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Clements Unit

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Coordinates: 35°14′29″N 101°43′49″W / 35.24139°N 101.73028°W / 35.24139; -101.73028
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William P. Clements Unit
Clements Unit is located in Texas
Clements Unit
Location in Texas
Location9601 Spur 591
Amarillo, Texas 79107-9606
Coordinates35°14′29″N 101°43′49″W / 35.24139°N 101.73028°W / 35.24139; -101.73028
StatusOperational
Security classG1-G5, Administrative Segregation, Mental Health (PAMIO)
Capacity3,798
OpenedMarch 1990
Managed byTDCJ Correctional Institutions Division
WardenAdam Gonzales
CountyPotter County
CountryUSA
Websitewww.tdcj.state.tx.us/unit_directory../bc.html

The William P. "Bill" Clements Unit (BC) is a state prison of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) located in unincorporated Potter County, Texas, United States,[1] east of Downtown Amarillo. It is located on Spur 591 off of Loop 335.[2]

As of 2016 it had 3,700 inmates.[3]

History

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The prison opened in March 1990.[2] It was named after Governor of Texas William P. Clements.

In June 2013, according to a report surveying 92,449 adult inmates in 606 prisons, jails, and special confinement facilities from February 2011 to May 2012 by the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics, of the prisons holding men the Clements Unit had the eighth-highest rate of inmates who reported that inmates stated that they had, during the past year, experienced sexual victimization from another inmate; the percentage was 6.8%. The percentage had decreased from its percentage in 2008. In 2008 the Bureau of Justice Statistics ranked Clements as the second highest in its category. For 2011–2012, 8.1% of inmates at Clements reported sexual intercourse or sexual contact with staff members, making it the fifth-highest in its category. In 2008 it was the second-highest in that category with 9.5%.[4] Jason Clark, a TDCJ spokesperson, said that many of the accusations "could reflect offender attitudes toward other offensive behavior or legitimate security precautions" and that many were not actually sexual assault.[5] The study also said that the Clements Unit had the worst rate of employee-on-inmate sexual assault of any facility in the country.[6][7] The state of Texas counts all allegations towards this total even if proven false. Several offenders are under constant video surveillance due to constant false accusations.

In 2011, a male prison nurse had an inmate do sexual favors for him. Domenic Hidalgo, the prison nurse, pleaded guilty in 2013 and received a four-year probation term.[8]

Inmate Alton Rodgers died on January 19, 2016, after being found unresponsive in his cell. His cellmate was accused of murdering him. By February 2016, officials of the TDCJ recommended dismissing a supervisor and giving disciplinary action to 17 other employees.[3]

Notable inmates

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Inmate Name Register Number Status Details
David Dowler 03909662 / 00472904 Serving a life sentence.[9] Murdered 3 people in the 1980s.[10]
Jose Sifuentes 07105040 / 02353019 Serving a life sentence.[11] After several years of being a fugitive, was convicted of 3 murders.[12][13]
  • Travis Trevino Runnels - was serving a 70-year sentence for aggravated robbery. Runnels fatally stabbed a forty year old correctional officer, who was working as an Industrial Supervisor in the unit boot factory. He was sentenced to death and subsequently moved to Polunsky Unit. Executed in 2019.[14]
  • Samuel Scott Jones - sentenced to life in prison in 2009 for a July 2006 18-Wheeler theft, where he held a female driver hostage at gunpoint for four hours; while being chased by police through multiple counties. The incident gained notoriety from numerous News media outlets covering the incident. The Negotiation between Dallas Police Department SWAT Team members was filmed as part of the A&E television show Dallas SWAT.

References

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  1. ^ "2020 CENSUS - CENSUS BLOCK MAP: Potter County, TX" (PDF). U.S. Census Bureau. p. 35 (PDF p. 36/39). Retrieved 2022-08-15. William P Clements Unit
  2. ^ a b "Clements (BC)." Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Retrieved on June 23, 2013. "Unit Address and Phone Number: 9601 Spur 591, Amarillo, TX 79107-9606"
  3. ^ a b Langford, Terri. "18 Texas Correctional Officers Disciplined in Inmate Death" (Archive). The Texas Tribune. February 18, 2016. Retrieved on February 25, 2016.
  4. ^ Bryant, Mollie. "Inmate sexual assault: Clements Unit among nation's worst, survey says." Amarillo Globe-News. June 22, 2013. Retrieved on June 23, 2013.
  5. ^ "Inmate survey: Amarillo unit has high assault rate." Associated Press at the Houston Chronicle. June 23, 2013. Retrieved on June 23, 2013.
  6. ^ "Texas: The Prison Rape Capital of the U.S." Newsweek. 20 June 2015.
  7. ^ https://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/svpjri1112.pdf [bare URL PDF]
  8. ^ Santo, Alysia (The Marshall Project). "Preying on Texas Prisoners: When Guards Demand Sex." Texas Tribune. June 17, 2015. Retrieved on June 2, 2016. Also at Newsweek as "Texas: The Prison Rape Capital of the U.S."
  9. ^ "David Dowler sentence". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. 1988-01-28. p. 32. Retrieved 2024-02-15.
  10. ^ "David Dowler defense page 2". The Odessa American. 1988-01-26. p. 2. Retrieved 2024-02-15.
  11. ^ "Serial killer who fled to Mexico gets life in prison for murdering 3 women in Dallas". Dallas News. 2021-05-13. Retrieved 2024-02-15.
  12. ^ "Alleged serial killer on the run since 2003 returns to Dallas custody: DA". ABC News. Retrieved 2024-03-26.
  13. ^ "Once Fugitive Serial Killer Jose Sifuentes Pleads Guilty To Strangling, Killing 3 Women In Dallas - CBS Texas". www.cbsnews.com. 2021-05-14. Retrieved 2024-03-26.
  14. ^ https://www.tdcj.texas.gov/death_row/dr_info/runnelstravis.html Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Retrieved on April 15th, 2021.
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