The Wayne Scott Unit (J4), formerly known as the Beauford H. Jester IV Unit, is a psychiatric facility of the

Texas Department of Criminal Justice The Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) is a department of the government of the U.S. state of Texas. The TDCJ is responsible for statewide criminal justice for adult offenders, including managing offenders in state prisons, state jai ...

located in

unincorporated Unincorporated may refer to: * Unincorporated area, land not governed by a local municipality * Unincorporated entity, a type of organization * Unincorporated territories of the United States, territories under U.S. jurisdiction, to which Congress ...

Fort Bend County Fort Bend County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. The county was founded in 1837 and organized the next year. It is named for a blockhouse at a bend of the Brazos River. The community developed around the fort in early days. Th ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

, east of

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, Californi ...

. It is a part of the

Jester State Prison Farm The Beauford H. Jester Complex, formerly the Jester State Prison Farm, refers to a complex of Texas Department of Criminal Justice prisons for men in unincorporated Fort Bend County, Texas. Individually they are Jester I Unit, Carol Vance Unit (Je ...

property and it is located on

U.S. Highway 90 U.S. Route 90 or U.S. Highway 90 (US 90) is an east–west major United States highway in the Southern United States. Despite the "0" in its route number, US 90 never was a full coast-to-coast route. With the exception of a short-lived ...

A.Jester IV Unit
."

. Retrieved on September 23, 2011. "4 Jester Road, Richmond, Texas 77406" The unit was established in November 1993. The facility features wide hallways, skylights, and floor-to-ceiling windows. The cement walls have murals made by prisoners that depict wildlife.Grissom, Brandi.
Trouble in Mind
" ''

Texas Monthly ''Texas Monthly'' (stylized as ''TexasMonthly'') is a monthly American magazine headquartered in Downtown Austin, Texas. ''Texas Monthly'' was founded in 1973 by Michael R. Levy and has been published by Emmis Publishing, L.P. since 1998 and is ...

''. March 2013. Volume 41, Issue 3. p. 192 - Regarding prisoners that are exception to the usual few day stays: "Andre, however, has been at the unit since December 2008. He was sent there after he pulled out his remaining eye, rendering himself blind." Jester IV is located in the middle of a cornfield. After the closure of the nearby

Central Unit The Central Unit (C, previously the Imperial State Prison Farm and the Central State Prison Farm) was a Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) men's prison in Sugar Land, Texas. The approximately facility is from the central part of the cit ...

in 2011, John Whitmire, the chairperson of the criminal justice committee of the

Texas Senate The Texas Senate ( es, Senado de Texas) is the upper house of the Texas State Legislature. There are 31 members of the Senate, representing single-member districts across the U.S. state of Texas, with populations of approximately 806,000 per co ...

, said that the decision to open Jester IV was a decision that "I think we'll regret."Ward, Mike.
As prison closes, could others be next?
''

Austin American-Statesman The ''Austin American-Statesman'' is the major daily newspaper for Austin, the capital city of Texas. It is owned by Gannett. The paper prints Associated Press, ''New York Times'', ''The Washington Post'', and ''Los Angeles Times'' internationa ...

''. Thursday August 11, 2011. Updated on Friday August 12, 2011. Retrieved on September 23, 2011. In 2011 a middle school, James Bowie Middle School, and a strip commercial center opened across the street from Jester IV and

Jester III Unit The Beauford H. Jester III Unit (J3) is a Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) prison farm located in unincorporated Fort Bend County, Texas, United States. The unit is along U.S. Highway 90A, east of central Richmond. The unit, which op ...

. As of March 2013 Jester IV housed 550 prisoners. They are among the most mentally ill and violent prisoners in the TDCJ. While male death row prisoners are normally housed in the

Polunsky Unit Allan B. Polunsky Unit (TL, formerly the Terrell Unit) is a prison in West Livingston, Texas, West Livingston, unincorporated area, unincorporated Polk County, Texas, United States, located approximately southwest of Livingston, Texas, Living ...

near

Livingston, Texas Livingston is a town in and the county seat of Polk County, Texas. With a population of 5,640 at the 2020 census, it is the largest city in Polk County. It is located about 46 miles south of Lufkin and was originally settled in 1835 as S ...

, eight are instead housed in Jester IV as of March 2013. Marc Bookman of '' Mother Jones'' said in 2013 that "by all accounts Jester IV is a quieter place" compared to Polunsky.Bookman, Marc. "How Crazy Is Too Crazy to Be Executed?" '' Mother Jones''. Tuesday February 12, 2013
3
Retrieved on March 23, 2013. The prison was renamed to Wayne Scott Unit in 2021. The name "Wayne Scott Unit" was formerly held by a

Brazoria County Brazoria County ( ) is a county in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, the population of the county was 372,031. The county seat is Angleton. Brazoria County is included in the Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land metropolitan statis ...

prison originally known as the Retrieve Unit; the main facility of that prison closed in 2020.

Treatment program

As of March 2013 a prisoner typically comes from his regularly assigned unit to Jester IV for several days of psychiatric treatment. After the prisoner is stabilized, the prisoner is sent back to his regular unit. There are prisoners that have stayed longer.

Notable inmates

* Andre Thomas (Death row) - Moved from the

due to mental health issues. * Eddie Ray Routh - serving life without parole. Moved on to Ramsey I Unit. * Trey Eric Sesler - arrived in 2019, serving life without parole. Sesler, Trey Eric

.

. Retrieved on April 15, 2021.

References

External links

Jester IV Unit

. {{coord, 29, 37, 22, N, 95, 42, 11, W, scale:10000, display=title Prisons in Fort Bend County, Texas 1993 establishments in Texas Psychiatric prisons