U.S. Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs Bureau of Justice Statistics ------------------------------------------------------- This file is text only without graphics and many of the tables. A Zip archive of the tables in this report in spreadsheet format (.csv) and the full report including tables and graphics in .pdf format are available on BJS website at: http://www.bjs.gov/index.cfm?ty=pbdetail&iid=4843 This report is one in a series. More recent editions may be available. To view a list of all in the series go to http://bjs.gov/index.cfm?ty=pbse&sid=5 ------------------------------------------------------- ******************* Bulletin ******************* Correctional Populations in the United States, 2012 Lauren E. Glaze and Erinn J. Herberman, Ph.D., BJS Statisticians At yearend 2012, the combined U.S. adult correctional systems supervised about 6,937,600 offenders, down by about 51,000 offenders during the year (figure 1). The decrease observed during 2012 marked the fourth consecutive year of decline in the correctional population. However, this was the smallest decrease (down 0.7%) since the correctional population first declined in 2009, reversing a three-year trend of increasing rates of decline that started in 2009 and continued through 2011. About 1 in every 35 adult residents in the United States was under some form of correctional supervision at yearend 2012, the lowest rate observed since 1997. This report summarizes data from several Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) correctional data collections to provide statistics on the total population supervised by adult correctional systems in the United States. (See Methodology for sources.) These systems include offenders living in the community while supervised by probation or parole agencies and those held in the custody of state or federal prisons or local jails. *********************************************************** *********** HIGHLIGHTS *********** * About 6,937,600 offenders were under the supervision of adult correctional systems at yearend 2012, declining by about 51,000 offenders during the year. * The decrease during 2012 was the fourth consecutive year of decline in the U.S. correctional population. * Although the correctional population declined by 0.7% during 2012, this was the slowest rate of decline observed since 2009 when the population first decreased. * In 2012 about 1 in every 35 adults in the United States, or 2.9% of adult residents, was on probation or parole or incarcerated in prison or jail, the same rate observed in 1997. * An estimated 1 in every 50 adult residents was supervised in the community on probation or parole at yearend 2012, compared to 1 in every 108 adults incarcerated in prison or jail. * The decrease in the probation (down 38,300) and prison (down 21,100) populations accounted for nearly all of the decline in the total correctional population during 2012. * More than half (56%) of the decrease in the U.S. correctional population during 2012 was attributed to a drop (28,700 offenders) in California’s correctional population, a decline driven by the state’s Public Safety Realignment Act of 2011. *********************************************************** **************************************** By yearend 2012, the rate of offenders under correctional supervision dropped below the 2000 level **************************************** About 2,870 offenders per 100,000 U.S. adult residents (or about 2.9% of adults) were under some form of correctional supervision at yearend 2012 (table 1). The correctional supervision rate dropped below 2,900 per 100,000 adult residents for the first time since 2000, which was similar to the rate last observed in 1997 (2,860 per 100,000) when about 1.2 million fewer offenders were under correctional supervision (5.7 million). After peaking in 2007 at 3,210 offenders per 100,000 adult residents, the rate of correctional supervision declined each year. Slightly more than half (52%) of the decrease from 2007 to 2011 was attributed to the decrease in the number of offenders under correctional supervision during the period. Less than half (48%) of the decline was due to the increase in the number of adult residents in the United States (not shown in table).*** Footnote 1 1See Methodology for information about the method used to decompose the decline in the correctional supervision rate since 2007.*** In contrast, from 2011 to 2012 the increase in the adult resident population accounted for most (63%) of the decline in the correctional supervision rate, while 37% was due to the decline in the number of offenders under correctional supervision. About 1,980 offenders per 100,000 adult residents were supervised in the community on probation or parole in 2012, a drop from 2,010 per 100,000 in 2011. By yearend 2012, the community supervision rate fell below 2,000 per 100,000 adult residents for the first time since 2000, which was similar to the rate last observed in 1997 (1,990 per 100,000). The incarceration rate also decreased between 2011 (940 inmates per 100,000 adults) and 2012 (920 per 100,000). About 1 in every 108 adults was incarcerated in prison or jail at yearend 2012, compared to about 1 in every 50 under community supervision. *********************************************************** Official