Carroll Edwin Lanier (November 8 1926 – December 4 2012) was an American Democrat politician who served an extended term as mayor of Alexandria Louisiana; Alexandria is the seat of Rapides Parish and the largest city in central Louisiana. Lanier served a 5.5-year term from June 1977 to December 1982 and became the first mayor under the current mayor-council form of municipal government which in 1977 replaced the former three-member commission system.