Kentucky Correctional Institution for Women

Kentucky's only dedicated women's prison, in Pewee Valley; the statewide women's intake and reception point for adult women from all 120 counties and the facility designated to hold a woman under a death sentence.

Overview

The Kentucky Correctional Institution for Women, on Ash Avenue in Pewee Valley, Shelby County, is Kentucky’s only dedicated women’s prison. Established in 1938 on a campus in Shelby County near Pewee Valley, it houses adult women from all 120 counties in the Commonwealth and serves as the statewide intake and reception point for women entering state custody. It is a multi-custody facility holding women with sentences ranging from one year to life, across maximum, medium, and minimum security, and runs the standard Kentucky DOC programming — education, work assignments, and treatment — alongside its reception function.

What Makes the Kentucky Correctional Institution for Women Different

• It is the only dedicated women’s prison in the state. Women across all custody levels — minimum through maximum — are held here, along with first offenders and women with special needs.
• It is the statewide women’s intake and reception point. Adult women entering Kentucky state custody from all 120 counties are received and classified here, after which a woman either remains at the institution or transfers to another facility. (Kentucky also holds women at the co-ed Western Kentucky Correctional Complex; this institution is the primary women’s facility.)
• It is the facility designated to hold a woman under a death sentence in Kentucky. Men’s death row and the state execution chamber are at the Kentucky State Penitentiary in Eddyville; there is no execution chamber here, and Kentucky’s executions have been under a court-ordered hold since 2009.

Visiting

The statewide KY DOC rules above — the approved visitor list, the dress code, ID, and item limits — apply at the Kentucky Correctional Institution for Women. The facility’s own arrangements:

Because this institution is the women’s reception point, a woman who has just arrived may still be in intake processing, and higher-security or restrictive housing may limit visits early on — confirm a woman’s visitation status before traveling. The full approval process is in Visiting a Kentucky prison.

Getting There and Parking

The prison is on Ash Avenue in Pewee Valley, Shelby County, northeast of Louisville.

Distances are approximate, based on map routing. Visitor parking is on site.

Nearby Services

Pewee Valley and the nearby La Grange and Louisville areas have gas, food, and lodging. The nearest full-service hospital emergency rooms are in the La Grange and Louisville areas.

Mail

Incoming personal mail goes directly to the institution, addressed to the person by their committed name and Kentucky DOC inmate number, followed by the facility’s mailing address (2401 Ash Ave, Pewee Valley, KY 40056). Mail is opened and inspected for contraband before delivery; under Kentucky Corrections policy, correspondence is delivered to the person within 48 hours of receipt on normal workdays.

Legal and other privileged mail — from a licensed attorney, a court, a government official, the Department of Public Advocacy, or Corrections officials — is opened only in the person’s presence and should be clearly marked as legal mail.

Books and magazines must be shipped new, directly from a publisher or an approved retailer; items sent by individuals are refused. Packages are limited to approved-vendor care packages arranged through the facility.

Verify the exact mailing address, current mail rules, and approved package vendor with the facility before sending anything, because procedures change.

Learn More

• Visiting a Kentucky prison — approved visitor lists, scheduling, dress code, and what to expect at the gate.
• Sending mail in Kentucky — how to address mail, what is allowed, and how books and packages are handled.
• Phone calls and video visits — setting up calls, video visits, and messaging with someone in a Kentucky prison.
• Sending money — how to deposit funds to a person’s account and what the money can be used for.
• Medical care — how health care works in Kentucky prisons and how to raise a medical concern.
• Intake, classification, and transfers — where people enter the system, how they are classified, and why some state inmates are held in county jails.