BJS measure of the U.S. prison population BJS’s official measure of the prison population is the count of prisoners under the jurisdiction or legal authority of state or federal adult correctional officials (1,570,400 in 2012), which is reported in Prisoners in the United States, 2012: Trends in Admissions and Releases, 1991-2012, BJS web, NCJ 243920, December 2013. These prisoners may be held in public and privately operated prison or jail facilities, outside of the state, or in the federal prison system. The prison population reported in table 2 and appendix table 1 is the number held in custody or physically housed in state (1,267,000 in 2012) or federal (216,900 in 2012) adult correctional facilities, regardless of which entity has legal authority over the prisoners. The custody population includes state or federal prisoners held in privately operated facilities. The difference between the number of prisoners in custody and the number under jurisdiction is the number of state or federal prisoners held in the custody of local jails, inmates held in other states, inmates out to court, and those in transit from one jurisdiction of legal authority to the custody of a confinement facility outside that jurisdiction. BJS uses the count of the number of prisoners held in custody to avoid double counting prisoners held in local jails. *********************************************************** **************************************** During 2012, the community supervision and incarcerated populations had the smallest decreases since 2009 **************************************** About 4,781,300 offenders were supervised in the community on probation (3,942,800) or parole (851,200) at yearend 2012, representing about 7 in 10 offenders under correctional supervision (table 2).***Footnote 2 The total community supervision population excludes parolees who were also on probation to avoid double counting offenders. See table 7 and Methodology. *** In comparison, about 3 in 10 offenders (or 2,228,400) under correctional supervision were in the custody of state or federal prisons (1,483,900) or local jails (744,500).*** Footnote 3 See text box on Official BJS measure of the U.S. prison population, for the difference between the jurisdiction and custody prison population counts. Jurisdiction counts are the official BJS measure of the prison population as reported in Prisoners in the United States, 2012: Trends in Admissions and Releases, 1991-2012, BJS web, NCJ 243920, December 2013.*** The decline of about 40,500 offenders under community supervision during 2012 represented the smallest decrease in this population since it first decline in 2009 (down 46,300). From 2009 (down 0.9%) to 2011 (down 1.5%), the rate of decline in the community supervision population increased. However, during 2012, the community supervision population decreased by about half (down 0.8%) of the rate of decline compared to the previous year. Similar changes occurred in the incarcerated population, as the decrease of 12,100 inmates during 2012 was the smallest decline observed since 2009 (down 16,400) when the population first declined. The rate of decline in the incarcerated population slowed to 0.5% during 2012, reversing a trend of increasing rates of decline from 2009 (down 0.7%) to 2011 (down 1.3%). Most of the decrease in the community supervision population during 2012 was attributed to the decline in the number of probationers. While the probation population declined by 1.0% (down 38,300 probationers) during 2012, the parole population remained relatively stable (down 0.1% or 500 parolees). During 2012, the decrease in the incarcerated population resulted from the drop in the number of inmates held in the custody of state or federal prisons (down 1.4% or 21,100 prisoners), as the number of inmates held in local jails (up 1.2% or 8,900 inmates) increased. The state prison population (down 1.8% or 23,200 prisoners) decreased during 2012, accounting for the entire decline in the U.S. custody prison population (appendix table 1). The increase in the federal prison population (up 1.0% or 2,100) slightly offset the total decline in the U.S. prison population. **************************************** Decreases in probation and prison populations accounted for nearly all of the decline in the total correctional population during 2012 **************************************** At yearend 2012, the probation population represented more than half (57%) of all offenders under the supervision of adult correctional systems (table 3). The number of prisoners held in the custody of state or federal prisons represented the next largest component of the correctional population (21%). Parolees conditionally released to supervision in the community (12%) and local jail inmates (11%) represented the smallest components of the correctional population. These findings remained relatively unchanged since 2011. Combined, the probation, parole, and prison populations decreased by 59,900 offenders during 2012. About 38,300 fewer probationers were under supervision at yearend 2012, compared to the beginning of the year, accounting for 64% of the combined total decrease in the correctional population during the year (table 4). Even though the probation population was more than two and half times larger than the custody prison population at yearend 2012, the decline in the prison population (down 21,100) accounted for 35% of the total decrease. The drop of 500 parolees (down 1.0%) between the beginning and end of 2012 had minimal impact on the total decline in the correctional population. After three consecutive years of decline, the jail population increased (up 8,900) during 2012. It was the only correctional population to increase during the year, partially offsetting the overall decline in the correctional population. Most of the increase in the jail population during 2012 occurred in California jails.