U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
ADVANCE FOR RELEASE AT 4:30 P.M. EDT BJS
SUNDAY, AUGUST 16, 1998 202/307-0784
NATION'S PROBATION AND PAROLE POPULATION
REACHED NEW HIGH LAST YEAR
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- More than 3.9 million
adult men and women--a new record--were
on probation or parole at the end of 1997, the
Justice Department's Bureau of Justice Statistics
(BJS) announced today. The 2.9 percent increase
of about 110,000 people almost matched the
average annual increase of 3.0 percent since 1990.
The total federal, state and local adult
correctional population--incarcerated or in the
community--reached a new high of 5.7 million at
the end of 1997. About 2.9 percent of the U.S.
adult population, or about one in every 35 adults,
were incarcerated or on probation or parole.
There were 3,261,888 adults serving a
probation sentence at the end of last year, with
felony convictions accounting for more than half
(54 percent). More than one-quarter of adult
probationers (28 percent) had been convicted of a
misdemeanor. Fourteen percent were on probation
for driving while intoxicated or under the
influence of alcohol, and 4 percent for other
offenses.
Also serving time in the community at the end
of 1997 were 685,033 adults on parole, which is
conditional supervised release following a prison
term. Nearly all parolees had been convicted of a
felony (96 percent). One-half of the persons
entering parole last year had received a mandatory
release because of a sentencing statute or a
good-time provision that released them from
prison and 45 percent entered parole because of a
parole board decision.
Almost one-quarter of all persons being
supervised in the community during 1997 were in
Texas or California. Texas led the nation with
538,500 persons on probation or parole at the end
of 1997, followed by California with 408,900.
West Virginia had the nation's lowest rate of
community supervision at the end of last year,
with about one-half of 1 percent of its adults on
probation or parole (502 offenders per 100,000
adults), followed by Kentucky (554) and North
Dakota (584). Four states had more than 3,000
adult offenders per 100,000 residents on probation
or parole--Texas (3,884), Delaware (3,332),
Washington (3,189) and Georgia (3,098).
Four states reported an increase of 10
percent or more in their probation population
during 1997--Nevada (up 11.7 percent), Maine
(10.7), New Hampshire (10.5) and Arizona (10.4).
Nine states reported increases in their parole
populations of at least 10 percent. Colorado led
the nation with a parole population increase of
25.7 percent, which may have largely resulted from
a state law that mandates a period of parole
supervision for all persons sentenced to prison
for crimes committed on or after July 1, 1993.
Women represented a larger fraction of both
the probation and parole populations in 1997
than they did in 1990. Twenty-one percent of all
probationers in 1997 (524,200) were women, up
from 18 percent (408,000) in 1990. Eleven percent
of all parolees in 1997 (75,300) were women,
up from 8 percent (39,400) in 1990.
Blacks represented more than a third of
probationers (775,600) at year-end 1997, and
nearly half of parolees (281,000). Two-thirds of
probationers (1,413,100) and more than half of
parolees (339,000) were white. Persons of other
races accounted for about 1 percent of each
population (30,000 probationers and 8,200
parolees). Hispanics, who may be of any race,
comprised 16 percent of probationers (287,100) and
21 percent of parolees (108,300).
More than 1.6 million probationers and over
400,000 parolees were discharged from supervision
in 1997. More than three out of five of those
exiting probation (708,200) and over two out of
five of those exiting parole (179,900) had
successfully met the conditions of their
supervision. During the same year 18 percent of
probationers (211,800) who were discharged from
supervision in 1997 and 41 percent of parolees
leaving supervision (168,000) were incarcerated
because of a rule violation or new offense.
