless noted by ♀(female-only) or ♂♀ (cogender)

31°47′41″N 95°54′11″W / 31.79472°N 95.90306°W / 31.79472; -95.90306

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