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]
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]
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] |
| Matt Baker | 01634552 | Serving a 65-year sentence. | Former pastor who murdered his wife Kari Baker.[12][13] |
Former:
Mark W Michael Unit
| Prison units |
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| State jail units |
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| Transfer units |
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| Psychiatric units |
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Above facilities are male-only unless noted by ♀(female-only) or ♂♀ (cogender) | |||||||||||||||||
