Close, medium, and minimum security (men) · State Prison · NCDAC

Tabor Correctional Institution

Tabor City, Columbus County, North Carolina

Visiting schedules change without notice. Always call before traveling.

Call Visiting Office: 910-653-6413 Info last verified: June 2026

A large state prison for men in Tabor City, in southeastern North Carolina, spanning close, medium, and minimum custody.

Statewide rules that apply at every NCDAC prison

These rules are set by NCDAC and apply at every unit. The full list — including all permitted and prohibited items and the approval process — is in Visiting in North Carolina.

Dress code

Dress modestly — no halter, tube, strapless, tank, sleeveless, or underwear-style tops, no bare midriffs, and no spandex; shorts and skirts must be no more than about three inches above the knee.
Cell phones, smartwatches, cameras, and recording devices are not allowed inside, and each prison may turn away a visitor who is dressed out of code, so confirm the facility's rules before traveling.

ID: Every visitor must be approved on the offender's visiting list before visiting — the incarcerated person mails an application to each prospective visitor; applicants 16 and older attach a copy of a government photo ID (minors under 16 a birth certificate), and the completed form goes to the prison where the person is housed. Visitors 16 and older show photo ID at the visit.
What to bring: Bring only what the facility allows — phones, smartwatches, cameras, bags, and most personal items are not permitted in the visiting room. Money for the person's trust account is sent through ViaPath (ConnectNetwork) or TouchPay, never handed over at a visit.
Scheduling: Visits are by appointment only — call or email the specific prison to schedule; there is no statewide online scheduler, and visitation status should be confirmed the day before. Visits are generally limited to one per week, up to two hours, with up to three approved visitors. Women enter the system through the diagnostic center at the NC Correctional Institution for Women (Raleigh); men are received at several prisons, including Craven and Piedmont.

Full statewide rules: Visiting in North Carolina

Overview

Tabor Correctional Institution is a North Carolina state prison for men in Tabor City, Columbus County, in the southeastern part of the state near the South Carolina line. It houses men across close, medium, and minimum custody on one campus. The prison is operated by the North Carolina Department of Adult Correction (NCDAC).

North Carolina uses a distributed reception model for men: Craven Correctional Institution in Vanceboro is a major processing center, Piedmont Correctional Institution in Salisbury receives western men 22 and older with sentences under ten years, and Central Prison in Raleigh runs a special-population diagnostic. A person’s custody level is assigned during processing. Because families are not automatically notified of routine transfers, the NCDAC offender search is the way to confirm where someone is currently held.

What Makes Tabor Different

Tabor Correctional Institution is one of North Carolina’s large multi-custody men’s prisons, holding three custody levels on a single campus: close custody, the highest general-population security level in the state system, alongside medium- and minimum-custody populations. The custody level assigned to an individual affects day-to-day movement and whether visits are contact or non-contact, so the rules a family encounters can differ from one person to another at the same prison. Two NCDAC prisons sit in Columbus County: Tabor Correctional Institution in Tabor City and Columbus Correctional Institution in Whiteville. Confirm which facility holds the person on the NCDAC offender search before traveling, as the two are separate institutions with their own visiting arrangements.

Visiting

The statewide NCDAC rules above — the approved visitor list, the dress code, ID, and item limits — apply at Tabor Correctional Institution. The facility’s own arrangements:

Approval first: Every visitor must be approved on the offender’s visiting list. The incarcerated person mails an application to each prospective visitor; applicants 16 and older attach a copy of a government photo ID, and minors under 16 a copy of a birth certificate. The completed form goes to the prison where the person is housed.
Scheduling: Visits are by appointment only. Call or email the prison to schedule; North Carolina has no statewide online visit scheduler. Confirm visitation status the day before.
Visitor limits: Generally one visit per week, up to two hours, with up to three approved visitors.
Contact or non-contact: Depends on the person’s custody class and disciplinary status. For close-custody housing, visiting may be more restricted.
Video visits: Video visits are available separately through the GettingOut Visits app (ViaPath).

Getting There and Parking

Tabor Correctional Institution is at 4600 Swamp Fox Highway West, Tabor City, NC 28463, in Columbus County in southeastern North Carolina, near the South Carolina line and the Myrtle Beach area to the south. The area is rural, and there is no scheduled public transit to the prison; visitors generally arrive by private vehicle. Parking is on site. Confirm the visiting schedule and the person’s custody and visitation status with the facility before making the trip.

Nearby Services

Tabor City is in southern Columbus County, with Whiteville to the north and the Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, area to the south. The closest full-service hospital emergency rooms are in the Whiteville area and across the state line in the Myrtle Beach area. Lodging, fuel, and restaurants are available in Whiteville and in the Myrtle Beach area.

Mail

Incoming personal mail does not go to the prison. North Carolina sends personal mail to an off-site vendor, TextBehind, which opens and scans it and delivers a digital copy to the incarcerated person’s tablet; original letters, cards, and packages are returned to the sender. Address personal mail with the person’s full name and OPUS number and the full (unabbreviated) prison name to: TextBehind, P.O. Box 247, Phoenix, MD 21131 — and include the sender’s full first and last name in the return address. Legal mail is exempt and goes directly to the facility. Books and publications must come from a publisher or online retailer, shipped to the prison’s street address, not the TextBehind box. Full rules are in Mail & Packages.

Learn More

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

Visiting in North Carolina — the approved visitor list, the application, and scheduling
Mail & Packages — the TextBehind mail-scanning process and what still goes to the facility
Phone & Video Calls — ViaPath calls, tablets, and GettingOut video visits
Sending Money — depositing through ViaPath/ConnectNetwork and TouchPay
Medical & Mental Health — sick-call co-pays, mental health, and the grievance board
Transfers & Finding Someone — reception, the locator, and transfers

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.