Video Shot Prior to COVID-19 Pandemic

Otis Cohn is the mayor of Cleveland, TX, where MTC’s Oliver J. Bell Unit is proud to call home.

“It is a perfect fit for Cleveland,” says Mayor Cohn. It’s a very neat and clean place. The prison has been just very steadfast and a reliable anchor.”

While the city is grateful to have the Bell unit a as part of the community, the facility is grateful for the community’s support.

Michael Upshaw is the warden.

“The partnership of our facility and our staff? It’s our home,” he says. “I mean it’s where all the staff live. We live in this community, and we need to be making a positive image and doing what we can to be a good neighbor in our community. And that’s what we strive to do each day.”

“It is a high-class facility,” says Mayor Cohn, “we don’t have problems out there.”

“Yeah, we’re a prison facility,” explains Warden Upshaw. “But that doesn’t mean that it needs to be a negative vibe in the community, because it’s a prison facility. So, we work hard to put that positive image each and every day.”

Mayor Cohn further praises the facility.

“I know that they are active in the Chamber of Commerce. I know that they make contributions; not just to the city, but by way of charities. And, yes, they have been welcomed here for a long time.”