Ney Unit

Medina County TDCJ prison near Hondo, west of San Antonio, with G1-G2 housing, an in-prison therapeutic community, and weekend visitation.

Overview

The Ney Unit is a TDCJ state prison near Hondo in Medina County, west of San Antonio. TDCJ lists it at about 576 beds, housing men in G1 and G2 custody. The unit opened in March 1995.

Two facts shape most of what families need to plan for: the unit’s rural location west of San Antonio and the program-based housing that can affect who is available to visit and when.

What Makes the Ney Unit Different

• Runs an in-prison therapeutic community (IPTC), so housing and daily schedules can be tied to treatment phases rather than one unit-wide routine
• Offers CHANGES/Pre-Release programming and a faith-based dorm focused on reentry, which means the visiting format can follow the incarcerated person’s program status as well as custody level
• Holds G1-G2 custody, so contact visiting is common for general-population housing while program or restrictive status can change the format on the same weekend
• Shares the town of Hondo with the Torres Unit; the two are separate prisons with separate visitation lists, so the TDCJ inmate locator should be used to confirm the exact unit a person is assigned to before traveling

Visiting Hours and Procedures

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

Because the Ney Unit combines general-population housing with treatment and pre-release programming, one posted schedule does not always mean one visiting experience. General-population housing typically uses standard contact visiting, while program enrollment or more restrictive housing can mean different procedures. The format follows the incarcerated person’s classification and program status, so two families arriving the same morning may have different experiences. For someone in a treatment or pre-release program, it is worth confirming the current visiting arrangement with the unit before traveling.

Getting There and Parking

The Ney Unit is in a rural part of Medina County, near Hondo, west of San Antonio. The drive in finishes on a private road off the local route, and services thin out over the last stretch.

A private vehicle is the practical way to reach the unit. There is no fixed-route transit serving the prison, so families should plan to drive, and to fuel up and pick up food in Hondo or San Antonio before the final approach.

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.

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