The Beauford H. Jester III Unit (J3) is a Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ)

prison farm A prison farm (also known as a penal farm) is a large correctional facility where penal labor convicts work legally or illegally on a farm (in the wide sense of a productive unit), usually for manual labor, largely in the open air, such as in ...

located in unincorporated Fort Bend County,

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. The unit is along U.S. Highway 90A, east of central Richmond. The unit, which opened in July 1982 with about of land, is co-located with Jester I Unit, Carol Vance Unit, and Jester IV Unit. Together with its trusty camp, it houses 1,131 inmates. The unit was named after

Governor of Texas The governor of Texas is the head of state of the U.S. state of Texas. The governor is the head of the executive branch of the government of Texas and is the commander-in-chief of the Texas Military Forces. Established in the Constit ...

Beauford H. Jester, the namesake for the entire prison farm. Jester III opened in 1982. The land that Jester III sits on was purchased in 1885 by the state.''Texas Dept of Criminal Justice''. '' Texas Department of Criminal Justice''. ''Turner Publishing Company''. 2004
91
In 2011 the prison's garment plant closed, and its operations were consolidated with the garment plant at the Wainwright Unit, formerly known as the Eastham Unit. In 2011 a middle school, James Bowie Middle School, and a strip commercial center opened across the street from Jester III and Jester IV Unit.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 the U.S. state of Texas. It is owned by Hearst Communications. The distribution of the following ''The New York Times'', ''The Washington Post'', '' ...

''. Thursday August 11, 2011. Updated on Friday August 12, 2011. Retrieved on September 23, 2011."." Fort Bend Independent School District. Retrieved on September 23, 2011. "James Bowie Middle School (Middle School #14), located at 700 Plantation Drive, in Richmond, Texas. "

Gallery

File:JesterHarlemPrisonFarmFortBendCoTx.png, Topographical map of the Jester Prison Farm, to the west of the Central Prison Farm and Sugar Land Regional Airport, July 1, 1990,

U.S. Geological Survey The United States Geological Survey (USGS), founded as the Geological Survey, is an agency of the U.S. Department of the Interior whose work spans the disciplines of biology, geography, geology, and hydrology. The agency was founded on March ...

References

External links

*
Jester III Unit
" Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Retrieved on May 9, 2010. Prisons in Fort Bend County, Texas Buildings and structures in Fort Bend County, Texas 1982 establishments in Texas {{Texas-struct-stub