Hi there

Michael Unit is co-located with Coffield, at Tennessee Colony. Many of the guards work at both units, and there is guard housing at the same location. They have a farming operation at Michael Unit with cattle and pigs.

The waiting list for crafts workshops are long at all TDCJ units as I understand it. I haven't heard of any specific trouble at Michael Unit for a long while now; both Michael and Coffield are maximum security and hold a lot of inmates. From what I've seen there is a larger Hispanic population at Michael than at Coffield.

The food at the Colony units is tollerable according to my husband. It really depends on how picky the inmate chooses to be.

OK, you say you want information on safety: no one can answer that specifically without knowing the type of person/inmate your husband is.

You want information on food: can you be more specific please? If you want to know the meal plans for each week, you would need to speak to an inmate or TDCJ staff at Michael. I can tell you they eat a lot of what is grown in the fields around Michael and Coffield, lots of corn, greens, watermelon when in season etc. They don't get much fish, but lots of chicken and pork dishes, meatloaf, beans. As I said, it depends on the inmate's own perception of the food: what one might find acceptable, another might say is disgusting. They get enough food, whether they decide to eat it or not.

Craft shops I can't help you with, but maybe one of the other members can.