U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government, Department of Justice.

Glossary

FabrikaSimf/ Shutterstock.com (see reuse policy).

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainees

ICE holds persons for immigration violations in federal, state, and locally operated prisons and jails, as well as in privately-operated facilities under exclusive contract and ICE-operated facilities. Persons serving time in a local jail or in state or federal prison for either a criminal or immigration offense may be turned over to ICE after completing their sentence.

Imprisoned population

The population of inmates confined in prison or other facilities under the jurisdiction of the state or Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP).

Imprisonment rate

The number of prisoners under state or federal jurisdiction sentenced to more than one year, per 100,000 U.S. residents.

Imprisonment rate

The number of prisoners under state or federal jurisdiction sentenced to more than 1 year per 100,000 U.S. residents.

Incarcerated population

Incarcerated population is the population of inmates confined in a prison or a jail. This may also include halfway houses, boot camps, weekend programs, and other facilities in which individuals are locked up overnight.

Incident

A specific criminal act involving one or more victims and offenders. For example, if two people are robbed at the same time and place, this is classified as two robbery victimizations but only one robbery incident.

Indian country

Statutory term that includes all lands within an Indian reservation, dependent Indian communities, and Indian trust allotments (18 U.S.C. § 1151). Courts interpret section 1151 to include all lands held in trust for tribes or their members. See United States v. Roberts, 185 F.3d 1125 (10th Cir. 1999). Prior to July 29, 2010, tribal authority to imprison American Indian or Alaska Native offenders had been limited by statute (25 U.S.C. § 1302) to 1 year, a $5,000 fine, or both per offense. On July 29, 2010, the Tribal Law and Order Act of 2010 was signed into law, expanding the sentencing authority of tribal courts. As a result, offenders may serve potentially longer sentences (up to 3 years per offense and up to 9 years per multioffense case) in correctional facilities in Indian country (P.L. 111–211, H.R. 725, 124 Stat. 2258).

Indian country jails

Indian country adult and juvenile detention centers, jails, and other correctional facilities operated by tribal authorities or the Bureau of Indian Affairs, U.S. Department of the Interior.

Information Sharing and Analysis Centers (ISACs)

Organizations that work with the U.S. Government, law enforcement agencies, technology providers, and security associations such as U.S. CERT. ISACs maintain secure databases, analytic tools and information gathering and distribution facilities designed to allow authorized individuals to submit reports about information security threats, vulnerabilities, incidents and solutions.

InfraGard

An information sharing and analysis effort serving the interests and combining the knowledge base of a wide range of members. At its most basic level, InfraGard is a partnership between the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the private sector.

Injury

A measure of whether bodily hurt or damage was sustained by a victim as a result of criminal victimization. This applies only to personal victimization where there was contact between the victim and the offender. The types of injuries suffered are used to distinguish between serious and minor assaults. Serious injuries include knife or gunshot wounds, broken bones, loss of teeth, and loss of consciousness. A completed rape is classified as a serious injury. Minor injuries include bruises, black eyes, cuts, scratches, and swelling. Other injuries that cannot be identified as serious or minor are distinguished by the amount of hospitalization required. Injuries suffered from an attack during a crime incident include any and all physical (bodily) damage experienced by the victim (e.g., broken bones, bruises, cuts, and internal injuries). Emotional and psychological trauma are not included.

Inmate

Person incarcerated in a local jail, state or federal prison, or private facility under contract to federal, state, or local authorities.

Institutional corrections

Persons housed in secure correctional facilities. There are many different types of correctional facilities, operated by different government entities. Local jails are generally operated under the authority of a sheriff, police chief, or county or city administrator, and typically hold offenders for short periods ranging from a single day to a year. A small number of jails are privately operated. Prisons serve as long-term confinement facilities and are only run by the 50 state governments and the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP). Private correctional facilities also operate under contracts for a wide variety of local, state, and federal agencies. Other correctional facilities are operated by special jurisdictions, including the U.S. Armed Forces, U.S. territories, and federal agencies, such as U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System (IAFIS)

A national fingerprint and criminal history system maintained by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) Division. The IAFIS provides automated fingerprint search capabilities, latent searching capability, electronic image storage, and electronic exchange of fingerprints and responses, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. As a result of submitting fingerprints electronically, agencies receive electronic responses to criminal 10-print fingerprint submissions within two hours and within 24 hours for civil fingerprint submissions. The IAFIS maintains the largest biometric database in the world, containing the fingerprints and corresponding criminal history information for more than 55 million subjects in the Criminal Master File. The fingerprints and corresponding criminal history information are submitted voluntarily by state, local, and federal law enforcement agencies.

