Carol Vance Unit 1.35

Carol S. Vance Unit (J2, previously the Harlem II Unit and the Jester II Unit) is a Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) prison located in unincorporated central Fort Bend County, Texas. The unit, located in flatlands, is along U.S. Highway 90A, 4mi east of central Richmond. The facility is in proximity to Sugar Land, and it is about 20mi southwest of Downtown Houston. The unit, with about 940acre of land, is co-located with Jester I Unit, Jester III Unit, and Jester IV Unit. The unit consists of four steel buildings and two brick buildings. The prison is the home of the InnerChange Freedom Initiative's Christian prison program. It is located on the Jester State Prison Farm property.HistoryThe unit opened in 1885. Its first brick building was in 1933. The unit was originally known as the Harlem II Unit, and at a later point it became the Jester II Unit. In 1963, before racial desegregation occurred, the facility housed Hispanic and Latino Americans over the age of 25. The unit was named after Governor of Texas Beauford H. Jester.