U.S. Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs Bureau of Justice Statistics Bulletin Justice Expenditure and Employment in the United States, 2003 April 2006, NCJ 212260 ------------------------------------------------------- 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 from: http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/abstract/jeeus03.htm 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://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/pubalp2.htm#cjee -------------------------------------------------------- Kristen A. Hughes BJS Statistician ------------------------------------------ Highlights Expenditure for justice functions varies by level of government In fiscal year 2003 States spent the most –- $39.2 billion for corrections. Local governments spent the most for police functions -- $57.5 billion Justice employees by level of government The total number of justice employees grew 86% between 1982 and 2003 with the Federal Government having the largest percentage increase --168% ------------------------------------------ In 2003 the United States spent a record $185 billion for police protection, corrections, and judicial and legal activities. Expenditures for operating the Nation's justice system increased from almost $36 billion in 1982 to over $185 billion in 2003, an increase of 418%. Local governments funded nearly half of all justice system expenses. Another 33% of direct justice funding came from the States. Total justice expenditures comprised approximately 7.2% of all State and local public expenditures in 2003. Compared to justice expenditures, State and local governments continued to spend almost 4 times as much on education, twice as much on public welfare, and roughly an equal amount on hospitals and healthcare. In March 2003 the Nation's justice system employed nearly 2.4 million persons, with a total March payroll of approximately $9 billion. More than half of all justice employees worked at the local level (58%), a third were State employees (31%), and the remaining 11% worked at the Federal level. Data presented in this report are derived from the Justice Expenditure and Employment Extracts, compiled from the U.S. Census Bureau's Annual Government Finance Survey and Annual Survey of Public Employment. The extracts present public expenditure and employment data pertaining to justice activities in the United States, including police protection, judicial and legal services, and correctional activities. (For definition of terms, see page 8). Trends in spending by level of government Between 1982 and 2003, per capita expenditure, including Federal, State, and local governments across justice functions, increased from $158 to $638, over 300%. During the same time period: * Correction expenditures increased 436%, from $39 to $209 per U.S. resident. * Judicial and legal expenditures increased 320%, from $34 to $143. * Police protection expenditures increased 240%, from $84 to $286. Since 1982 total direct expenditures increased more than five-fold from nearly $36 billion to over $285 billion, a 418% increase. The average annual increase between 1982 and 2003 was nearly 8%. The total justice expenditure reflected the Federal Government's expanded role as it had a larger average annual increase in justice spending from 1982 to 2003 (10%) than State and local governments (8% and 7% respectively). Federal intergovernmental spending on justice activities rose from $189 million in 1982 to more than $5.1 billion in 2003. This increase was due primarily to the creation of several large law enforcement related grant programs in the 1980's and 1990's.***Footnote 1: For detailed information on Federal Government grants and payments to State and local governments see U.S. Census Bureau publication Federal Aid to States for Fiscal Year 2003 at http://www.census.gov/ prod/abs/fas.html*** Between 1982 and 2003, the Federal Government increased expenditures on police protection by 708%, judicial and legal services by 573%, and corrections by 925%. State and local governments had smaller percent increases in all functions. Trends by function The average annual increase was highest for corrections, ranging from a 9% increase by the local governments to an 11% increase by the Federal Government. Police protection experienced the lowest average annual increase. Among State and local governments the average annual increase for police protection was about 6.5%. The Federal Government expenditure for police protection has increased 10% annually. ------------------------------------------ Accounting for inflation The Consumer Price Index (CPI), reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, is a commonly used measure of inflation. **For more information about the Bureau of Labor Statistics website: .** According to the CPI, the average price level for all urban consumers increased 184% between the base years 1982- 84 and 2003; the annual average increase was 2.3%. To maintain consistency in reporting, the expenditure data discussed in this Bulletin are not adjusted for inflation. However, expenditure on all justice functions and among all levels of government increased at a rate greater than inflation. For example, if increases in total justice expenditure were limited to the rate of inflation (184%) after 1982, expenditures in 2003 would have been approximately $65.7 billion ($35.7B x 184%), as opposed to the actual $185.5 billion. Justice expenditure relative to the Gross Domestic Product(GDP) A common way to express the size and growth of government functions is the ratio of expenditure to the GDP or "percent GDP." **For more information about the GDP, see the Bureau of Economic Analysis website: .