***Footnote 4 See California’s Public Safety Realignment Act of 2011 and the U.S. correctional populations in this report, for the size and change in the state’s correctional populations and its impact on the U.S. correctional populations.*** *********************************************************** *************************************** California’s Public Safety Realignment Act of 2011 and the U.S. correctional populations *************************************** In October 2011, the state of California and its counties implemented the Public Safety Realignment Act of 2011, redirecting nonserious, nonviolent, and nonsex offenders from the state prison and parole systems to sentences in local jails or county-directed post-release community supervision. The legislation was designed to reduce the number of inmates in California’s prison system to alleviate crowding and to stop low-level offenders from cycling in and out of prison. Although all 58 counties in California designated probation agencies as the correctional entities responsible for post- release community supervision, BJS included that population in California’s parole population rather than the probation population for counting purposes. This method was used because the post-release community supervision population was conditionally released to the community after a sentence to incarceration, regardless of the entity that had authority over the population while in the community. About 598,600 offenders were under the supervision of California’s adult correctional systems at yearend 2012. Offenders supervised in the community on probation (297,700) represented the largest component of California’s correctional population (table 5). An additional 132,900 offenders were held in the custody of state prisons; 89,300 were on parole or post-release community supervision; and 78,700 were incarcerated in local jails. Fewer offenders (down 28,700) were under correctional supervision in California at yearend 2012 than in 2011. Although California’s correctional population represented about 9% of the U.S. correctional population at yearend 2012, more than half of the year’s decrease in the U.S. correctional population (down 51,000 offenders) was attributed to the decrease in the state’s correctional population. All other states, the federal system, and the District of Columbia accounted for 91% of all offenders under correctional supervision but accounted for less of the decline (44%) in the U.S. correctional population than did California. Yearend 2012 marked the first full year of the Public Safety Realignment Act, and the impact was reflected in the changes in California’s correctional populations during the year. Almost all of the decrease in California’s correctional population during 2012 was attributed to declines in the parole (down 22,400 or 20%) and prison (down 14,600 or 10%) populations (table 6). All of the decrease in California’s parole population resulted from the significant drop in state parole (down 42,400), as the number of offenders under county-directed post-release community supervision (up 20,000) increased during the year (table 5). The percentage of prisoners in the state who were released unconditionally to the community reached 62% of all releases during 2012, up from 12% in 2011, and about 2% in 2010.*** Footnote 5 See Prisoners in the United States, 2012: Trends in Admissions and Releases, 1991- 2012, BJS web, NCJ 243920, December 2013, for more information about California’s prison population.*** The significant increase in the number of unconditional releases from prison during 2012 was consistent with the drop in California’s state parole population. The 65% decline in the number of admissions to California’s prison system during the year, which was driven by an 87% decline in the number of parole violators admitted to prison, was associated with the decrease observed in the state’s prison population. Although California’s total correctional population dropped in 2012, the decrease was partially offset by an increase of about 8,500 inmates incarcerated in local jails (table 5). The state’s jail population dropped to a record low in 2011 (70,200 inmates), but that population increased by 12.1% during 2012.*** Footnote 6 See Jail Inmates at Midyear 2012 - Statistical Tables, BJS web, NCJ 241264, May 2013, for more information about California’s jail population.