Louisiana Prison Communication Directory

Louisiana's correctional system is one of the most distinctive in the country, operated primarily through the Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections, which oversees state prisons including the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola, one of the largest maximum-security prisons in the United States. Unlike most states, Louisiana divides its land into parishes rather than counties, and each parish typically operates its own detention center under the oversight of the local sheriff. This parish jail system is one of the most extensive of its type in the country, and the facilities in it range from large urban lockups in the New Orleans area to smaller rural detention centers spread across the state.

JPay is the primary platform for messaging and money transfer at Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections state facilities. Phone and video services at state and parish facilities are handled through Securus and GTL depending on the specific institution. The New Orleans area, which includes Orleans Parish and Jefferson Parish, has its own provider arrangements for detention centers that are separate from the state prison system. Federal correctional facilities in Louisiana require CorrLinks for electronic communication under Bureau of Prisons guidelines. Because parish jails operate independently, the provider for one facility can differ completely from the next parish over.

For families in Louisiana, finding communication information for a specific facility requires navigating parish-level systems that are not organized in any single location. The state prison system, the parish jail network, and federal institutions all publish information separately and use different platforms. This directory brings facility and provider information together for Louisiana so families can identify the correct communication service quickly, understand what options are available at their specific facility, and start the process of staying in contact without the confusion that comes from sorting through multiple independent sources.