Marlin Transfer Facility

Women's TDCJ transfer facility in Falls County, with short-stay housing and weekend visitation; distinct from the Hobby Unit in the same town.

Overview

The Marlin Transfer Facility is a women’s transfer unit in TDCJ, listed by TDCJ at about 606 beds. It sits in Marlin in Falls County, in Central Texas southeast of Waco. The unit opened in 1992, was operated by the Texas Youth Commission from 1995 to 2007, and returned to TDCJ in 2007.

As a transfer facility, it primarily holds people for short periods before they move to a permanent unit assignment, which is the single most important fact for families planning a visit.

What Makes the Marlin Unit Different

• A women’s transfer facility — TDCJ uses transfer units mainly for short-stay housing while people await assignment to a permanent unit
• Because stays are short, an incarcerated person can move to another unit on short notice; confirm the person is still assigned here on the TDCJ inmate locator before traveling
• Separate from the Hobby Unit, a women’s prison also in Marlin in Falls County, whose name is easy to confuse with this one; the TDCJ inmate locator shows the exact unit a person is assigned to, and the two are different visitation lists
• Houses a G1, G2, and transient custody mix, so the visiting format follows the incarcerated person’s classification rather than one unit-wide rule

Visiting Hours and Procedures

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

Visits are arranged through the TDCJ Online Visitation Portal, on the incarcerated person’s approved Visitors List. The 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. The format follows the incarcerated person’s classification, so two families arriving the same morning may have different experiences.

Because this is a short-stay transfer unit, an incarcerated person may move to another unit before a scheduled visit. Confirm the current unit assignment on the TDCJ inmate locator shortly before traveling, and be sure the visit is scheduled at the unit where the person is actually housed.

Getting There and Parking

The Marlin Transfer Facility is in Marlin in Falls County, in Central Texas southeast of Waco. The unit sits on State Highway 6.

The trip is by private vehicle. Marlin is a small Central Texas town, and the nearest larger service center is Waco to the northwest.

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. Account setup, rates, and video options are covered in Phone & Video Calls.

Nearby Services

Marlin is a small town with limited commercial services. Waco, to the northwest, is the nearest larger service center for gas, food, groceries, and lodging, and options thin out closer 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