Wynne Unit
{{Short description|American prison}}
{{Infobox prison
| name = John M. Wynne Unit
| image = WynneUnitHuntsvilleTX.JPG
| caption =
| pushpin_map = USA Texas
| pushpin_map_caption = Location in Texas
| location = 810 FM 2821
Huntsville, Texas 77349
| coordinates = {{coord|30|44|29|N|95|34|38|W|scale:10000|display=inline,title}}
| status = Operational
| classification = G1-G5,Outside Trusty
| capacity = Unit: 2,300 Trusty Camp: 321
| population =
| populationdate =
| opened = 1883
| closed =
| former_name =
| managed_by = TDCJ Correctional Institutions Division
| director =
| governor =
| warden = Rodger Bowers
| county = Walker County
| country = US
| website = {{URL|https://www.tdcj.state.tx.us/unit_directory/wy.html}}
| prisoners =
}}
File:WynneUnitAerialphoto.PNG, and Byrd units, and the Huntsville Municipal Airport - U.S. Geological Survey - January 23, 1995]]
The John M. Wynne Unit (WY) is a men's prison of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice,"[http://www.tdcj.state.tx.us/stat/unitdirectory/wy.htm Wynne Unit] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100725201511/http://www.tdcj.state.tx.us/stat/unitdirectory/wy.htm |date=July 25, 2010 }}." Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Retrieved on September 29, 2011. located in northern Huntsville, Texas, at the intersection of Farm to Market Road 2821 West and Texas State Highway 75 North.Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Turner Publishing Company, 2004. [https://books.google.com/books?id=VgTcF_VMt54C&pg=PA119 119]. {{ISBN|1-56311-964-1}}, {{ISBN|978-1-56311-964-4}}. The Windham School District has its headquarters in the unit. Wynne, the second oldest prison in Texas, was named after John Magruder Wynne, who served as a prison employee and later as a board member of the prison system from 1878 to 1881. The unit, on a {{convert|1412|acre|ha}} plot of land, is co-located with the Holliday Unit.
History
File:WynneUnitTopoMapNew.PNG - July 1, 1976]]
The State of Texas bought Wynne from the last lessees of the facility (Cunningham and Ellis) in 1883. Wynne initially had about {{convert|1970|acre|ha}} of terrace gardens used to fulfill the gardening needs of the Huntsville Unit. The current unit was dedicated in 1937 and completed in 1939.
In the 1970s, the prison had 17 prison guards in its day shift to oversee 2,600 prisoners. The prison system arranged to have building tenders used to guard the prisoners, making up for the small number of prison guards.Walt, Kathy. "[http://www.chron.com/CDA/archives/archive.mpl?id=1999_3127510 TEXAS PRISONS AFTER THE REFORM/ WHAT RUIZ WROUGHT/ New challenges confront a prison system that has undergone a profound transformation]." Houston Chronicle. Sunday March 28, 1999. A1. Retrieved on December 31, 2011.
On August 8, 2000, an inmate escaped from the prison by driving a tractor trailer cab through the prison wall while avoiding gunshots fired by correctional officers. The prisoner left the truck on the runway of Huntsville Airport and fled into a vehicle; state officials believed that the man's wife drove the vehicle. Police officers with tracking dogs found the man and his wife under a tree less than {{convert|7|mi|km}} from the Wynne Unit. The state said that the offender "reportedly" was taken with force, while the wife surrendered peacefully.
In 2007 two inmates from Wynne escaped. During the incident the escape vehicle hit 59-year-old correctional officer Susan Canfield, killing her. Both inmates have been found and rearrested.Glenn, Mike and Terri Langford. "[http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/5159811.html Second escapee caught after prison guard's death]." Houston Chronicle. September 25, 2007. Retrieved on June 3, 2010. The driver, Jerry Duane Martin (TDCJ#999552),"[http://tdcj.state.tx.us/death_row/dr_info/martinjerry.html Martin, Jerry Duane ]." Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Retrieved on February 3, 2016. was executed on December 3, 2013.{{Cite web|url=http://www.clarkprosecutor.org/html/death/US/martin1356.htm|title = Jerry Duane Martin #1356}} The other inmate, John Ray Falk was sentenced to death in 2017.{{cite news|url=https://www.itemonline.com/news/falk-gets-death-penalty-for-correctional-officers-slaying/article_fba5feaa-fea5-11e6-8070-fb0eb4f1219b.html|title=Falk gets death penalty for correctional officer's slaying|last=Stark|first=Cody|work=The Huntsville Item}}
In 2008 an Offender escaped the Wynne Unit using a child's bicycle. He was taken back into custody less than 24 hours later.
Operations
Wynne has a box factory, a computer recovery factory, and a license plate factory (the only one for the state and works with the 3M company){{citation needed|date=July 2016}}. A mattress factory, which provides all of the beds for the state colleges,{{citation needed|date=July 2016}} is at the Wynne Unit, as well as a mechanic shop with diesel repair, a signs and plastics plant, and a sticker plant. All of the state issued car registration stickers are also made at the Wynne Unit. It has been shown that the Wynne Unit generates around $1 Million a week for the State of Texas.{{citation needed|date=July 2016}} The Windham School District has its headquarters in Building B in the Wynne Unit."[http://wsdtx.org/contact.htm Contact Information]." Windham School District. Retrieved on January 1, 2010."[http://www.windhamschooldistrict.org/csd/policy/7.28.doc Travel Regulations for Employees]" 7.28-4. Windham School District. September 1, 2005. Page 5 of 15. Retrieved on January 1, 2010.
Notable inmates
- David Ruiz (plaintiff of Ruiz v. Estelle)Perkinson, Robert. Texas Tough: The Rise of America's Prison Empire. First Edition. Metropolitan Books, 2010. p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=HOxmcfIopugC&pg=PA260 260]. {{ISBN|978-0-8050-8069-8}}.
- Fred Cruz (Petitioner Prisoner in Cruz v. Beto)
- David Crosby (member of Crosby, Stills, and Nash) was held for 5 months in the Wynne State Farm. "http://www.rockandrollroadmap.com/other-u.s.-area-misc/wynne-unit-david-crosby-imprisoned-here/view-details.html"
- Michael Morton - Later exonerated of the crime he was accused of.{{cite magazine|url=https://www.texasmonthly.com/politics/the-innocent-man-part-one/|title=The Innocent Man, Part One|last=Colloff|first=Pamela|date=2013-01-21|magazine=Texas Monthly|language=en|access-date=2019-05-05}}
- Keith Robert Turner - perpetrator of the 2006 Harris County, Texas hate crime assault"[http://offender.tdcj.texas.gov/OffenderSearch/offenderDetail.action?sid=07527605 Turner, Keith Robert]" ([https://archive.today/20151227194718/http://offender.tdcj.texas.gov/OffenderSearch/offenderDetail.action?sid=07527605 Archive]). Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Retrieved on December 28, 2015.
References
{{reflist}}
External links
{{Portal|Texas}}
- [http://www.tdcj.state.tx.us/unit_directory/wy.html Wynne Unit] - Texas Department of Criminal Justice
- [http://www.texastribune.org/library/data/texas-prisons/units/wynne/ List of prisoners in the Wynne Unit] - The Texas Tribune
{{TDCJ-CID prisons}}
{{Huntsville, Texas}}
Category:Prisons in Huntsville, Texas