*** The number of probationers supervised in California remained fairly stable during 2012, after decreasing an average of 5.6% annually from 2005 to 2010 and 9.6% in 2011. The relative stability in this population during 2012 was associated with an increase in the number of offenders placed on probation. During 2012, the growth in entries to probation (up 6.7%) was about four and half times larger than in 2011 (up 1.5%), the year in which the largest decrease in California’s probation population was observed since 2005. *** Footnote 7 See Probation and Parole in the United States, 2012, BJS web, NCJ 243826, December 2013, for more information on California’s probation and parole populations.*** *********************************************************** ************* Methodology ************* Sources of data **************** The statistics presented in this report include data from five separate BJS data collections, each relying on the voluntary participation of federal, state, and local respondents. For more information about any of the following data collections, go to the Data Collections page on the BJS website at www.bjs.gov. Annual Probation Survey; Annual Parole Survey. The Annual Probation Survey and Annual Parole Survey began in 1980. They collect data from probation and parole agencies in the United States that supervise adults. Both surveys cover the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the federal system. In these data, adults are persons who are subject to the jurisdiction of an adult court or correctional agency. Persons younger than age 18 who were prosecuted in criminal court as if they were adults are considered adults, but persons under age 18 who were under the jurisdiction of a juvenile court or agency are excluded. Annual Survey of Jails. The Annual Survey of Jails (ASJ) has collected data from a nationally representative sample of local jails each year since 1982, except in 1983, 1988, 1993, 1999, and 2005, when a complete census of U.S. local jails was conducted. Jails are confinement facilities, usually administered by a local law enforcement agency, that are intended to hold adults, but they may also hold youth under age 18 before or after they are adjudicated. The data used in this report include inmates under age 18 who were held either before or after they were adjudicated (about 5,400 persons in 2012). Census of Jails. The Census of Jails began in 1970 and was conducted in 1972, 1978, 1983, 1988, 1993, 1999, 2002, 2005, and 2006. The census is part of a series of data collection efforts, including the Census of Jail Inmates and the Census of Jail Facilities, aimed at studying the nation’s jails and their inmate populations. Survey of Jails in Indian Country. The Annual Survey of Jails in Indian Country (SJIC) has been conducted annually since 1998, except in 2005 and 2006. The SJIC collects detailed information on all adult and juvenile confinement facilities, detention centers, jails, and other facilities operated by tribal authorities or the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Indian Affairs. The data reflected in this report exclude inmates under age 18 who were confined in facilities that held juveniles only (218 in 2012). The SJIC data are only included in appendix table 2 of this report. National Prisoner Statistics Program. The National Prisoner Statistics (NPS) program began in 1926 under a mandate from Congress and has been conducted annually since then. It collects data from the nation’s state departments of corrections and the federal Bureau of Prisons. NPS distinguishes between prisoners in custody and prisoners under jurisdiction of correctional authorities.*** Footnote 8 See text box on page 2 that explains the difference between the two types of prison populations.*** The prison data in this report reflect the NPS custody counts and include all inmates held within a state’s facilities. These counts include inmates housed for other correctional facilities, prisoners held in privately operated facilities, prisoners under age 18 who were serving time in a state or federal correctional facility after being sentenced in criminal court as if they were adults (1,300 persons in 2012), and inmates in the six states in which prisons and jails form one integrated system, including inmates under age 18 who may have been held before or after adjudication.***Footnote 9 See Prisoners in the United States, 2012: Trends in Admissions and Releases, 1991-2012, BJS web, NCJ 243920, December 2013, for more information about the six states with combined prison and jail systems.*** Through the annual NPS collection, since 1994 BJS has obtained yearend counts of prisoners in the custody of U.S. military authorities from the Department of Defense Corrections Council. In 1994, the council, composed of representatives from each branch of military service, adopted a standardized report (DD Form 2720) that obtains data on persons held in U.S. military confinement facilities inside and outside of the continental United States. These data are only included in appendix tables 2 and 4 of this report. In 1995, BJS began collecting yearend counts of inmates from the departments of corrections in the U.S. Territories (American Samoa, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands) and U.S. Commonwealths (Northern Mariana Islands and Puerto Rico). These data are only included in appendix tables 2 and 3 of this report and represent all inmates in the physical custody of prison or local jail facilities in the U.S. Territories or Commonwealths. Probation and parole populations ********************************* Total correctional population counts reflect data reported by probation and parole agencies within the specific reporting year. For example, the 2012 probation and parole totals are the December 31, 2012, population counts. Some agencies may update their probation and parole data after submitting them or change their reporting methods from one year to the next.