Pilots hear update on Cuero Stevenson Unit
(Posted 2/3/2010 08:45 am)
Three officers from Stevenson Unit of Texas Department of Criminal Justice were guest speakers at last week’s Pilot Club of Cuero meeting at Cuero Country Club.
Assistant Warden Diana Clay presented the program noting that Stevenson Unit was opened in the 1994 north of Cuero as a result of a lot of work by local and area residents.
She said the state prison has 317 employees. Eighty of those employees live in Cuero while 68 live in Victoria, 56 are from Yoakum and 26 are from Yorktown.
Leaders at Stevenson Unit include Kenny Bright, senior warden; Clay, assistant warden; and Evelyn Castro, major.
Along with the jobs provided by the Unit, another positive impact on the area comes from the Community Squad. This group of offenders and officers provide over 200 hours of service a year. Some of the areas they can be seen include Texas Department of Transportation, DeWitt County Museum, Westhoff ISD and the Victoria Food Bank.
Texas Correctional Factory is a part of the Unit where offenders build furniture while learning a trade. She said last year that factory sold about $7 million worth of office furniture to various state departments.
Another part of Stevenson Unit is Windham Independent School District. This school serves offenders at each state operated prison and is the largest school district in Texas.
Also speaking to the Pilot Club members were Lt. Steven Moorman and Capt. Ronald Ashen. Moorman has been with the Unit since it began 16 years ago and serves as the Field Force supervisor. Ashen supervises the kennel operations at the Unit.
Moorman said the Unit has 240 offenders assigned to the field force with 22 trusties that can work outside the unit with such projects as Habitat for Humanity. One of the large projects for the field force is a 50 acre garden.
There are 12 correctional officers assigned to the field force. The field force has helped other units near Beaumont as they recovered from hurricanes last year.
Sgt. Ashen oversees the kennel operations at Stevenson Unit. His operations train and breed dogs for the prison system. This group also provides this free service to area law enforcement agencies. He said the Unit’s dogs have a 75% catch rate of people that have attempted to escape law enforcement.
He said Stevenson Unit has only had four attempted escapes since it opened. Three of those attempted escapes were caught with the help of the dogs and the other was caught before the dogs were needed.
Sgt. Ashen said the program has also been successful in training offenders. The prison offenders have to volunteer to work at the kennel. One offender was successful in obtaining a grant to train dogs after he was released on parole.
Asst. Warden Clay explained there are 1,342 offenders at Stevenson Unit. She said the average age of offenders is between 41 and 51 years old. The average length of stay of offenders at the Unit is about 10 years.
Stevenson Unit houses minimum and medium custody-level offenders.
(Posted 2/3/2010 08:45 am)
Three officers from Stevenson Unit of Texas Department of Criminal Justice were guest speakers at last week’s Pilot Club of Cuero meeting at Cuero Country Club.
Assistant Warden Diana Clay presented the program noting that Stevenson Unit was opened in the 1994 north of Cuero as a result of a lot of work by local and area residents.
She said the state prison has 317 employees. Eighty of those employees live in Cuero while 68 live in Victoria, 56 are from Yoakum and 26 are from Yorktown.
Leaders at Stevenson Unit include Kenny Bright, senior warden; Clay, assistant warden; and Evelyn Castro, major.
Along with the jobs provided by the Unit, another positive impact on the area comes from the Community Squad. This group of offenders and officers provide over 200 hours of service a year. Some of the areas they can be seen include Texas Department of Transportation, DeWitt County Museum, Westhoff ISD and the Victoria Food Bank.
Texas Correctional Factory is a part of the Unit where offenders build furniture while learning a trade. She said last year that factory sold about $7 million worth of office furniture to various state departments.
Another part of Stevenson Unit is Windham Independent School District. This school serves offenders at each state operated prison and is the largest school district in Texas.
Also speaking to the Pilot Club members were Lt. Steven Moorman and Capt. Ronald Ashen. Moorman has been with the Unit since it began 16 years ago and serves as the Field Force supervisor. Ashen supervises the kennel operations at the Unit.
Moorman said the Unit has 240 offenders assigned to the field force with 22 trusties that can work outside the unit with such projects as Habitat for Humanity. One of the large projects for the field force is a 50 acre garden.
There are 12 correctional officers assigned to the field force. The field force has helped other units near Beaumont as they recovered from hurricanes last year.
Sgt. Ashen oversees the kennel operations at Stevenson Unit. His operations train and breed dogs for the prison system. This group also provides this free service to area law enforcement agencies. He said the Unit’s dogs have a 75% catch rate of people that have attempted to escape law enforcement.
He said Stevenson Unit has only had four attempted escapes since it opened. Three of those attempted escapes were caught with the help of the dogs and the other was caught before the dogs were needed.
Sgt. Ashen said the program has also been successful in training offenders. The prison offenders have to volunteer to work at the kennel. One offender was successful in obtaining a grant to train dogs after he was released on parole.
Asst. Warden Clay explained there are 1,342 offenders at Stevenson Unit. She said the average age of offenders is between 41 and 51 years old. The average length of stay of offenders at the Unit is about 10 years.
Stevenson Unit houses minimum and medium custody-level offenders.
