The prison, with about 8,008 acres (3,241 ha), is located at the intersection of Farm to Market Road 2004 and Texas State Highway 36.

[3] In 1890 William C. Clemens, the chairman of the Texas Prison Board, purchased an initial parcel of land from the Huntington Estate for $4,126.

Wayne Scott, the executive director of the TDCJ, established the Youth Offender Program, to house prisoners 14 to 16 years old who were sentenced as adults, new arrivals aged 17–20, and prisoners transferred out of the Texas Youth Commission, aged 16–18 and with determinate sentences.

[3] Rodney Hulin, a 17-year-old prisoner, reported being raped, harassed and assaulted by fellow inmates of his age group after his November 1995 transfer to a division for younger offenders in Clemens.

Michael Berryhill, a journalist who wrote at length about this case, found that the prison was not yet organized to support its population.