[1] The unit is along Farm to Market Road 2054, 4 miles (6.4 km) south of Tennessee Colony.

[2] The unit is in proximity to Palestine and the Rusk ironworks,[3] and it is in about a one-hour driving distance from Dallas.

[6] Michael was one of the first prisons to no longer use the "telephone-pole" layout,[7] which has central pickets with dead-end cell blocks extending from them.

Instead Michael uses a modular pod design, which allows for riot control and visual surveillance.

Most pods have double-bunk, reinforced concrete cells with security features such as slit windows and bolted-down metal toilets.