Ramsey Unit
{{Short description|Prison farm in Texas}}
{{Infobox prison
| prison_name = W. F. Ramsey Unit
| caption =
| location = 1100 FM 655
Rosharon, Texas 77583
| coordinates = {{Coord|29.2863889|-095.5463889|display=inline}}
| status = Operational
| classification = G1-G3, G5, Administrative Segregation, Outside Trusty
| capacity = Unit: 1,570 Trusty Camp: 321
| population =
| populationdate =
| opened = July 1908
| closed =
| former_name = Ramsey I Unit
| managed_by = TDCJ Correctional Institutions Division
| warden = Mohamed Touhami
| county = Brazoria County
| zip =
| country = USA
| website = {{URL|http://www.tdcj.state.tx.us/unit_directory../r1.html}}
| prisoners =
}}
The W. F. Ramsey Unit (previously Ramsey I Unit) is a Texas Department of Criminal Justice prison farm located in unincorporated Brazoria County, Texas,{{cite web|url=https://www2.census.gov/geo/maps/DC2020/DC20BLK/st48_tx/county/c48039_brazoria/DC20BLK_C48039.pdf|title=2020 CENSUS - CENSUS BLOCK MAP: Brazoria County, TX|publisher=U.S. Census Bureau|accessdate=2022-08-12|page=16 (PDF p. 17/67)|quote=Ramsey Unit}} with a Rosharon postal address; it is not inside the Rosharon census-designated place."[https://www2.census.gov/geo/maps/dc10map/GUBlock/st48_tx/place/p4863332_rosharon/DC10BLK_P4863332_001.pdf 2010 CENSUS - CENSUS BLOCK MAP: Rosharon CDP, TX]." U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved on January 21, 2018. The prison is located on Farm to Market Road 655, {{convert|4|mi|km}} west of Farm to Market Road 521,"[http://www.tdcj.state.tx.us/stat/unitdirectory/r1.htm Ramsey Unit]." Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Retrieved on July 16, 2010. and south of Houston."[http://www.tdcj.state.tx.us/mediasvc/connections/SeptOct2009/agency2_v17no1.html 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. The {{convert|16369|acre|ha|adj=on}} unit is co-located with the Stringfellow Unit and the Terrell Unit.
History
The unit opened in July 1908. The Ramsey Prison Farm consisted of five former plantations."[http://www.tsl.state.tx.us/exhibits/prisons/convictlease/page3.html Convict Leasing and State Account Farming (1883-1909)]." Texas State Library and Archives. Retrieved on April 29, 2011. In 1935, Ramsey housed African American prisoners.Trulson, Chad R., James W. Marquart, and Ben M. Crouch. First Available Cell: Desegregation of the Texas Prison System. University of Texas Press, 2009. [https://books.google.com/books?id=WQbCzIK84D8C&dq=%22Blue+Ridge%22+Mexicans+Eastham&pg=PA81 81]. Retrieved from Google Books on July 16, 2010. {{ISBN|0-292-71983-3}}, {{ISBN|978-0-292-71983-5}}. In 1963, before racial desegregation took place, the Ramsey I Unit housed white prisoners.Trulson, Chad R., James W. Marquart, and Ben M. Crouch. First Available Cell: Desegregation of the Texas Prison System. University of Texas Press, 2009. [https://books.google.com/books?id=WQbCzIK84D8C&dq=%22Darrington+Farm%22+prison&pg=PA82 82]. Retrieved from Google Books on July 16, 2010. {{ISBN|0-292-71983-3}}, {{ISBN|978-0-292-71983-5}}.
In 2011, the Central Unit closed. The former truck distribution center at Central moved to Ramsey.Ward, Mike. "[https://web.archive.org/web/20120401142044/http://www.kdhnews.com/news/story.aspx?s=59098 Texas closing prison as part of cutbacks]" ([http://web.archive.org/web/20120401142044/http://www.kdhnews.com/news/story.aspx?s=59098 Archive]). Austin American-Statesman at the Killeen Daily Herald. Wednesday August 3, 2011. Retrieved on September 23, 2011.
Operations
The University of Houston–Clear Lake offers bachelor's and master's degree programs at Ramsey. Prisoners may pay the State of Texas after their release.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 [https://books.google.com/books?id=aIxJAwAAQBAJ&pg=PT97 PT97]).
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.[https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/ED/htm/ED.130.htm 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." As Ramsey Unit is not in the maps of Alvin CC, it is in the Brazosport College zone.The [https://www.alvincollege.edu/about/images/TaxingDistrictMap-Large-2.jpg Taxation Map] and [https://www.alvincollege.edu/about/images/ServiceAreaMap-Large.jpg 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. There was a section of H.B. No. 2744,"[http://www.legis.state.tx.us/tlodocs/78R/billtext/pdf/HB02744I.pdf 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." filed on March 6, 2007,"[http://www.legis.state.tx.us/billlookup/History.aspx?LegSess=80R&Bill=HB2744 Bill: HB 2744]." Texas Legislature. Retrieved on March 11, 2011. 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}}):
- Feanyichi Ezekwesi Uvukansi - Perpetrator of 2012 shooting outside a southwest Houston nightclub that left three people dead and rapper Trae tha Truth injured.{{Cite web|title=Feanyichi Ezekwesi Uvukansi {{!}} Texas Prison Inmates|url=https://www.texastribune.org/library/data/texas-prisons/inmates/feanyichi-ezekwesi-uvukansi/1240396/|access-date=June 7, 2020|website=The Texas Tribune}}{{Cite web|last=Rogers|first=Brian|date=July 6, 2012|title=Gang rivalry alleged in club killings|url=https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Gang-rivalry-alleged-in-club-killings-3687154.php|access-date=June 7, 2020|website=Houston Chronicle}}
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.{{Cite web|url=http://www.texasmonthly.com/story/innocent-man-part-two|title=The Innocent Man, Part Two|last=Colloff|first=Pamela|date=December 2012|website=Texas Monthly|language=en|access-date=2019-05-12}}
- David Owen Brooks - perpetrator of the Houston Mass Murders"[http://offender.tdcj.texas.gov/OffenderSearch/offenderDetail.action?sid=01922285 Offender Information Detail Brooks, David Owen]" ([https://web.archive.org/web/20151227195313/http://offender.tdcj.texas.gov/OffenderSearch/offenderDetail.action?sid=01922285 Archive]). Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Retrieved on December 28, 2015
- Ray Hill (American activist) - LGBT+ and Prison Rights activist, former host of The Prison Show on KPFT.
References
{{reflist}}
External links
{{Portal|Texas}}
- "[http://www.tdcj.state.tx.us/unit_directory/r1.html Ramsey Unit]." Texas Department of Criminal Justice.
- [http://www.texastribune.org/library/data/texas-prisons/units/ramsey/ Map of Ramsey Unit: Texas Tribune]
{{TDCJ-CID prisons}}
Category:Prisons in Brazoria County, Texas