The 390 acres (160 ha) facility is located along Farm to Market Road 929, 1.5 miles (2.4 km) north of Texas Loop 36.

Charles Brown, who was the chairperson of the Texas Department of Corrections, said that the construction of each maximum security prison would cost $60 million.

Al Hughes, who resigned as the Chairperson of the Texas Board of Corrections after the meeting that voted in favor of building the prisons, said that the Amarillo and Gatesville units could be built within 30 months.

[1] In 1991 a 27-year-old prisoner named Henry Rodriguez received multiple stab wounds in the Hughes recreation yard.

[3] In 1995 the Texas Board of Criminal Justice approved installing new units for violent prisoners in several existing facilities, including Hughes.