BATON ROUGE, La. – Today, the Louisiana Department of Corrections announced the selection of Darrel Vannoy as warden of Louisiana State Penitentiary, as current Warden Tim Hooper announces his retirement. Vannoy returns to the helm of the Penitentiary on November 25, 2024, after retiring from the prison in September of 2021 due to his bout with COVID.
Vannoy has spent the majority of his 49-year corrections career at Louisiana State Penitentiary, where he got his start in March of 1975 as a corrections cadet. He has risen through the ranks, and left the Penitentiary in October of 2013 when he promoted to warden of Dixon Correctional Institute. In December of 2015, he returned to Louisiana State Penitentiary as warden.
Since retiring in September of 2021, Vannoy has served as warden of Wilkinson County Correctional Facility in Woodville, Mississippi.
Hooper will return as warden of Elayn Hunt Correctional Center on December 1, 2024. He is expected to retire on September 30, 2025, and finish his 41-year career where it began at Elayn Hunt. During his career, he has served five years as Hunt's warden, and the past three and a half years as the Penitentiary's warden. He also served as regional warden for the Department since 2017.
Interim Elayn Hunt Correctional Center Warden Dusty Bickham will return to lead Dixon Correctional Institute on December 1, 2024.