Minimum, medium, and maximum custody; statewide men's reception center · State Prison · DPS&C

Elayn Hunt Correctional Center

St. Gabriel, Iberville County, Louisiana

Visiting schedules change without notice. Always call before traveling.

Call Visiting Office: (225) 642-3306 Info last verified: June 2026

Louisiana's main intake center for men, near Baton Rouge — every man entering a state sentence is received and classified here, often briefly, before transfer to a permanent prison.

Statewide rules that apply at every Louisiana state prison

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

Dress code

No denim or chambray, no gray, blue, or white sweatshirts, and no white t-shirts (these resemble inmate clothing); no camouflage or BDU-style clothing that resembles officer dress.
Undergarments required and not visible. Nothing transparent; no swimsuits, strapless, tube, halter, or tank tops, low-cut or midriff-baring tops, or spandex, Lycra, or leggings.
Skirts, shorts, and dresses no shorter than one inch above the knee, with no revealing slits or holes.
No house slippers, shower shoes, or flip-flops — footwear stays on. No hats or head coverings except for religious reasons; nothing gang-related or obscene.

ID: Bring a valid photo ID for every visitor 15 and older — a driver's license, state ID, military ID, or passport. (A statewide notice says 18 and older, but facility pages say 15, so bring ID for anyone 15 or older.)
What to bring: Leave wallets, purses, phones, and cash in your locked vehicle. Each prison allows limited items into the visit — at Angola, up to $300 cash per family and specified baby items; some prisons allow vending change and one debit card for the JPay kiosk.
Scheduling: The incarcerated person starts the application — the visitor mails or emails it to the facility (faxes are not accepted), and approval follows a background check. Each person keeps up to 10 approved visitors, changeable every four months; the approved-visitor list is usually not in place during the first 30 days of intake (though immediate family may be able to visit sooner); and two visits a month is the statewide norm.

Full statewide rules: Visiting in Louisiana

Overview

Elayn Hunt Correctional Center, named for a former director of the state corrections department, opened in 1979 and is Louisiana’s second-largest prison. It holds men at all custody levels, but its defining role is intake: every man sentenced to the Louisiana state system — from any parish — is received at the Hunt Reception and Diagnostic Center here, where he undergoes medical and mental-health screening and is classified before being assigned to a permanent facility. Hunt also carries a significant medical and mental-health mission for the system, with infirmary and treatment capacity and a warden dedicated to treatment. It does not house death row.

What Makes Elayn Hunt Different

It is the front door for men. A newly sentenced person passes through Hunt for reception and classification, and may be transferred out within weeks — so the person’s location can change quickly early in a sentence. Confirm where he is before any trip.
Immediate family can visit during reception. In the first 30 days, immediate family may visit without waiting for the approved-visitor list; other visitors are added after a background check.
A medical and mental-health hub. Hunt provides system-wide care and houses treatment and infirmary units.
It is close to Baton Rouge — about 16 miles — making it more reachable than Louisiana’s remote prisons.

Visiting

The statewide DPS&C rules above — the approved-list application, the dress code, ID, and search rules — apply at Hunt. The facility’s own published guidance focuses on the intake-period rules:

First 30 days: identifiable immediate family members may visit without prior approval
After that: visitors must be on the incarcerated person’s approved list (up to 10), added after the background check
Special visits must be requested in writing, received by the Tuesday before the desired weekend

Hunt does not post its regular weekly visiting days and hours online, so a call to the facility is the way to confirm them. The full approval process is in Visiting in Louisiana.

Getting There and Parking

Hunt is on Highway 74 in St. Gabriel, on the east bank of the Mississippi southeast of Baton Rouge.

Distances are approximate, based on map routing. DPS&C publishes no specific visitor parking details for the facility.

Nearby Services

St. Gabriel is small; the fuller range of food, gas, and lodging is in Gonzales and Baton Rouge, each within about 20 minutes. Ochsner Medical Complex – Iberville at 25455 Highway 1 in Plaquemine runs a 24/7 emergency department — (225) 761-5200 — and Our Lady of the Lake Ascension in Gonzales also has a 24-hour ER; Baton Rouge’s larger hospitals are about 15 to 20 miles away.

Learn More

For detailed information about visiting and communicating with someone in a Louisiana state prison:

Visiting in Louisiana — the application, dress code, and search rules
Mail & Packages — letters only, addressed with the DOC number
Phone & Video Calls — the Securus and JPay systems
Sending Money — depositing to a spending account
Medical & Mental Health — healthcare and raising a concern
Transfers — intake, parish jails, and finding someone

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.