Releases From Michael Unit
Mark W. Michael Unit is a TDCJ Correctional Institutions Division prison. “Leaving Michael” can mean four main outcomes. Parole ends prison confinement conditionally while the state sentence continues. Mandatory supervision is another statutory supervised release. Discharge completes the sentence as TDCJ defines it. A transfer merely moves the prisoner to another unit or authority and is not community release.
Start with the event label. A current TDCJ location at Beto, Coffield, Gurney, Powledge, or a unit outside Anderson County shows continued state custody. A favorable Board action begins release processing but does not show that the person crossed the gate. A discharge or historical incarceration record is the strongest TDCJ proof that the sentence ended. If another authority receives the person, follow that agency's admission and later release record.
| Outcome | What ended | Best confirmation |
|---|---|---|
| Unit transfer | Michael placement only | New TDCJ location and movement history |
| Parole | Prison confinement | Board action, release certificate, Parole Division record |
| Mandatory supervision | Prison confinement under statutory supervision | Board/TDCJ result and release record |
| Discharge | State sentence | TDCJ historical or discharge information |
Confirm a Michael Unit Release
The TDCJ Online Inmate Search includes only people currently incarcerated in a TDCJ facility. It updates on working days and can be at least 24 hours old. Search by seven-digit TDCJ number or SID number when possible. Otherwise enter the exact last name with at least a first initial and use gender and race to narrow the result. Match offense and conviction information, not just a name.
- Open the official TDCJ locator and search with the strongest identifier.
- Check whether the result names Michael Unit or another TDCJ location.
- Record the exact Projected Release Date and any parole or release-planning label.
- If the person no longer appears, request TDCJ historical information rather than calling the no-result a release.
- Pair the TDCJ response with the court judgment, Board action, or receiving-agency record.
The Anderson County released-inmate search explains how to follow a receiving authority when a county or state record names a transfer.
Michael Unit Custody Profile
TDCJ lists Mark W. Michael Unit with a stated capacity of 3,305. Its custody profile includes G1 through G5, security detention, and safekeeping. These classifications show that it is a state prison holding sentenced people across a broad range of custody levels. It is not the Anderson County Jail and does not use the county's booking-out records.
The official Michael Unit page is the source for the facility profile.
Use the unit page for facility identity and contact details, then use statewide offender and release channels for a named person.
Michael Unit Contact and Records
Mark W. Michael Unit is at 2664 FM 2054, Tennessee Colony, TX 75886. The main telephone number is 903-928-2311. Calling the unit can help route a facility question, but official release history and calculated dates belong to the appropriate TDCJ records, parole, or release-processing office. Do not expect the Anderson County Sheriff to hold a TDCJ prison release record.
2664 FM 2054
Tennessee Colony, TX 75886
903-928-2311
Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Correctional Institutions Division
For current locator help, TDCJ publishes 936-295-6371 and 800-535-0283, weekdays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. For parole review status, use 844-512-0461. After a favorable decision, the Parole Division release-status line is 512-406-5202, and Review and Release Processing is 512-406-5449.
For a former prisoner, use the TDCJ inmate-information email route. Give full name and TDCJ number. If the number is unknown, provide exact birth date, or approximate age and county of conviction. TDCJ may return incarceration history, conviction information, and projected date without charge, but the listed email product does not provide photographs.
Michael Projected Release Dates
Projected Release Date is a TDCJ calculation, not proof of departure. It is the date CID Classification and Records projects a prisoner will leave incarceration if not paroled sooner. Offense, offense date, sentence structure, calendar time, good-conduct time treatment, mandatory-supervision eligibility, and Board action all matter. Texas does not impose a blanket 85-percent rule for every prisoner.
After favorable action, Review and Release Processing checks the release plan, county of residence, required programs, disciplinary issues, special conditions, and other criteria. Classification and Records then audits the case and calculates a Scheduled Release Date and Scheduled Release Location. Those later fields may appear while the person is still at Michael Unit, and the date can change even on the scheduled day.
