The Beauford H. Jester I Unit is a

Texas Department of Criminal Justice The Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) is a department of the government of the U.S. state of Texas. The TDCJ is responsible for statewide criminal justice for adult offenders, including managing offenders in state prisons, state jails, ...

substance abuse felony punishment facility (SAFPF) located in

unincorporated Unincorporated may refer to: * Unincorporated area, land not governed by a local municipality * Unincorporated entity, a type of organization * Unincorporated territories of the United States, territories under U.S. jurisdiction, to which Congress ...

Fort Bend County Fort Bend County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. The county was founded in 1837 and organized the next year. It is named for a blockhouse at a bend of the Brazos River. The community developed around the fort in early days. The ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

. The unit is situated at Harlem Road and Ken Drive, on about of land, co-located with

Carol Vance Unit Carol S. Vance Unit (J2, previously the Harlem II Unit and the Jester II Unit) is a Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) prison located in unincorporated central Fort Bend County, Texas. The unit, located in flatlands, is along U.S. High ...

, Jester III Unit, and

Jester IV Unit The Wayne Scott Unit (J4), formerly known as the Beauford H. Jester IV Unit, is a psychiatric facility of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice located in unincorporated Fort Bend County, Texas, east of Richmond. It is a part of the Jester St ...

which lie a little to its southeast. It is situated on the

Jester State Prison Farm The Beauford H. Jester Complex, formerly the Jester State Prison Farm, refers to a complex of Texas Department of Criminal Justice prisons for men in unincorporated area, unincorporated Fort Bend County, Texas, Fort Bend County, Texas. Individually ...

property. The current Warden is Lonnie Townsend.Jester I Unit
Retrieved on March 9, 2020.

History

The unit opened in 1885, and its first brick building was in 1932. The unit was originally known as the Harlem I Unit. Under the administration of

George Beto George John Beto (January 19, 1916 – December 4, 1991) was a director of the Texas Department of Corrections (TDC), a criminal justice expert in penology, a professor, and a Lutheran minister. He was previously the president of Concordia Luthera ...

, the unit was converted into a pre-release facility. The unit was renamed after

Governor of Texas The governor of Texas heads the state government of Texas. The governor is the leader of the executive and legislative branch of the state government and is the commander in chief of the Texas Military. The current governor is Greg Abbott, who ...

Beauford H. Jester.''Texas Dept of Criminal Justice''. ''

''. ''Turner Publishing Company''. 2004
91
In 1935 Jester housed white prisoners. In 1963, before racial desegregation occurred, the facility housed

Hispanic and Latino American Hispanic and Latino Americans ( es, Estadounidenses hispanos y latinos; pt, Estadunidenses hispânicos e latinos) are Americans of Spaniards, Spanish and/or Latin Americans, Latin American ancestry. More broadly, these demographics include a ...

first-time offenders and prisoners considered by the administration to have good rehabilitative prospects. Effective 2020, the Jester I and

Garza East Unit Garza East Unit was a correctional transfer unit on the grounds of Chase Field Industrial Complex in unincorporated area, unincorporated Bee County, Texas, near Beeville, Texas, Beeville. It was co-located with the Garza West Unit. The facility clos ...

is slated for closure with a planned transfer of the Jester I inmates to the

Stringfellow Unit The A. M. "Mac" Stringfellow Unit (previously Ramsey II Unit) is a Texas Department of Criminal Justice prison located in unincorporated Brazoria County, Texas, with a Rosharon, Texas postal address it is not inside the Rosharon census-designate ...

References

External links

*
Jester I Unit
"

. {{coord, 29, 38, 12, N, 95, 42, 48, W, scale:10000, display=title Prisons in Fort Bend County, Texas 1885 establishments in Texas