Cleveland Unit

Cleveland Correctional Center
Location 901 E 5th St
Cleveland, Texas 77327
Coordinates 30°21′54″N 95°04′22″W / 30.365°N 95.072778°W
Status Operational
Security class G1, G2
Capacity 520
Opened September 1989
Managed by GEO Group
Warden Virgil Jordan
County Liberty County
Country USA
Website www.tdcj.state.tx.us/unit_directory../cv.html

The Cleveland Unit is a prison for men in Cleveland, Texas privately operated by the GEO Group on behalf of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ). The approximately 40-acre (16 ha) facility is .25 miles (0.40 km) north of Downtown Cleveland. The TDCJ refers to the prison as the "Cleveland Unit,"[1] while GEO refers to it as the Cleveland Correctional Center.[2] The facility is along U.S. Route 59.

History

Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) proposed a pre-release center along Atascocita Road in the Humble, Texas area. The local population opposed the measure. CCA instead planned to open a facility in Cleveland, where the local leaders were more receptive to the plan. The Cleveland Unit, then a $12 million ($23000000 when adjusted for inflation), 500 bed pre-release unit, officially opened on Thursday September 28, 1989. As of that year it was the fourth of the four privately operated prisons to be built in Texas.[3] It became a GEO facility on January 1, 1999.[2]

Operations

The 40 acres (16 ha) site, located along the piney woods along U.S. Route 59, has a 124,000 square feet (11,500 m2) prison facility. Cindy Horswell of the Houston Chronicle said that the "unobtrusive" unit with "its concrete walls and bright blue entry would look like any other office building except for the high barbed-wire fence and 53 security cameras."[3] Since the prison is a private facility, the operators pay local taxes.[4] The prison accepts minimum security male prisoners who are within three years of parole.[2]

References

  1. ↑ "Cleveland Unit." Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Retrieved on May 10, 2010.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 "Cleveland Correctional Center." GEO Group. Retrieved on October 2, 2010.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Horswell, Cindy. "Cleveland prison puts Texas on top in private facilities." Houston Chronicle. Friday September 29, 1989. A26. Retrieved on May 10, 2010.
  4. ↑ Horswell, Cindy. "For hard-hit economy of Liberty County, crime officially pays." Houston Chronicle. Thursday June 29, 1995. A30. Retrieved on July 23, 2010.

External links

Coordinates: 30°21′54″N 95°04′22″W / 30.36500°N 95.07278°W