This annual report presents data on prisoners under jurisdiction of federal or state correctional authorities on December 31, 2009, collected from the National Prisoner Statistics series.
This annual report presents data on prisoners under jurisdiction of federal or state correctional authorities on December 31, 2009, collected from the National Prisoner Statistics series. It compares changes in the prison population during 2009 to changes from yearend 2000 through yearend 2008, and explores factors leading to a decline in the state prison population. Findings cover data on decreasing growth in state and federal prisons through declining admissions, sentence lengths, and imprisonment rates for prisoners sentenced to more than 1 year by jurisdiction; the number of males and females in prison; age, race, and gender distributions; and custody incarceration rates.
- The U.S. prison population grew at its slowest rate (0.2%) since 2000, reaching 1,613,740 prisoners at yearend 2009.
- Prison admissions (down 2.5%) and prison releases (up 2.2%) converged from 2006 through 2009, slowing the growth of the nation's prison population.
- From 2000 to 2008, the state prison population increased by 159,200 prisoners, and violent offenders accounted for 60% of this increase. The number of drug offenders in state prisons declined by 12,400 over this period.
Table 4, footnote c should read …”and other unconditional releases.”
P. 12 Definitions: conditional releases should read “Includes releases to probation, supervised mandatory releases, and other unspecified conditional releases.”
p. 13. Definitions: unconditional releases should read “Includes expirations of sentence, commutations, and other unconditional releases.”
p. 14 Jurisdiction notes: Add Alabama – Operational capacity represents physical capacity for inmates but is not based on staffing, programs, and services.
p. 14 Jurisdiction notes: Add North Carolina – Standard operational capacity is equal to one inmate per cell or 50 square feet per inmate in a dormitory setting.
Appendix table 9, foot note a should read …”See Jurisdiction notes.” (not Methodology).
Appendix table 23, North Carolina change to data (state respondent updated capacity data in 2011). Rated capacity is “…”; Operational is 40,014; Design is 34,364; Highest capacity is 100 and Lowest capacity is 117.