Jordan Unit

A general-population men's prison near Pampa in the Texas Panhandle, sharing its grounds with the separate Baten Transfer Facility.

Overview

The Jordan Unit is a general-population men’s prison near Pampa, in Gray County in the Texas Panhandle. TDCJ established the unit in October 1992 and lists its capacity at about 1,152. The TDCJ unit directory titles the facility the “Jordan Unit”; its formal name is the “Rufe Jordan Unit,” named for a former Gray County sheriff.

The unit houses men at G1, G2, and G4 custody levels, along with transient and parole offenders. Medical care is managed by Texas Tech, the correctional managed-care partner for TDCJ’s Panhandle region.

What Makes Jordan Unit Different

• A separate facility, the Baten Transfer Facility, shares the same Pampa grounds but has its own mailing address and its own visitation schedule
• Custody runs G1, G2, and G4, so the visiting format follows the incarcerated person’s classification rather than one unit-wide rule
• Located in the Texas Panhandle, northeast of Amarillo, with services concentrated in Pampa and Amarillo
• Operates agriculture and unit operations, education and vocational programs through Windham, and faith-based and reentry programming

Visiting Hours and Procedures

The statewide rules above — approval, ID, prohibited items, and dress code — apply at the Jordan Unit. What follows is specific to this unit.

The unit’s custody mix is the main reason one posted schedule does not mean one visiting experience. General-population housing typically uses standard contact visiting, while more restrictive housing can mean different room assignments or non-contact procedures on the same weekend. The format follows the incarcerated person’s classification, so two families arriving the same morning may have different experiences.

Because the Baten Transfer Facility sits on the same grounds, the first step is confirming on the TDCJ inmate locator whether the person is at the Jordan Unit or at Baten. The two facilities keep separate visitation schedules, and an approval or appointment for one does not carry over to the other.

Getting There and Parking

The Jordan Unit is in Gray County, in the Texas Panhandle northeast of Amarillo. TDCJ lists the unit as seven miles east of Pampa on Highway 60, then two miles north.

Pampa is the nearest town to the unit, and Amarillo is the nearest larger city. There is no fixed-route transit to the unit, so the trip is by car.

Phones, Mail, and Video

Contact has a sequence to it. A phone number must be on the incarcerated person’s approved contact list before calls can connect, and after intake or a transfer that approval can take time to process. Calls are placed by the incarcerated person on TDCJ’s Securus phone system; a prison cannot be called into. Mail is addressed to the incarcerated person at the unit, and confirming the person is at the Jordan Unit rather than the co-located Baten Transfer Facility matters because the two facilities use different addresses. Account setup, rates, and video options are covered in Phone & Video Calls.

Nearby Services

Pampa is the nearest town for gas, food, groceries, and lodging, and Amarillo to the southwest offers a wider range of services. Options thin out on the final approach to the unit.

For support beyond the unit itself, the Texas Inmate Families Association is a statewide nonprofit focused on education, advocacy, and prison-system navigation resources for families with someone in TDCJ custody.

Learn More

For detailed information about visiting and communicating with someone at a Texas state prison:

• Visiting in Texas — TDCJ approval process, dress code, scheduling
• Mail & Packages — what you can send and what gets rejected
• Phone & Video Calls — Securus accounts, call costs, video visits
• Sending Money — how to add funds to a TDCJ trust account
• Medical & Mental Health — healthcare in TDCJ facilities
• Transfers — what happens during transfers