Hunstville, Texas

The Texas Prison System has been headquartered in Huntsville since 1848. Soon after Texas became a state, the legislature chose Huntsville as the site of the first permanent penitentiary. “The Walls” unit was the first prison to be built in Texas and is where executions take place. Today, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice is one of the two largest penal systems in the free world. The total system houses approximately 150,000 offenders in 106 units. Five units are in the city of Huntsville.