BATON ROUGE - A deputy warden from Dixon Correctional Institute has been promoted to head the Elayn Hunt Correctional Center. 

The Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections announced the promotion of Keithe Turner and the official retirement of former Warden Tim Hopper on Wednesday. 

Turner graduated from Jackson High School in 1988 and enlisted in the U.S. Army, where he served until retiring as a Sergeant First Class E7 in 2012. DOC said that Turner started his career at Dixon in 1992 and worked his way up to Assistant Warden of Security. In 2022, he moved to Deputy Warden of Operations at Raymond Laborde Correctional Center and then a year later returned to do the same job at Dixon. 

DOC says Turner is a Prison Rape Elimination Act compliance manager, critical incident stress debriefer and a firearms instructor.