***Footnote 10 See Probation and Parole in the United States, 2012, BJS web, NCJ 243826, December 2013, for information about the reasons why agencies may update their data.*** BJS does not request updated data for prior years; as a result, probation and parole population counts on January 1 of the current year may differ from population counts on December 31 of the prior reporting year. For these reasons, annual change in the probation and parole populations was calculated within the reporting year. See page 9, Estimating annual change in the total correctional populations, for more information. Local jail and custody prison populations ****************************************** Respondents to the ASJ report the number of jail inmates confined as of the last weekday in June of each year. The total correctional population counts in each year include jail population counts as of the last weekday in June for all inmates confined in local jails. This is used as an estimate of the number of inmates in local jails at yearend. Respondents to the NPS submit population counts of the number of prisoners in custody and under the jurisdiction of state or federal correctional facilities on December 31 of each year. The total correctional population count in each year reflects the custody prison populations as of December 31, and differs from the jurisdiction population counts (See Prisoners in the United States, 2012: Trends in Admissions and Releases, 1991-2012, BJS web, NCJ 243920, December 2013.) Counts adjusted for offenders with multiple correctional statuses ************************************* Offenders under correctional supervision may have multiple correctional statuses for several reasons. For example, probation or parole agencies may not always be notified immediately of new arrests, jail admissions, or prison admissions; absconders included in a probation or parole agency’s population in one jurisdiction may actually be incarcerated in another jurisdiction; persons may be admitted to jail or prison before formal revocation hearings and potential discharge by a probation or parole agency; and persons may be serving separate probation and parole sentences concurrently. In 1998, BJS began collecting data on the number of offenders with multiple correctional statuses and has expanded on the information collected since then. Table 6 includes adjustments that were made to the total correctional population estimates presented in this report to exclude offenders with multiple correctional statuses (table 7). These estimates are based on data reported by the probation or parole agencies that provided the information within the specific reporting year. Because some probation and parole agencies did not provide these data each year, the numbers may underestimate the total number of offenders who had multiple correctional statuses from 2000 to 2012. Due to these adjustments, the sum of the four correctional populations in tables 2, 3, and 4 will not equal the total correctional population. In addition, the sum of the probation and parole populations from 2008 to 2012 will not yield the total community supervision population because the total was adjusted for parolees who were also on probation. Decomposing the decline in the correctional supervision rate ********************************** The decline in the correctional supervision rate from 2007 to 2011 was decomposed in four steps: (1) The change in the rate was calculated by subtracting the 2011 rate from the 2007 rate. (2) An expected rate per 100,000 in 2011 was calculated by dividing the 2007 correctional population by the 2011 U.S. adult resident population and then multiplying by 100,000. This is the expected supervision rate if there had been no change in the correctional population from 2007 to 2011. (3) The observed 2007 rate minus the expected rate (from step 2) divided by the total change (from step 1) times 100% represents the percentage of total change due to the growth in the U.S. adult resident population. (4) The percentage of total change due to the decline in the correctional population is the residual difference (100% – percent change in step 3). The same method was used to decompose the decline in the correctional supervision rate from 2011 to 2012. Estimating annual change in the correctional populations ***************************** Because probation and parole population counts on January 1 of the current year may differ from population counts on December 31 of the prior reporting year, annual change in the probation and parole populations was calculated within the reporting year. (See page 7, Probation and parole populations, and Probation and Parole in the United States, 2012, BJS web, NCJ 243826, December 2013, for more information.) For example, annual change in the probation population in 2012 was calculated as the difference between the January 1 and December 31, 2012, probation