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 jails ...

located in unincorporated Fort Bend County,

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, United States, east of

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. It is a part of the Jester State Prison Farm 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. It generally travels near Int ...

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
" ''

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''. 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 in 2011,

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, the chairperson of the criminal justice committee of the

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, 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?
''

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''. 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. 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 near

Livingston, Texas Livingston is a town in and the county seat of Polk County, Texas, United States. With a population of 5,640 at the United States Census, 2020, 2020 census, it is the largest city in Polk County. It is located approximately south of Lufk ...

, 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 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 Andre Lee Thomas (born March 17, 1983) is an American convicted murderer and death row inmate known for removing both of his eyeballs in separate incidents and ingesting one of them. In 2004, Thomas killed his estranged wife Laura Boren, his f ...

(Death row) - Moved from the Polunsky Unit 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