United States · TX · Tennessee Colony
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State prison operated by Texas Department of Criminal Justice. TDCJ Region II. Capacity ~3,305. Custody levels housed: G1-G5, Security Detention, Safekeeping.
Capacity
3,305
Current population
—
Occupancy
—
Year opened
1987
Operational
Figures from official sources · verified 29 May 2026 · methodology
Population held
male
Opened
1987
Region
TX
Security level
Maximum
Death-row facility
No
No conditions summary available yet.
No visiting information available.
No mailing information available.
Contact the operator's website for inmate-specific procedures.
The Marshall Project reported on the Mark W. Michael Unit in east Texas, describing it as part of the prison-industrial complex and noting that inmates in Administrative Segregation throw feces at guards.
Derived signal — not a judgement. How it's calculated
What the score is responding to:
This facility scores 5. The national average across 7,437 scored United States facilities is 2 — 3 points above national average.
Same country, matched on type + security level where possible.
the grossest corner of the prison-industrial complex. This article was published in collaboration with Vice . Upon entering Administrative Segregation — a.k.a. solitary — at Mark W. Michael Unit, a prison in east Texas, I was escorted down a long hallway. I saw a small infirmary, a smaller visitation booth, and a kitchen. Then we turned down a corridor and headed toward my block. Life Inside
How many of our profile fields are populated. We surface this so families and researchers know the limits.
Under CC-BY-4.0. Include the URL and access date; the site is a living reference and entries can change.
World Prisons. (2026). Michael. Retrieved September 8, 2026, from https://worldprisons.com/prisons/michael
"Michael." World Prisons. Accessed September 8, 2026. https://worldprisons.com/prisons/michael.
@misc{worldprisons-michael,
author = {{World Prisons}},
title = {Michael},
year = {2026},
url = {https://worldprisons.com/prisons/michael},
urldate = {2026-09-08}
}