populations. This same method was used to calculate annual change in the parole population and California’s probation and parole populations. The annual change in the community supervision population was also calculated within the reporting year for the same reasons. For the years from 2008 to 2012, change in the community supervision population was calculated after accounting for offenders with multiple community supervision statuses. (See page 8, Counts adjusted for offenders with multiple correctional statuses.) For these reasons, from 2008 to 2012, the sum of the changes in the probation and parole populations does not equal the total change in the community supervision population. For example, the change in the probation population (down 38,300) during 2012 plus the change in the parole population (down 500) during the year does not equal the total change in the community supervision population (down 40,500). The difference (1,700) is the change in the number of parolees who were also on probation during 2012. The annual change in the jail and custody prison populations was based on the change from the prior year to the current year because respondents were asked only to report a population count for one reference date. For example, the annual change in the jail population for 2012 is the difference (up 8,900) between the populations on the last weekday in June 2011 and June 2012. The annual change in the custody prison population for 2012 is the difference (down 21,100) between the December 31, 2011, and December 31, 2012, custody prison populations. The change in the total incarcerated population was calculated as the sum of the change in the jail and custody prison populations from the prior to the current year. The annual change in the total correctional population for each year was calculated as the sum of the annual changes for each correctional population. For example, the annual change in the total correctional population (down 51,000) during 2012 was calculated as the sum of four components: (1) the change in the probation population (down 38,300) during 2012; (2) the change in the parole population (down 500) during 2012; (3) the change in the jail population (up 8,900) between 2011 and 2012; and (4) the change in the custody prison population (down 21,100) between 2011 and 2012. This same method was used to calculate annual change in California’s total correctional population. (See table 4 for the change in California’s total correctional population and each correctional population during 2012.) Adjustments for nonresponse **************************** Probation, parole, jail, and prison population counts were adjusted to account for nonresponse across the data collections. The methods varied and depended on the type of collection, type of respondent, and availability of information. For more information for 2012, see the following reports: Probation and Parole in the United States, 2012, BJS web, NCJ 243826, December 2013; Prisoners in the United States, 2012: Trends in Admissions and Releases, 1991-2012, BJS web, NCJ 243920, December 2013; and Jail Inmates at Midyear 2012 - Statistical Tables, BJS web, NCJ 241264, May 2013. The total number of prisoners in the custody of correctional authorities in the U.S. Territories and Commonwealths (see appendix tables 2 and 3) in 2011 and 2012 includes estimates for nonresponse. The U.S. Virgin Islands did not provide any data in 2011 and Guam did not provide any data in 2012. Because of limited information, the U.S. Virgin Islands’ prison population in 2012 was used to impute its 2011 population and the estimate was included in the U.S. total for 2011. Guam’s prison population for 2011 was used to impute its population for 2012 and the estimate was included in the U.S. total for 2012. American Samoa was unable to provide the number of prisoners sentenced to more than one year in 2012. Ratio estimation was used to impute the data and the estimate was included in the U.S. total for 2012. Specifically, the ratio of the number of prisoners sentenced to more than one year in 2011 divided by American Samoa’s total prison population in 2011 was applied to American Samoa’s prison population in 2012 to generate the estimate of the number of prisoners sentenced to more than one year in 2012. *********************************************************** The Bureau of Justice Statistics, located in the Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice, collects, analyses, and disseminates statistical information on crime, criminal offenders, victims of crime, and the operation of justice systems at all levels of government. William J. Sabol is acting director. Lauren E. Glaze and Erinn J. Herberman, Ph.D., wrote this report. Lauren E. Glaze and Erinn J. Herberman analyzed the data and prepared the tables and graphs. Todd D. Minton provided statistical verification and review. Morgan Young edited the report, and Barbara Quinn produced the report. December 2013, NCJ 243936 ************************************************************ ************************************************** Office of Justice Programs Innovation * Partnerships * Safer Neighborhoods www.ojp.usdoj.gov ************************************************** ********************** 12/5/2013/JER/12:38am **********************