The data were collected and analyzed by BJS
statistician Thomas P. Bonczar with assistance
from Lauren E. Glaze. Copies may be obtained from
the BJS fax-on-demand system (301/519-5550,
document number 123), by calling the BJS
Clearinghouse at 1-800/732-3277 (order
no. NCJ 172216) or by downloading from the BJS
Internet site at:
http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/
Additional criminal justice information can
be obtained from the Office of Justice Programs
Internet homepage at:
http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov
# # #
After hours contact: Stu Smith at 301/983-9354
Adults on probation, 1997
Percent Number on
change in probation
Probation Probation probation 12/31/97
Region and population, 1997 population, population 100,000
jurisdiction 1/1/97 Entries Exits 12/31/97 during 1997 residents/a
U.S. total 3161030 1725834 1628403 3261888 3.2 % 1647
Federal 34202 14756 16331 32627 -4.6 % 16
State 3126828 1711078 1612072 3229261 3.3 1630
Northeast 551727 249991 229955 572594 3.8 % 1470
Connecticut 55978 38275 38264 55989 0 2260
Maine/a 7753 : : 8584 10.7 909
Massachusetts 44858 39021 37449 46430 3.5 995
New Hampshire 4414 3585 3123 4876 10.5 556
New Jersey 125881 59651 54967 130565 3.7 2153
New York 174406 47634 36159 185881 6.6 1369
Pennsylvania 110532 47366 45405 112493 1.8 1229
Rhode Island 20446 8473 9271 19648 -3.9 2607
Vermont 7459 5986 5317 8128 9.0 1833
Midwest 704965 491274 465678 730005 3.6 % 1579
Illinois 115503 63296 59318 119481 3.4 1370
Indiana 93509 81799 78263 97045 3.8 2222
Iowa 15386 15428 13980 16834 9.4 791
Kansas/b,c 15732 19502 19029 16205 3.0 850
Michigan/a,d 147598 124731 117525 154236 4.5 2122
Minnesota/a 90202 55258 55509 90707 0.6 2641
Missouri/d,e 42368 20718 16785 46301 9.3 1159
Nebraska 14363 14696 14534 14525 1.1 1198
North Dakota 2599 1498 1440 2657 2.2 559
Ohio/a,d 116865 64512 61957 118761 1.6 1423
South Dakota/a,f 3548 4768 4764 3467 -2.3 641
Wisconsin/g 47292 25068 22574 49786 5.3 1302
South 1272488 667472 651235 1292339 1.6 % 1850
Alabama/a,d 37865 2153 1669 35723 -5.7 1100
Arkansas 25178 8529 7315 26392 4.8 1419
Delaware/a,e 16528 : : 17872 8.1 3225
District of Col. 9740 9875 8818 10797 10.9 2560
Florida/a,d 237117 196263 196902 239932 1.2 2146
Georgia/d 143457 65452 60489 148420 3.5 2699
Kentucky/h 11689 6087 5683 12093 3.5 410
Louisiana 35375 11815 11737 35453 0.2 1122
Maryland 70553 39163 35104 74612 5.8 1950
Mississippi/a,b,c 10376 3547 3926 10997 6.0 556
North Carolina 102483 59327 56394 105416 2.9 1899
Oklahoma/a,d 28090 13812 13131 28733 2.3 1178
South Carolina 42417 15046 15059 42404 0 1512
Tennessee/d 37002 20305 19056 38251 3.4 946
Texas/i 429329 193128 193364 429093 -0.1 3095
Virginia/e 29620 22970 22588 30002 1.3 589
West Virginia/a,d, 5669 : : 6149 8.5 438
West 597648 302341 265204 634323 6.1 % 1473
Alaska 3999 2038 1659 4378 9.5 1040
Arizona/d,e 40607 29604 25398 44813 10.4 1368
California 286526 164882 146877 304531 6.3 1306
Colorado/a,d,e 42688 20153 16051 45447 6.5 1580
Hawaii 14027 7521 6147 15401 9.8 1742
Idaho/j 5855 2308 1796 6367 8.7 741
Montana/h,k 4473 1257 1052 4678 4.6 720
Nevada/a 9760 : : 10902 11.7 884
New Mexico/d 8903 7470 7478 8895 -0.1 723
Oregon 42292 16210 14522 43980 4.0 1808
Utah 9306 4107 3952 9461 1.7 690
Washington/a,d 125780 44511 38016 132014 5.0 3177
Wyoming 3432 2280 2256 3456 0.7 993
:Not known
a/Because of nonresponse or incomplete data, the population on December 31, 1997,
did not equal the population on January 1, 1997, plus entries, minus exits.
