AUSTIN – Officials on Saturday morning announced that they would move prisoners from the Ramsey, Terrell and Stringfellow units in Rosharon, Texas, as rain from Hurricane Harvey raised Brazos River levels.

The Texas Department of Criminal Justice announced on its website that the move from the Brazoria County units in Southeast Texas would involve about 4,500 inmates. 

“The units will be evacuated beginning Saturday morning. The evacuation will affect approximately 4,500 inmates assigned to the facilities,” according to the website. “The offenders are being transported by TDCJ buses, and are accompanied by correctional officers and other staff members who have reported to work to assist in the evacuation.

“Offenders assigned to the units will be sent to facilities in East Texas. These evacuated offenders will not be available for visits at the designated receiving units, but will have the ability to use the offender telephone system.”

John Austin covers the Texas Statehouse for CNHI’s newspapers and websites. Reach him at jaustin@cnhi.com.