IBERVILLE PARISH — The WBRZ Investigative Unit has documented 14 employee arrests tied to Elayn Hunt Correctional Center so far this year, with the Iberville Sheriff's Office and state police making the bulk of those arrests.

The vast majority of those arrested are women, which reflects the staff makeup at Hunt, where more than 70 percent of employees are female. Most of the female officers are accused of communicating with inmates outside of work, while two are accused of having sexual relationships with inmates.

In March, the Iberville Sheriff's Office arrested Maj. Francis Smith for malfeasance, accused of having an inmate's twins. An anonymous former employee said she had brought the relationship to the attention of higher-ups long before the arrest was made.

"The whole institution knows about this ongoing thing going on with this particular officer," the former employee said.

While the investigation into Smith began in 2025, she was not arrested until Warden Travis Day took over at the beginning of this year. Day sat down with the WBRZ Investigative Unit to discuss the changes he has made.

"With the tools that we have, the investigators that we have and different things we've been able to do with the help of LSP and the sheriff's office, we've been able to do some things that — I'm not sure what they were doing prior to me being here — but it has been very effective," said Day.

Even with Day's zero-tolerance approach, problems persist. The 14th employee arrest came Monday, when former officer Juanaya Spiller was arrested for allegedly trying to smuggle in drug-soaked paper. Spiller also allegedly had a loaded gun in his vehicle.

Department of Corrections Chief of Operations Seth Smith says the drug-soaked paper has been extremely difficult to intercept.

"It was easy when it was cocaine. It was easy when it was marijuana. This drug-soaked paper is a beast," Smith said.

It is not only employees getting caught. Over the weekend, the Iberville Sheriff's Office also arrested two visitors attempting to bring marijuana into the facility.

"Anybody that says it's all visitors, it's not. We've arrested employees. Anyone who says it's all employees, it's not, we've arrested visitors. We've had contract workers come through here. We've literally had delivery drivers that have been arrested here," Smith said.

More from Warden Day is available here and a full interview with Chief of Operations Seth Smith is set to air Friday at 6 p.m.