Person Record
Metadata
Name |
Estelle, W. J. "Jim", Jr. |
Othernames |
James "Jim" Estelle |
Born |
03/31/1931 |
Birthplace |
Henry County, Indiana |
Education |
Sacramento State College University of California-Berkeley Sam Houston State University |
Notes |
W. J. Estelle, Jr. was born March 31, 1931, in Henry County, Indiana. Soon after, however, the family moved to California, where Estelle spent most of his childhood. Following high school, Estelle attended Sacramento State College and received a B. A. in Police Science and Correctional Administration. He went on to do graduate work in criminology at the University of California-Berkeley and at Sam Houston State University in Texas. While employed eighteen years with the California Department of Corrections, Estelle worked in nearly every area from reception to maximum security. He also worked for five years as a field parole officer, and two years as Warden of the Montana State Prison, as well as teaching correctional administration at two California colleges. A member of several criminal justice associations, Estelle served as vice-president of both the Association of State Correctional Administrators and the American Correctional Association. Estelle served as Director of the Texas Department of Corrections from September 1972 until he left in 1983 to accept a position as president of a bank in Consol, Texas. A year later, Estelle returned to California, where he has lived ever since. He was most recently working in the Industrial Division of the California Department of Corrections in Sacramento. He was notably involved in handling the 1974 Huntsville Prison Siege involving inmates Fred Carrasco, Rudolfo Dominguez, and Ignacio Cuevas who took over the education and library facility at Huntsville "Walls" Unit. Although the initial hostage count was seventy inmates and eleven citizens, Carrasco soon traded hostages for handcuffs and a television, reducing the hostage count to eleven civilians and four inmates. For the next ten days, Jim Estelle, Director of the Texas Department of Corrections, negotiated with Carrasco. Rangers and other law enforcement officers were called into assist TDC officials. |
Occupation |
Director, Texas Department of Corrections |
Related Records
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Tall Walls and High Fences: Officers and Offenders, The Texas Prison Story. - Library General Book Collection
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Record Type: Library
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