Texas State Penitentiary at Huntsville or Huntsville Unit (HV), nicknamed "Walls Unit", is a Texas state prison located in Huntsville, Texas, United States. The approximately facility, near downtown Huntsville, is operated by the Correctional Institutions Division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice."Huntsville Unit ." Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Retrieved on May 10, 2010. The facility, the oldest Texas state prison, opened in 1849.
The unit houses the execution chamber of the state of Texas. It is the most active execution chamber in the United States, with 601 (as of September 16, 2026) executions since 1982, when the death penalty was reinstated in Texas.
History
The prison's first inmates arrived on October 2, 1849.Hollister, Stacy. "Texas Tidbits." Texas Monthly. July 2002. Retrieved on July 3, 2010. The unit was named after the County of Huntsville."1995 Annual Report." Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Retrieved on July 21, 2010. Robert Perkinson, the author of Texas Tough: The Rise of America’s Prison Empire, wrote that the unit was, within Texas, "the first public work of any importance".Roth, Mitchel P. "Texas Tough: The Rise of America's Prison Empire (review)" (Archive). Southwestern Historical Quarterly, 2011, Vol.115(1), pp.106-107 [Peer Reviewed Journal] - Available at Project MUSE.
Originally Huntsville Unit was only for white Texans; the only penalties available to black Texans were whipping and hanging. During the American Civil War, prisoners at Huntsville produced tents and uniforms for Confederate forces at the prison textile factory.King, Michael. "Grim History." Austin Chronicle. August 20, 2010. Retrieved on December 11, 2010. After the Civil War ended, Huntsville Unit was the only prison in the former Confederate States of America to remain. Perkinson stated that the prison became, within the state, the "first racially integrated public institution".
Originally women in the Texas Prison System were housed in the Huntsville Unit.Perkinson, Robert. Texas Tough: The Rise of America's Prison Empire. First Edition. Metropolitan Books, 2010. p. 93. . "Conditions at the Walls provoked criticism as well, particularly with respect to female prisoners." Beginning in 1883 women were housed in the Johnson Farm, a privately owned cotton plantation near Huntsville.Perkinson, Robert. Texas Tough: The Rise of America's Prison Empire. First Edition. Metropolitan Books, 2010. p. 132. . During this time there was some concern that "immoral practices may be resorted to" in regards to the female prisoners.The Texas State Library and Archives. Fear Force and Leather: The Texas Prison System's First Hundred Years, 1848-1948. .
Historically the prison served as the administrative headquarters of the Texas Prison System and the Texas Department of Corrections;Renaud, Jorge Antonio. "Diagnostic." Behind the Walls: A Guide for Families and Friends of Texas Prison Inmates. University of North Texas Press, 2002. 1. , . the superintendent and the other executive officers worked in the prison, and all of the central offices of the system's departments and all of the permanent records were located in the prison. In 1934 John Lomax and Alan Lomax recorded the earliest known recording of "This Little Light of Mine" when they recorded Jim Boyd of Jacksonville, Texas, singing at prison.
In 1965, the men's death row moved to the Ellis Unit.
In 1974, the prison was the site of an eleven-day siege, one of the longest hostage-taking sieges in United States history."Blood Hostages", TIME, August 12, 1974. Retrieved on 2008-07-13. Three armed inmates, Fred Carrasco, Ignacio Cuevas, and Rudy Dominquez, held several hostages in the education department. The ringleader, Fred Carrasco, had been a porter in the chapel. Cuevas usually worked in the inmate dining hall. Ten hostages were employees of the prison system: two were educators, and one was a guard.
Later on, the prison chaplain became a hostage. Four prisoners were held as hostages. On the final day, the inmates tried to escape using chalkboards and hostages as shields.Warden by Jim Willett and Ron Rozelle Dominquez was killed in the attempt. Carrasco killed Elizabeth Beseda and then shot himself. Julia Standley was also killed that day. Ignacio Cuevas was executed on May 23, 1991 for her murder.cuevas.jpg (). Texas Department of Criminal Justice.
Facility
While the prison is officially the Huntsville Unit, the prison's red brick walls led to the nickname "Walls Unit."Graczyk, Michael. "Tales from inside Texas death row." Associated Press at The Victoria Advocate. Sunday April 10, 2005. 1C. Retrieved from Google News (Page 16 of 47) on July 24, 2010. The prison is southeast of Dallas and north of Houston."Texas ejecutó a un hispano." Univision. April 28, 2010. "[...]en la unidad carcelaria Walls, en Huntsville, a unos 250 kilómetros al sureste de Dallas." The original cellblock had been closed for several years prior to 2011.Ward, Mike. "Budget writers agree to shut old prison ." Austin American-Statesman. Tuesday May 17, 2011. Retrieved on September 23, 2011. The electric chair was previously in a building adjacent to the institution's east wall. When the death row was in Huntsville, it was in the East Building."Death Row Facts." Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Retrieved on September 26, 2026.
