Office of Justice Programs Bureau of Justice Statistics Executive Summary Census of State and Federal Correctional Facilities, 1995 August 1997, NCJ-164490 By James J. Stephan BJS Statistician The full text of this report is available through-- *the BJS Clearinghouse, 1-800-732-3277 *on the Internet at http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/ *on the National Criminal Justice Reference Service Electronic Bulletin Board (set at 8-N-1, call 301-738-8895, select BJS). --------------------------------------- Following are highlights from Census of State and Federal Correctional Facilities, 1995. The full report may be ordered using the form on page 4. On June 30, 1995, the Bureau of Justice Statistics conducted an enumeration of all State and Federal adult correctional facilities. These facilities included places of confinement like prisons, prison hospitals, prison farms, boot camps, and centers for reception, classification, or alcohol/ drug treatment, and community-based facilities like halfway houses and work release centers. Facilities were included if they housed primarily State or Federal prisoners; were physically, functionally, and administratively separate from other facilities; and were operational on the day of the census. Jails and other local or regional detention facilities were specifically excluded from the census, as were private facilities not exclusively for State or Federal inmates. Also excluded were facilities for the military, Immigration and Naturalization Service, Bureau of Indian Affairs, U.S. Marshals Service, and correctional hospital wards not operated by correctional authorities. Number of facilities -------------------- *The number of State and Federal correctional facilities in operation increased 17%, from 1,287 at midyear 1990, when the last census was conducted, to 1,500 at midyear 1995. *In 1995 States operated 1,375 facilities and the Federal Bureau of Prisons operated 125 facilities. *About 1 in 8 State prisons or other types of correctional facilities and 1 in 3 Federal facilities were added during the early 1990's. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 168 State facilities and 45 Federal facilities were added between 1990 and 1995 Community and confinement facilities ------------------------------ State Federal Facility ---------- ---------- characteristic 1990 1995 1990 1995 ----------------------------------------------------- Number 1,207 1,375 80 125 Confinement 957 1,084 80 112 Community-based 250 291 0 13 Rated capacity 650,600 909,908 42,183 65,811 Inmates in custody 658,828 941,642 56,821 81,930 Percent of capacity occupied 101% 103% 135% 124% Private facilities 67 98 0 12 Average number of inmates held 7,771 15,408 0 1,018 Security level Maximum/close/high 223 289 11 9 Medium 368 438 37 25 Minimum/low 616 648 32 91 Court orders/consent decrees* For any reason 323 378 0 113 To limit population 264 228 0 1 For specific conditions 242 321 0 112 For the totality of conditions 212 149 0 0 ---------------------------------------------------------- *Specific reasons add to more than "For any reason" because some facilities were under court order or consent decree for more than one reason. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Capacity --------- *Each year from 1990 to 1995 the rated capacity of State facilities expanded an average 6.9%. In 1995 the capacity was almost 910,000, up from 650,600 in 1990. *The increase in State capacity lagged inmate growth so that the percent of capacity occupied rose from 101% to 103%. *Federal capacity in 1995 was nearly 66,000. After 1990, rated capacity grew annually at an average of 9.3% so that the percent of Federal capacity occupied fell from 135% to 124%. Facility types ---------------- *In both 1990 and 1995 community-based institutions--those in which half or more of the inmates are permitted to leave the premises, unaccompanied--accounted for about 20% of all facilities. Confinement facilities accounted for 80%. *The distribution of inmates by type of facility remained virtually unchanged from 1990 to 1995: In 1990 all but 2% of prisoners were housed in confinement facilities, and in 1995 all but 3%. Security levels ----------------- *More State facilities of all security levels were in operation in 1995 than 5 years earlier. By contrast, the Federal system operated more minimum security facilities and fewer maximum and medium security institutions. Court orders -------------- *Fewer facilities were under court orders or consent decrees to limit population and for the totality of conditions in 1995 than in 1990. However, more were being cited for specific conditions of confinement