Wallace Pack Unit

The Wallace Pack Unit (P1) is a Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) prison in unincorporated Grimes County, Texas,[1] 5 miles (8.0 km) south of Navasota. It is along Farm to Market Road 1227,[2] in proximity to Houston.[3]

Wallace Pack Unit
Location2400 Wallace Pack Road
Navasota, Texas 77868
Coordinates30°19′28″N 96°06′23″W
StatusOperational
Security classG1-G3, Administrative Segregation, Outside Trusty
CapacityUnit: 1,157
Trusty Camp: 321
OpenedSeptember 1983
Managed byTDCJ Correctional Institutions Division
WardenTimothy Fitzpatrick
CountyGrimes County
CountryUnited States
WebsiteOfficial website

History

It opened in September 1983[2] and is named after Wallace Pack, warden of Ellis Unit who was drowned in self-defence in 1981.[4]

As of 2014 the prison has hundreds of elderly prisoners above the age of 60.[5] In 2014 Jeff Edwards, an Austin civil rights lawyer, filed a lawsuit against the TDCJ on behalf of Pack Unit prisoners. They argue that the unit's temperature is at dangerous levels and that it needs to be lowered to 88 °F (31 °C).[3] The suit was filed at a federal courthouse in Houston. The four plaintiffs have disabilities and medical conditions amplified by extreme heat. They compared cell blocks to ovens and argued that tables are too hot to touch.[5] Prisoners also complained about the water provided in the prison, stating that it has arsenic. In June 2016 a federal judge ruled that the prison must provide safe drinking water.[6]

A settlement to provide air conditioning was reached in 2018.[7]

Notable prisoners

References
  1. "2020 CENSUS - CENSUS BLOCK MAP: Grimes County, TX" (PDF). U.S. Census Bureau. pp. 26-27 (PDF p. 27-28/38). Retrieved 2022-08-15. Wallace Pack Unit
  2. "Pack Unit." Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Retrieved on June 22, 2014.
  3. Haynes, Danielle. "Texas inmates sue for air conditioning." United Press International. June 20, 2014. Retrieved on June 22, 2014.
  4. Berryhill, Michael. "The Trials of Eroy Brown." The Texas Observer. November 1, 2011.
  5. Ward, Mike. "New lawsuit: Prisons so hot, cell blocks like ovens." Houston Chronicle. June 18, 2014. Retrieved on June 22, 2014.
  6. "Judge Rules Texas Prison Must Provide Inmates With Safe-drinking Water". Fox News Channel. 23 June 2016. Retrieved 27 September 2016.
  7. "Judge approves settlement mandating air conditioning at hot Texas prison". 8 May 2018.
  8. "Turner, Keith Robert" (Archive). Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Retrieved on December 28, 2015.
  9. "Zeigler, Royce Clyde II" (Archive). Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Retrieved on December 28, 2015.
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