Former TDCJ ‘Old Timers’ gather as family at reunion [The Huntsville Item, Texas]

Oct. 13--HUNTSVILLE -- Joy isn't a word typically associated with the Texas prison systems.

Normally the farther away people are from the units, the better. But Marshall Herklotz -- and the other more than 125 former prison system employees and families that attended the Eighth Annual Texas Prison Museum's Old Timers Reunion on Saturday, Oct. 12 -- remember the correctional system with fondness.

Herklotz started at the now-Texas Department of Criminal Justice in 1972 as a correctional officer. He would then climb the ranks until he became a Regional Director in 1984.

At the time he was in the trenches, he said, there wasn't much developed in terms of training, so the crews had to learn together on how to handle situations.

"We were involved in a number of different disturbances," Herklotz said. "We were really lucky that we were able to quell those. There was a lack of training, so no one knew what we were doing. We just did it."

Added training isn't the only change he saw over the years, during his tenure as warden at the Ellis Unit they created the first death row work program.

"That came from the higher ups," Herklotz said. "We had to create a program for the death row inmates and they were working in the general population. They were working in our shoe factories and other industry programs."

Herklotz made a promise to the prisoners who had an upcoming trial.

"I told them, 'If you behave, I will testify at your new hearing to say that you didn't give me any problems,'" he said. "But if they did give me trouble, I'd say, 'I will for sure be at your hearing and tell them that you couldn't even behave working in a corrections facility.'"

During the entire time that the program worked under him, he only had one inmate give him trouble.

The system has undergone widespread change before and since his retirement in 2001. It got big.

"If we wanted to have a wardens meeting when I first started, we could've had it in a conference room," he said. "But now, you'd have to take up this room (the convention hall at the Texas Prison Museum), or maybe more."

That growth to now more than 100 prison units across the state came with a price, he said.

"It's not as personal as it used to be," Herklotz said. "I understand that. But you used to grow up with guys in the system and know everyone. It's just not that way anymore."

The biggest change he's seen is the watering-down of the warden position.

"When we worked for the system, the warden ran the whole thing," he said, specifically describing inmate job assignments. "There's now a committee making job assignments. That used to be the warden's job."

After 30 years of credit in the system, Herklotz now works as the Regional Manager of the Police and Firemen's Insurance Association -- a fraternal benefit society located in Indiana. Attending the reunions like the Eighth Annual Old Timers Reunion helps him not only connect with lost friends, but give back to his work family.

"We have to take care of each other," he said.

Herklotz's group paid for the meat and other foods that were provided to the attendees. Tommy Martin, President of the Texas Prison Museum Board, said the event turned out well and is growing.

"The size of the event is growing every year," Martin said. "I think the word is getting out there. We have a few people that have come from some of the farther units in Texas."

Some attendees traveled from as far as Brownsville. Martin announced at the beginning of the event that the size of not only the reunion is growing, but also the museum's collection itself.

"We're looking at possibly next year to break ground on expanding our current facilities," Martin said. "We could possibly double the size of the current area."

The event occurs on every second Saturday in October. The Ninth Annual Old Timers Reunion will take place on Oct. 11, 2014.

"You get to see a lot of folks we used to work with," he said. "A lot of people they showed (in a slideshow featuring TDCJ employees that died in the past year)...I knew those guys. (The event) keeps the camaraderie alive."

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