in 1995. Number of inmates ------------------ *The number of inmates in State and Federal correctional facilities rose 43% from 715,649 in 1990 to 1,023,572 in 1995, an average increase of about 7.4% per year. ---------------------------------------------------------------- State and Federal facilities held 1,023,572 inmates in 1995, up from 715,649 in 1990 State and Federal correctional facilities ----------------------- Inmate characteristic 1990 1995 -------------------------------------------- Number of inmates Total 715,649 1,023,572 Under age 18 3,600 5,309 Noncitizen inmatesa 25,250 51,500 Type of facility Confinement 698,570 992,333 Community-based 17,079 31,239 Custody level Maximum/close/high 150,205 202,174 Medium 292,372 415,688 Minimum/low 219,907 366,227 Not classified 53,165 39,483 Number of assaultsb On other inmates 21,590 25,948 On staff 10,731 14,165 Rate of assault per 1,000 inmates All confinement facilities 46.8 40.8 Maximum security 60.7 61.5 Medium security 46.5 33.9 Minimum security 18.7 17.8 ------------------------------------------- aData from 1995 were based on reporting from 81% of facilities. bIn confinement facilities during the 12 months preceding the census. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- *In both 1990 and 1995 about 20% of inmates were classified as maximum security risks, 40% as medium security, and 33% as minimum security. The remainder were not assigned a custody level or were regarded as very low risk. Prisoner assaults ------------------ *Inmates committed more assaults against staff and other inmates during the annual period ending in 1995 than in 1990. *When inmate growth is considered, however, the 1995 rate of assault was slightly lower than the 1990 rate. The declining rate of assault occurred in medium and minimum security facilities. Number of correctional employees -------------------------------- *The number of employees in correctional facilities totaled 347,320 at midyear 1995, up from 264,201 in 1990. *Nearly two-thirds of all correctional staff were in custody or security positions. At midyear 1995 nearly 221,000 employees worked in custody or security positions, 56,000 in professional, technical, or educational positions, 27,000 in clerical positions, 24,000 in maintenance or food service, and 9,500 in administration. ----------------------------------------------------------------- 347,320 persons were employed in State or Federal correctional facilities in 1995, an increase of 32% in 5 years State and Federal correctional facilities Personnel ------------------------ characteristic 1990 1995 -------------------------------------------- All facilities All staff 264,201 347,320 Custody/security staff 169,587 220,892 Federal All staff 18,451 25,379 Custody/security staff 7,055 10,348 State All staff 245,750 321,941 Custody/security staff 162,532 210,544 Confinement All staff 258,758 339,070 Custody/security staff 166,215 215,824 Community-based All staff 5,443 8,250 Custody/security staff 3,372 5,068 Number of inmates per employee All staff 2.7 2.9 Custody/security staff only 4.2 4.6 Sexa Male 190,564 246,581 Female 62,833 100,659 Race/Hispanic originb White 187,093 232,382 Black 49,226 65,513 Hispanic 13,148 20,702 Other 3,930 6,576 Not reported 0 974 ----------------------------------------- aData from 1990 for sex of staff exclude nonpayroll and contract staff, about 4% of employees. Data from 1995 for sex of staff exclude information from 1 private facility with 80 employees. bBoth 1990 and 1995 data for race/Hispanic origin of staff exclude nonpayroll and contract employees. The majority of all data on race/Hispanic origin were estimated by the respondents. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Inmate-to-staff ratio ---------------------- *Between 1990 and 1995 the number of inmates held grew faster than the correctional staff. In 1990 there were 2.7 inmates per employee, and in 1995, 2.9. *Relative to the number of custody or security employees, the number of inmates rose from 4.2 to 4.6. Female staff --------------- *The female payroll staff rose 60% between 1990 and 1995, while male staff rose by 29%. *Women made up nearly a third of all correctional staff in 1995. In 5 years their number had grown from 62,833 to 100,659. Race of staff --------------- *About 71 in every 100 correctional facility employees in 1995 were white, 20 were black, 6 were Hispanic, and 2 were of other races. *Between 1990 and 1995 the number of white employees rose by 24%, the number of blacks by 33%, and the number of Hispanics by 57%. *More than 86,000 correctional staff in 1995 were black or Hispanic, up from 62,000 in 1990. END OF FILE.