b/Data do not include absconders.
c/Data do not include out-of-State cases.
d/Multiple agencies reporting.
e/All data are estimated.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Adults on parole, 1997
Percent Number
change on parole
Parole Parole in parole 12/31/97
Region and population, 1997 population, population 100,000 a
jurisdiction 1/1/97 Entries Exits 12/31/97 during 1997 residents
U.S. total 675986 420615 410839 685033 1.3 % 346
Federal/a 56591 23884 21648 58827 4.0 % 30
State 619395 396731 389191 626206 1.1 316
Northeast 154959 78667 72493 160737 3.7 % 413
Connecticut 1083 1058 1145 996 -8.0 40
Maine 57 4 2 59 3.5 6
Massachusetts 4836 3809 3653 4596 -5.0 98
New Hampshire 1066 872 855 1083 1.6 124
New Jersey 14545 14608 12250 16903 16.2 279
New York 57137 27096 24563 59670 4.4 439
Pennsylvania 75013 30211 28992 76232 1.6 833
Rhode Island 573 587 629 531 -7.3 70
Vermont 649 422 404 667 2.8 150
Midwest 87987 62604 61922 88683 0.8 % 192
Illinois 30064 23595 23311 30348 0.9 348
Indiana/c,d 3580 4549 4085 4044 13.0 93
Iowa/b 2200 2343 2506 2051 -6.8 96
Kansas/c 6004 4650 4504 6150 2.4 323
Michigan 14609 8758 9016 14351 -1.8 197
Minnesota 2377 2632 2563 2446 2.9 71
Missouri 13087 4720 5293 12514 -4.4 313
Nebraska 688 770 770 688 0 57
North Dakota 100 212 193 119 19.0 25
Ohio 6331 5258 4786 6803 7.5 81
South Dakota 725 675 540 860 18.6 159
Wisconsine 8222 4442 4355 8309 1.1 217
South 241668 98173 104626 234780 -2.9 % 336
Alabama/b,f,g 4966 0 0 4742 -4.5 146
Arkansas/f 5459 3225 2817 5867 7.5 315
Delaware/f 591 196 196 591 -- 107
District of C 7120 2310 2363 7067 -0.7 1676
Florida 9243 3596 4362 8477 -8.3 76
Georgia/b 21146 11567 10587 21915 3.6 399
Kentucky 4621 2853 3241 4233 -8.4 144
Louisiana 19082 10819 9974 19927 4.4 630
Maryland 16246 9732 10215 15763 -3.0 412
Mississipp/c, 1326 1233 1181 1378 3.9 70
North Carolina 12358 8774 12984 8148 -34.1 147
Oklahoma 2159 442 673 1928 -10.7 79
South Carolina 5036 1343 1369 5010 -0.5 179
Tennessee/d 8934 4294 4535 8693 -2.7 215
Texas/f 112594 27682 30839 109437 -2.8 789
Virginia/f 9918 9538 8746 10710 8.0 210
West Virginia 869 569 544 894 2.9 64
West 134781 157287 150150 142006 5.4 % 330
Alaska 642 466 356 752 17.1 179
Arizona 3785 6141 6548 3378 -10.8 103
California/g 99578 134345 129514 104409 4.9 448
Colorado 3294 3744 2899 4139 25.7 144
Hawaii 1733 699 639 1793 3.5 203
Idaho 692 600 472 820 18.5 95
Montana/c,h,i 771 444 409 806 4.5 124
Nevada/b 3216 : : 3304 2.7 268
New Mexico 1426 1617 1417 1626 14.0 132
Oregon 15800 6649 5634 16815 6.4 691
Utah 2920 2329 1930 3319 13.7 242
Washington/f 560 32 112 480 -14.3 12
Wyoming 364 221 220 365 0.3 105
:Not known.