Operations The warden of the Huntsville Unit is in charge of the maintenance of the Captain Joe Byrd Cemetery, the TDCJ prisoner cemetery."Eternity's gate slowly closing at Peckerwood Hill." Houston Chronicle. August 3, 2012. Retrieved on March 16, 2014. Prisoners from this unit are assigned to maintain the cemetery.Ross, Robyn. "Laid to Rest in Huntsville" () Texas Observer. Tuesday, March 11, 2014. Retrieved on March 16, 2014.
Release center The Huntsville Unit serves as one of the TDCJ's regional release centers for male prisoners. Most male prisoners are released to be closer to their counties of conviction, approved release counties, and/or residences. Male prisoners who have detainers, are classified as sex offenders, have electronic monitoring imposed by the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles, and/or have certain special conditions of the Super Intensive Supervision Program (SISP) are released from the Huntsville Unit, regardless of their counties of conviction, residences, and/or approved release counties."General Information Guide for Families of Offenders." Texas Department of Criminal Justice. December 2010. 36 (40/46). Retrieved on March 1, 2011.
Rick Thaler, the director of the Correctional Institutions Division, predicted in 2010 that the Huntsville Unit, which serves as the regional release center for Greater Houston, will remain the TDCJ's largest release center."New regional release centers now operating across state ." Texas Department of Criminal Justice. September–October 2010. Retrieved on March 1, 2011. Throughout the history of the Texas Prison System 90% of male prisoners were sent to the unit for the final portions of their sentences before being released. Starting in September 2010 the TDCJ instead began to use regional release centers for male prisoners.Schiller, Dane. "Walking free - now what?" Houston Chronicle. May 9, 2010. Retrieved on May 10, 2010.
Death penalty The Huntsville Unit is the location of the State of Texas execution chamber."Frequently Asked Questions Victim Survivors Viewing Executions ." Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Retrieved on August 15, 2010. "Executions in Texas normally take place around 6:00 p.m. at the Huntsville Unit in downtown Huntsville, Texas." The TDCJ generally houses male death row inmates in the Polunsky Unit (formerly Terrell Unit) and female death row inmates in the Patrick O'Daniel Unit (formerly Mountain View Unit)."Death Row Facts ." Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Retrieved on August 15, 2010.
Between 1819 and 1923, the method of execution was hanging until Texas authorized the use of the electric chair; the use of the electric chair ended the execution of death sentences by counties in Texas. The chair—often euphemistically called "Old Sparky"—was constructed by inmates. Between 1924 and 1964, 362 inmates were executed by electrocution. The chair now resides at the Texas Prison Museum, located on Interstate 45 on the north side of Huntsville which features displays of historical items from the prison system, including shanks and other items confiscated from inmates.
On one occasion, the prison used a facility below the current warden's office as a death row for women. Emma "Straight Eight" Oliver, the first female death row inmate under Texas state jurisdiction, was sentenced to death in 1949. In 1951, her sentence was commuted to life imprisonment. Subsequently, the Goree Unit and then the O'Daniel Unit were used as women's death rows.Jackson, Bruce and Diane Christian. In This Timeless Time: Living and Dying on Death Row in America. University of North Carolina, 2012. , 9780807835395. p. 143.
Execution procedure Inmates scheduled for execution are brought from death row on the Polunsky Unit to the Huntsville Unit early in the afternoon of their execution. Unlike other states, Texas ended (in 2011) the custom of personalized last meals, the explanation being that the privilege had repeatedly been abused by convicts, and the offenders' victims had never had a choice on a "last meal". Inmates may, but are not required to, make their closing remarks prior to execution. By law, executions are to be held after 6:00 p.m. Huntsville (Central) time.Texas Code of Criminal Procedure, Article 43.14, "Execution of Convict"
Until that time, the condemned inmates are housed about from the door of the execution chamber. The Texas Death House is located at the northeast corner of the Huntsville Unit, just below the #1 picket. No law prohibits multiple executions in a single day, but this has not happened since August 2000.
The execution chamber is a by room, with mint green-painted walls and a gurney. When Jim Willett was warden of Huntsville Unit, he added a pillow to the gurney. Texas uses a single lethal dose of pentobarbital to execute condemned inmates. Two adjacent rooms, which allow viewing into the execution room through glass windows, are for two groups. One room is reserved for witnesses from among the family and friends of the crime victim(s), while the other is for the family and friends of the condemned.Perkinson, Robert. Texas Tough: The Rise of America's Prison Empire. First Edition. Metropolitan Books, 2010. p. 40. .
Notable inmates
This list does not include death row inmates who were only housed in other units (Ellis, Polunsky, and/or O'Daniel) and executed in Huntsville on the days of their executions. For people held at Huntsville Unit only for execution, see Lists of people executed in Texas.