Minimum through maximum custody (men) · State Prison (Level V) · DDOC

James T. Vaughn Correctional Center

Smyrna, New Castle County, Delaware

Visiting schedules change without notice. Always call before traveling.

Call Visiting Office: (302) 653-9261 Info last verified: June 2026

Delaware's largest prison, holding men at every security level outside Smyrna — and the only Delaware prison with posted evening visiting hours.

Statewide rules that apply at every Delaware DOC prison

These rules are set by DDOC and apply at every unit. The full list — including all permitted and prohibited items and the approval process — is in Visiting in Delaware.

Dress code

No bathing suits, body suits, strapless or low-cut tops, sleeveless shirts, or tube tops; nothing see-through or revealing — staff have the final say.
Dresses, skirts, culottes, and walking shorts no shorter than two inches above the knee, measured from the bend at the back of the knee.
No spandex pants, shorts, or leggings worn alone; leggings under a skirt are permitted.
Some facilities add more — Baylor and Howard R. Young prohibit open-toe or open-heel shoes, Crocs, and hoodies.

ID: Photo ID for every visitor (any picture ID suffices for children under 16 at Baylor); at James T. Vaughn the address on the ID must match the address given when booking. Children 14-18 need their own photo ID at Howard R. Young.
What to bring: Car keys and ID, little else — everything else stays secured in the vehicle. Infant items go in a clear baggie; small cash or vending allowances vary by facility.
Scheduling: No application form — visits are booked by calling the facility scheduling line, generally one week ahead, and at some facilities cannot be changed once booked. Background checks before entry can bar visitors (10 years after a past incarceration, 5 after probation).

Full statewide rules: Visiting in Delaware

Overview

James T. Vaughn Correctional Center is Delaware’s largest prison, opened in 1971 as the Delaware Correctional Center and renamed in 2008 for a former state senator. It holds men at every security level — minimum through maximum — including the 300-cell Security Housing Unit and a 588-bed medium-high step-down unit, with a total capacity DOC puts at more than 2,600 beds and a recent population around 1,600.

Because Delaware has no county jails, Vaughn’s population mixes sentenced men with some pretrial detainees, and people there under DOC’s posted rules retain visiting and phone privileges that vary with their housing assignment.

What Makes James T. Vaughn Correctional Center Different

Evening visits exist here and nowhere else in the system — 5:30, 6:30, and 7:30 p.m. sessions Monday through Thursday, posted only for people “housed on the compound.” Which units count is not published, so confirm eligibility when booking.
The ID rule has a catch: every visitor 16 and older needs photo ID showing a complete, current address — and it must match the address given when the visit was scheduled. A recent move plus an old license can end a visit at the gatehouse.
Two scheduling lines, split by the incarcerated person’s last name — not yours: A-J and K-Z each have their own toll-free number, and the toll-free lines work only from inside Delaware — out-of-state callers use the posted visiting line.
It was the pilot site for Delaware’s mail-scanning system (2022) before it went statewide — letters go to the Las Vegas scanning address with the facility code 1101, never to Paddock Road.
What you can carry in is the narrowest in the system: one car key and your photo ID, plus infant items in a clear baggie. No money allowance is posted.
Smoking is prohibited everywhere on the property, including inside your own vehicle in the parking lot.

Visiting Hours and Procedures

The statewide rules above — phone scheduling, the dress code, and screening — apply at Vaughn. What follows is specific to this facility.

The posted schedule carries no effective date and no session length, so the booking call is where to confirm both — along with how many visitors may come, since DOC’s posted documents give differing visitor counts from different years. One visit per person at a time, no property exchange of any kind, and cards or letters handed across a table are not allowed — everything goes through the mail system described in Mail & Packages.

Video visits run on the GettingOut system from wall-mounted units in housing areas, initiated from the incarcerated person’s side — see Phone & Video Calls.

Getting There and Parking

Vaughn is reached from US-13 (DuPont Parkway) via Paddock Road, about 15 miles north of Dover and 37 from Wilmington.

Distances are approximate, based on map routing. Visitor parking is on site in the posted “JTVCC parking areas”; DOC publishes no details beyond that. DOC publishes no driving directions of its own for the facility.

Nearby Services

Smyrna’s US-13 corridor covers the basics: a 24-hour Royal Farms and a 24-hour Wawa on DuPont Parkway/Boulevard, with a Quality Inn and the Relax Inn for overnight stays. The closest emergency care is the Bayhealth Emergency Center at 401 N. Carter Road in Smyrna — a freestanding ER staffed around the clock, about a 10-minute drive; the nearest full hospitals are Bayhealth’s Kent Campus in Dover and Christiana Hospital near Newark.

Learn More

For detailed information about visiting and communicating with someone in a Delaware facility:

Visiting in Delaware — phone scheduling, dress code, and screening
Mail & Packages — the Las Vegas scanning address and white-envelope rule
Phone & Video Calls — the GettingOut account and five-number list
Sending Money — kiosks, ConnectNetwork, and the Dallas money-order address
Medical & Mental Health — co-pays, sick call, and the 7-day grievance window
Transfers — how Delaware’s unified system moves people

Sources

This page is compiled from the following publicly available sources. Policies change without notice — confirm current details with the facility before relying on them.