Men (minimum to maximum custody) · State Prison · DPS&C

Raymond Laborde Correctional Center

Cottonport, Avoyelles County, Louisiana

Visiting schedules change without notice. Always call before traveling.

Call Visiting Office: (318) 876-2891 Info last verified: June 2026

A men's state prison near Cottonport in Avoyelles Parish, central Louisiana — formerly the Avoyelles Correctional Center — holding mixed custody and serving as a regional reception and classification center for several parishes.

Statewide rules that apply at every Louisiana state prison

These rules are set by DPS&C and apply at every unit. The full list — including all permitted and prohibited items and the approval process — is in Visiting in Louisiana.

Dress code

No denim or chambray, no gray, blue, or white sweatshirts, and no white t-shirts (these resemble inmate clothing); no camouflage or BDU-style clothing that resembles officer dress.
Undergarments required and not visible. Nothing transparent; no swimsuits, strapless, tube, halter, or tank tops, low-cut or midriff-baring tops, or spandex, Lycra, or leggings.
Skirts, shorts, and dresses no shorter than one inch above the knee, with no revealing slits or holes.
No house slippers, shower shoes, or flip-flops — footwear stays on. No hats or head coverings except for religious reasons; nothing gang-related or obscene.

ID: Bring a valid photo ID for every visitor 15 and older — a driver's license, state ID, military ID, or passport. (A statewide notice says 18 and older, but facility pages say 15, so bring ID for anyone 15 or older.)
What to bring: Leave wallets, purses, phones, and cash in your locked vehicle. Each prison allows limited items into the visit — at Angola, up to $300 cash per family and specified baby items; some prisons allow vending change and one debit card for the JPay kiosk.
Scheduling: The incarcerated person starts the application — the visitor mails or emails it to the facility (faxes are not accepted), and approval follows a background check. Each person keeps up to 10 approved visitors, changeable every four months; the approved-visitor list is usually not in place during the first 30 days of intake (though immediate family may be able to visit sooner); and two visits a month is the statewide norm.

Full statewide rules: Visiting in Louisiana

Overview

Raymond Laborde Correctional Center, near Cottonport in Avoyelles Parish, opened in 1989 as the Avoyelles Correctional Center and was renamed in 2016 (by Act 49) for Raymond J. Laborde, a longtime Marksville businessman and state legislator from the parish. It holds men across a mix of custody levels, from general population through administrative segregation and extended lockdown, with an operational capacity of 1,564; DPS&C does not publish a current count.

The facility also serves a regional reception and classification role, handling intake and diagnostics for a pre-classification district covering several central-Louisiana parishes. Its programs include on-site medical care (a full-time physician, 24-hour nursing, infirmary, dental, and telemedicine), mental-health and substance-abuse treatment, a broad set of vocational trades (automotive, barbering, building technology, culinary arts, masonry, and welding), and a reentry curriculum.

What Makes Raymond Laborde Different

It is a regional reception and classification center, so some men pass through here for intake and diagnostics before assignment elsewhere.
Fewer visitors are allowed at once — up to four, where some Louisiana prisons allow six.
No visitor is admitted after 2:30 p.m., an hour before the room closes.
It has a wide vocational slate, from culinary arts and welding to barbering and masonry.

Visiting

The statewide DPS&C rules above — the approved-list application, the dress code, ID, and search rules — apply at Raymond Laborde.

A visitor may bring up to $100 in cash into the visiting room, and may deposit up to $499.99 to a person’s account at the kiosk in the visitation processing building. The full approval process is in Visiting in Louisiana.

Getting There and Parking

Raymond Laborde is on Prison Road off Highway 107, near Cottonport.

Distances are approximate, based on map routing. DPS&C publishes no specific visitor parking details for the facility.

Nearby Services

Bunkie, about 12 miles away, has the nearest emergency room — Bunkie General Hospital at 427 Evergreen Street, with a 24/7 emergency department. Alexandria, about 30 miles north, has the nearest larger hospitals (Rapides Regional and CHRISTUS St. Frances Cabrini) and a fuller range of food, gas, and lodging.

A Note on History

The prison was named in 2016 for Raymond J. Laborde (1927–2016) of Marksville, who served as mayor of Marksville, a member of the Louisiana House of Representatives, and the state’s commissioner of administration. The renaming, in his home parish, followed his death earlier that year.

Learn More

For detailed information about visiting and communicating with someone in a Louisiana state prison:

Visiting in Louisiana — the application, dress code, and search rules
Mail & Packages — letters only, addressed with the DOC number
Phone & Video Calls — the Securus and JPay systems
Sending Money — depositing to a spending account
Medical & Mental Health — healthcare and raising a concern
Transfers — intake, parish jails, and finding someone

Sources

This page is compiled from the following publicly available sources. Policies change without notice — confirm current details with the facility before relying on them.