--Not calculated.
a/Defined as persons received for supervision upon release from prison. Includes
supervised release, parole, military parole, special parole, and mandatory release.
b/Because of nonresponse or incomplete data, the population on December 31, 1997
does not equal the population on January 1, 1997, plus entries, minus exits.
c/Data do not include absconders.
d/Data do not include out-of-State cases.
e/Data are provisional, pending further review by the State.
f/All data are estimated.
g/Multiple agencies were reporting.
h/Data do not include inactive cases.
i/Total exits are estimated.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Number of adults under community supervision or incarcerated, 1990-97
Adults under Adults
community under any
supervision correctional
Total as a percent supervision
estimated Community supervision Incarceration of total as percent of
correctional correctional all U.S. adult
Year population/a Probation Parole Jail Prison population residents
1990/b 4348000 2670234 531407 403019 743382 73.6% 2.3%
1991/b 4535600 2728472 590442 424129 792535 73.2 2.4
1992/b 4762600 2811611 658601 441781 850566 72.9 2.5
1993/b 4944000 2903061 676100 455500 909381 72.4 2.6
1994 5141300 2981022 690371 479800 990147 71.4 2.7
1995 5335100 3077861 679421 499300 1078542 70.4% 2.7%
1996 5475000 3161205 676045 510400 1127528 70.1 2.8
1997/c 5694400 3261888 685033 557974 1185800 69.4 2.9
Percent change
1996-97 3.9% 3.2% 1.3% 9.3% 5.2%
1990-97 30.9 22.2 28.9 38.4 59.5
Average annual percent change
1990-97 3.9% 2.9% 3.7% 4.8% 6.9%
Note: Counts are for December 31, except for jail counts, which are for June 30.
Counts of adults in jail facilities for 1993-96 were estimated and rounded to the nearest 100.
Parole counts for 1996 dropped from the previously reported 704,709 because of reporting changes
in New Jersey and other jurisdictions. Prisoner counts are for inmates in custody.
a/A small number of individuals have multiple correctional statuses; consequently, the total of
persons under correctional supervision is an overestimate. The total is rounded to the nearest 100.
b/The estimated jail population for 1990-93 includes an unknown number of persons supervised
outside jail facilities.
c/The prison population in custody is estimated.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Community corrections among the States, yearend 1997
10 States 10 States 10 States
with the 10 States with the Persons with the Persons
largest 1997 with the highest supervised lowest supervise
community largest rates of per 100,000 rates of per 100,0
corrections Number percent Percent supervision, adult U.S. supervision, adult U.S
populations supervised increase increase 1997 residents* 1997 residents
Probation:
Texas 429093 Nevada 11.7% Delaware 3225 Kentucky 410
California 304531 Maine 10.7 Washington 3177 West Virginia 438
Florida 239932 New Hampshire 10.5 Texas 3095 Mississippi 556
New York 185881 Arizona 10.4 Georgia 2699 New Hampshire 556
Michigan 154236 Hawaii 9.8 Minnesota 2641 North Dakota 559
Georgia 148420 Alaska 9.5 Rhode Island 2607 Virginia 589
Washington 132014 Iowa 9.4 Connecticut 2260 South Dakota 641
New Jersey 130565 Missouri 9.3 Indiana 2222 Utah 690
Illinois 119481 Vermont 9.0 New Jersey 2153 Montana 720
Ohio 118761 Idaho 8.7 Florida 2146 New Mexico 723
Parole:
Texas 109437 Colorado 25.7% Pennsylvania 833 Maine 6
California 104409 North Dakota 19.0 Texas 789 Washington 12
Pennsylvania 76232 South Dakota 18.6 Oregon 691 North Dakota 25
New York 59670 Idaho 18.5 Louisiana 630 Connecticut 40
Illinois 30348 Alaska 17.1 California 448 Nebraska 57
Georgia 21915 New Jersey 16.2 New York 439 West Virginia 64
Louisiana 19927 New Mexico 14.0 Maryland 412 Mississippi 70
New Jersey 16903 Utah 13.7 Georgia 399 Rhode Island 70
Oregon 16815 Indiana 13.0 Illinois 348 Minnesota 71
Maryland 15763 Virginia 8.0 Kansas 323 Florida 76
Note: The District of Columbia as a wholly urban jurisdiction is excluded.
