Larry Gist State Jail

Men's TDCJ state jail in Beaumont, Jefferson County, co-located on the Beaumont complex with the Stiles and LeBlanc units, with weekend visitation under the statewide portal system.

Overview

The Larry Gist State Jail is a men’s TDCJ state jail in Beaumont, in Jefferson County in Southeast Texas. TDCJ lists it at about 2,276 beds, and it opened in November 1994.

Two facts shape almost everything about visiting here: it is a state jail in an urban Southeast Texas setting, and it shares the Beaumont complex with two other units.

What Makes the Gist Unit Different

• A men’s state jail in Beaumont, near the Louisiana line in Southeast Texas
• Co-located on the Beaumont complex with the Stiles Unit and the LeBlanc Unit, so the unit names at the shared site are easy to confuse; the TDCJ inmate locator shows the exact unit a person is assigned to, and arriving at the wrong unit can mean a different building and a different visitation list
• Houses a state-jail population alongside other custody classifications, so the visiting format follows the incarcerated person’s classification rather than one unit-wide rule

Visiting Hours and Procedures

The statewide rules above — approval, ID, prohibited items, and dress code — apply at the Larry Gist State Jail. What follows is specific to this unit.

Visiting at the Larry Gist State Jail runs on weekends under TDCJ’s portal system, and every visitor must be on the incarcerated person’s approved visitor list. TDCJ does not post a confirmed visiting schedule for this unit in the sources used here, so families should confirm the current days, hours, and visit type through the TDCJ Online Visitation Portal before traveling.

The unit’s custody mix is the main reason one posted schedule does not mean one visiting experience. General-population housing typically uses standard contact visiting, while more restrictive housing can mean different room assignments or non-contact procedures on the same weekend. The format follows the incarcerated person’s classification, so two families arriving the same morning may have different experiences.

Getting There and Parking

The Larry Gist State Jail is in Beaumont, in Jefferson County in Southeast Texas, not far from the Louisiana line. Unlike TDCJ’s rural units, it sits in the Beaumont metro area, which is reached by the regional interstate grid.

Because the unit shares the Beaumont complex with the Stiles and LeBlanc units, confirm on the TDCJ inmate locator which unit the incarcerated person is assigned to before setting out, so the drive ends at the correct building.

Phones, Mail, and Video

Contact has a sequence to it. A phone number must be on the incarcerated person’s approved contact list before calls can connect, and after intake or a transfer that approval can take time to process. Calls are placed by the incarcerated person on TDCJ’s Securus phone system; a prison cannot be called into. Account setup, rates, and video options are covered in Phone & Video Calls.

Nearby Services

Beaumont is a metro area with full commercial services, so gas, food, groceries, and lodging are available across the city, including chain hotels near the I-10 corridor.

For support beyond the unit itself, the Texas Inmate Families Association is a statewide nonprofit focused on education, advocacy, and prison-system navigation resources for families with someone in TDCJ custody.

Learn More

For detailed information about visiting and communicating with someone at a Texas state prison:

• Visiting in Texas — TDCJ approval process, dress code, scheduling
• Mail & Packages — what you can send and what gets rejected
• Phone & Video Calls — Securus accounts, call costs, video visits
• Sending Money — how to add funds to a TDCJ trust account
• Medical & Mental Health — healthcare in TDCJ facilities
• Transfers — what happens during transfers