Intergovernmental expenditure

The sum of payments from one government to another, including grants-in-aid, shared revenues, payments in lieu of taxes, and amounts for services performed by one government for another on a reimbursable or cost-sharing basis (for example, payments by one government to another for boarding prisoners). It excludes amounts paid to other governments for purchase of commodities, property, or utility services.

Interstate Identification Index (III)

An "index-pointer" system for the interstate exchange of criminal history records. Under III, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) maintains an identification index of persons arrested for felonies or serious misdemeanors under state or federal law. The index includes identification information, (such as name, date of birth, race, and sex), FBI Numbers, and State Identification Numbers (SID) from each state holding information about an individual. Search inquiries from criminal justice agencies nationwide are transmitted automatically via state telecommunications networks and the FBI's National Crime Information Center (NCIC) telecommunications lines. Searches are made on the basis of name and other identifiers. The process is entirely automated and takes approximately five seconds to complete. If a hit is made against the Index, record requests are made using the SID or FBI Number, and data are automatically retrieved from each repository holding records on the individual and forwarded to the requesting agency. Participation requires that the state maintain an automated criminal history record system capable of interfacing with the III system and capable of responding automatically to all interstate and federal and state record requests.

Jail

Confinement facility usually administered by a local law enforcement agency that is intended for adults, but sometimes holds juveniles, for confinement before and after adjudication. Such facilities include jails and city or county correctional centers; special jail facilities, such as medical treatment or release centers; halfway houses; work farms; and temporary holding or lockup facilities that are part of the jail's combined function. Inmates sentenced to jail facilities usually have a sentence of 1 year or less. Connecticut, Rhode Island, Vermont, Delaware, Alaska, and Hawaii operate integrated systems, which combine prisons and jails.

Jail

A confinement facility generally operated under the authority of a sheriff, police chief, or county or city administrator. A small number of jails are privately operated. Regional jails include two or more jail jurisdictions with a formal agreement to operate a jail facility. Facilities include jails, detention centers, county or city correctional centers, special jail facilities (such as medical or treatment centers and pre-release centers), and temporary holding or lockup facilities that are part of the jail's combined function. Jails are intended for adults but can hold juveniles before or after their cases are adjudicated.

Jail incarceration rate

The number of inmates held in the custody of local jails, per 100,000 U.S. residents.

Jail inmates

Offenders confined in short-term facilities that are usually administered by a local law enforcement agency and that are intended for adults but sometimes hold juveniles before or after adjudication. Jail inmates usually have a sentence of less than 1 year or are being held pending a trial, awaiting sentencing, or awaiting transfer to other facilities after a conviction.

Jail jurisdiction

A county (parish in Louisiana) or municipal government that administers one or more local jails and represents the entity responsible for managing jail facilities under its authority. Most jail jurisdictions consist of a single facility, but some have multiple facilities or multiple facility-operators.

Judicial and legal services

Includes all civil and criminal courts and acti­vities associated with courts, such as law libraries, grand juries, petit juries, medical and social service activities, court reporters, judicial councils, bailiffs, and probate functions. It also includes the civil and criminal justice activities of the attorneys general, dis­trict attorneys, state's attorneys, and their variously named equivalents and corporation coun­sels, solicitors, and legal departments with various names. It excludes legal units of noncriminal justice agencies, whose functions may be performed by a legal services department in other jurisdictions (such as a county counsel).

Judicial selection

The selection system involves a nonpartisan commission that reviews the qualifications of applicants for judicial office.

Jurisdiction

The legal authority of state or federal correctional officials over a prisoner, regardless of where the prisoner is held.

Jurisdiction

A unit of government or the legal authority to exercise governmental power. In corrections, it refers to the government that has legal authority over an inmate (state or federal). Prisoners under a given state's jurisdiction may be housed in another state or local correctional facility.