*Rates are computed using U.S. adult resident population on July 1, 1997.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Characteristics of adults on probation, 1990 and
Characteristic of adults
on probation 1990 1997
Sex
Male 82 % 79 %
Female 18 21
Race
White 68 % 64 %
Black 31 35
Other races 1 1
Hispanic origin
Hispanic 18 % 16 %
Non-Hispanic 82 84
Status of supervision
Active supervision 83 % 79 %
Inactive supervision 9 8
Absconded from supervision 6 10
Supervised out of State 2 2
Other '** 2
Entries
Probation without incarceration 87 % 76 %
Probation with incarceration 8 17
Probation of other types 5 6
Exits
Successful completions 69 % 62 %
Returned to incarceration 14 18
With new sentence 3 5
With the same sentence 11 13
Other unsuccessful 9 12
Death -- 1
Other 7 7
Type of offense
Felony 48 % 54 %
Misdemeanor 31 28
Driving while intoxicated 21 14
Other infractions 1 4
Note: For every characteristic there were person
of unknown status or type.
**Not available.
--Less than 0.5%.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Characteristics of adults on parole,
1990 and 1997
Characteristic of adults
on parole 1990 1997
Sex
Male 92 % 89 %
Female 8 11
Race
White 52 % 54 %
Black 47 45
Other races 1 1
Hispanic origin
Hispanic 18 % 21 %
Non-Hispanic 82 79
Status of supervision
Active supervision 82 % 80 %
Inactive supervision 6 7
Absconded from supervision 6 7
Supervised out of State 6 5
Other ** 1
Entries
Discretionary parole 59 % 45 %
Mandatory parole 41 50
Reinstatement ** 4
Other ** 1
Exits
Successful completions 50 % 44 %
Returned to incarceration 46 41
With new sentence 17 13
With revocation pend 11 28
Other 18 1
Transferred to another State 1 2
Death 1 1
Other 2 11
Length of sentence
Less than 1 year 5 % 4 %
One year or more 95 96
Note: For every characteristic there were persons of
unknown status or type. Detail may not sum to total
due to rounding error.
**Not available.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Explanatory notes
The 1997 Probation and Parole Data Surveys provide a
count of the total of persons supervised in the community
on January 1 and December 31, 1997, and a count of the
number entering and leaving supervision during the year.
These surveys cover all 50 States, the District of Columbia,
and the Federal system.
Data for the Federal system are from the Administrative
Office of the U.S. Courts as provided to the BJS Federal
Justice Statistics Program.
Probation--
The 1997 Probation Data Survey was sent to 271
respondents -- 39 central reporters and 232 separate
State, county or court agencies. States with reporters
were Alabama (3), Arizona (2), Colorado (9), Florida (14),
Georgia (2), Michigan (114), Missouri (2), New Mexico (2),
Ohio (52), Oklahoma (3), Tennessee (3), Washington (24),
and West Virginia (2).
Two local agencies in Michigan and one local agency in
Washington did not provide data. For these cases the
12/31/96 population count was used as the 1/1/97 count
and the 12/31/97 count.
Parole--
The 1997 Parole Data Survey was sent to 54 respondents
-- 52 central reporters, the California Youth Authority,
and 1 municipal agency. States with multiple reporters
were Alabama (2) and California (2).
Federal parole as defined here includes supervised
release, parole, military parole, special parole,
and mandatory release.
August 1998, NCJ 172216
(END OF FILE)
Date Published: August 10, 1998