The official TDCJ parole and release FAQ explains the post-vote scheduling process.
The FAQ supports a careful distinction among a favorable vote, projected date, scheduled date, and actual release.
Michael Unit Parole Geography
The Palestine Board Office votes cases from all five Anderson County TDCJ units, including Michael. It is at 1670 N. Highway 155, Suite A, Palestine, TX 75803, with telephone 903-723-1068. The Board office handles voting and correspondence geography. It is not the ordinary field-supervision office for a person released to Anderson County.
TDCJ's county cross-reference routes Anderson County parole field supervision to the Athens District Parole Office at 1645 Enterprise Street, Athens, TX 75751, 903-675-6722. Probation is different again. Anderson County CSCD supervises court-ordered community supervision. These three offices should not be treated as interchangeable merely because each may appear in a local criminal record.
A Board vote can approve, deny, set further review, or impose release conditions. Use the actual result code and date. Approval is followed by processing. Field supervision begins only under the release record and instructions issued for that person.
Michael Unit in the Prison Complex
Anderson County contains five co-located TDCJ facilities operating across an approximately 20,528-acre complex: Beto, Coffield, Gurney, Michael, and Powledge. This unusually large state-prison presence sits beside a county sheriff web presence that has no recent-release list. The overlap makes system identification essential.
A person arrested locally may begin at Anderson County Jail and later transfer into TDCJ. Another person may have no current county booking but serve a state sentence at Michael Unit. The same county name does not merge those records. ACSO documents the local booking and transfer. TDCJ documents state admission, location, projection, movement, parole, and discharge.
The TDCJ unit directory establishes the five-unit landscape. Gurney is specifically a transfer facility, so a Michael-to-Gurney movement can be continued processing or placement rather than release. Follow the new location until an official record identifies parole, mandatory supervision, discharge, or an outside receiving authority.
Michael Unit Release Notifications
TDCJ operates a separate statewide IVSS for prison and parole notifications. It is distinct from IVSS-Counties, which replaced county VINE in Texas. State notifications can concern parole eligibility, Board decisions, movement, release, and discharge. Register in the system that matches the custody stage and verify the person with official identifiers.
An alert provides timing, not certified proof. Read the event text because transfer and release are not the same. TDCJ Victim Services lists 800-848-4284 and victim.svc@tdcj.texas.gov. Contact details should be verified on the live TDCJ source before use.
After receiving an alert, preserve the event label and time, then confirm through the TDCJ record or release-status channel. If an outside authority takes custody, use the receiving agency's record to continue the chain.
After a Michael Unit Release
The TDCJ reentry guide contains an Anderson County section with purpose-neutral contacts for identification documents, food aid, mental-health care, and substance-use support. Listed examples include the DPS identification office on W. Spring Street in Palestine, Social Security on Medical Drive, Palestine Community Food Pantry, and ACCESS mental-health services in Jacksonville. The guide can age, so verify current hours and eligibility before traveling.
These resources do not verify release or supervision. Keep the TDCJ release certificate, identification records, and reporting instructions together. Athens DPO handles Anderson County parole routing, while Anderson County CSCD handles probation. A service provider cannot change or interpret the official supervision terms.
Full discharge has a different record consequence from parole. On discharge, the state sentence ends. On parole or mandatory supervision, confinement ends but state supervision continues. Obtain the TDCJ history or discharge confirmation when that distinction matters.
Build the Michael Release Record
A complete record uses more than one screen. Save the conviction judgment, TDCJ number, current or last confirmed unit, exact date-field labels, Board result if any, scheduled-release information, actual release document, and supervision or discharge status. Add the access date for every web result because current fields can change.
If the person vanished from the locator, do not backfill an assumed date. Request historical information. If the person moved, identify the receiving unit. If the person left under another authority's hold, obtain that agency's admission and later disposition. This sequence answers where the person went without implying knowledge of private movements after community release.
Note: A Michael Unit departure is confirmed by the state record describing the outcome, not by absence from a live search.