** In 2003, the ratio of justice expenditure to GDP was $185 billion/$10,182 billion (1.8%). In 1982 the percent GDP was 1.1%. ------------------------------------------ Distribution of direct expenditure by level of government and activity Within each category of justice activity, the distribution of expenditure by level of government reflects the different responsibilities of each level: * Overall, local police spending represented 45% of the Nation's total justice expenditure, and State corrections accounted for the second largest portion, 33%. * Police protection is primarily a local responsibility; accordingly, local governments spent 69% of the total police protection expenditure in the country in 2003. * Corrections is primarily a State responsibility; as such State governments accounted for 64% of the Nation's corrections expenditure. * Judicial and legal services in the United States were funded primarily by local (43%) and State (38%) governments. The Federal Government spent the most on intergovernmental grants-in-aid, shared revenues, and amounts paid to other governments for services performed. Almost 92% of the Federal intergovernmental expenditure was for police protection, much of which was distributed through law enforcement related grants. About half of the State and local intergovernmental expenditures were for corrections. ------------------------------------------ Justice share of State and local expenditures In 2003, 7.2% of total State and local expenditures was for justice activities 3% for police protection, 2.6% for corrections, and 1.5% for judicial and legal services. By comparison, 29% of State and local government spending went to education, 14% to public welfare, 7% to health and hospitals, and 4% to interest on debt. From 1977 to 2003 total State and local expenditure for all functions increased 567%: *police protection -- 545% *corrections -- 1173% *judicial and legal -- 1974% Other government functions also increased during the same period: *education -- 505% *hospitals and health care -- 572% *interest on debt -- 577% *public welfare -- 766% ------------------------------------------ Expenditure of State governments In 2003 total justice system expenditure of State governments increased from $34 billion in 1993 to over $66 billion in 2003 -- a 93% increase. Total per capita justice expenditure of all State governments was $227. Alaska spent the most on justice functions at $621 per U.S. resident, followed by Delaware ($478) and Connecticut ($372). Mississippi and Nevada spent the least per capita for all justice functions at $147 and $150, respectively. Distribution of employment by level of government and activity In March 2003 the Nation's civil and criminal justice system employed over 2.3 million persons, with a total March payroll of $89 billion. Relative to the entire employed population in 2003, approximately 2% of the Nation's labor force worked in the justice system. (For more detailed information on the national labor force, see .) Local governments accounted for more justice employment than the Federal and State governments combined. Of all the Nation's justice employees, 58% were engaged in local justice activities. The State and local governments employed almost 89% of all justice system workers, while the Federal Government employed the remaining 11%. The distribution of corrections employment reflects State government dominance in that sector -- 62% of corrections employees worked for State governments, followed by 33% at the local level and 5% at the Federal level. As law enforcement is primarily the responsibility of local governments, 77% of the Nation's police employees were working at the local level. The Federal Government employed 14% of police protection personnel while State governments employed the remaining 10%. Throughout the justice system, an estimated 59% of total justice expenditures were for payroll.***Footnote 2:This figure was calculated by multiplying the March 2003 payroll figure by 12 and dividing by total justice expenditure.*** In 2003, the Federal Government spent less on payrolls relative to total expenditure ($15 billion out of 35 billion or 43%) than did State and local governments (48% and 65% respectively). Police protection was the activity with the highest percentage of expenditure going to payrolls (66%). In particular 70% of local government justice expenditure went to police protection. The activity with the lowest percentage of payroll expenditure for all levels of government was corrections at approximately 50%. Employment by State In total, almost 13% of State and local employees worked in the justice system (table 6). Nevada had the highest percentage of justice employees relative to all public employees (16.9%), followed by Florida (16.6%). The States with the lowest percentage of justice employees were Vermont and North Dakota (both at less than 8%). ------------------------------------------ Expansion of the Nation's justice system 1982-2003 The increase in justice expenditures over nearly 20 years reflects the expansion of the Nation's justice system. For example, in 1982 the justice system employed approximately 1.27 million persons; in 2003 it reached over 2.3 million. Police protection One indicator of police workload, the FBI's arrest estimates for State and local police agencies, grew from 12 million in 1982 to an estimated 13.6 million in 2003.*Crime in the United States, 1982 (FBI, 1983) and 2003 (FBI, 2004), .* The number of employees in police protection increased from approximately 724,000 to over 1.1 million. Judicial and legal The judicial and legal workload, including civil and criminal cases, prosecutor functions, and public defender services, also expanded during this period. Cases of all kinds (criminal, civil, domestic, juvenile, and traffic) filed in the nearly 16,000 general and limited jurisdiction State courts went from about 86 million to 100 million in the 16-year period, 1987-2003. **Examining the Work of State Courts, 2003: A National Perspective from the Courts Statistics Project, National Center for State Courts, .** The total of judicial and legal employees grew about 101% to over 494,000 persons in 2003. Corrections The total number of State and Federal inmates grew from 403,000 in 1982 to over 1.4 million in 2003. The number of local jail inmates more than tripled from approximately 207,000 in 1982 to over 691,000 in 2003. Adults on probation increased from over 1.4 million to about 4.1 million persons.***Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics, 2003 (table 6.1.2004), .***Overall, corrections employment more than doubled from nearly 300,000 to over 748,000 during this same period. ------------------------------------------ California had the most State and local employees (1.8 million) as well as the largest number of employees in the justice system (247,110). Vermont was the State with the fewest justice employees in State and local government (slightly over 3,000) and for all functions (approximately 39,000). In March 2003 the number of full-time equivalent (FTE) State and local government justice system employees was just over 2 million. Almost 45% of all FTE justice system State and local employees worked in police protection; 35% were employed in corrections, while the remaining 20% were in judicial and legal jobs. The District of Columbia had the largest percentage of FTE State and local justice system employees working in police protection at 63%. Massachusetts and Rhode Island followed at 56% and 54%, respectively. At 37%, Delaware had the smallest percentage of employees working in police protection. In corrections, Texas had the largest percentage of FTE State and local justice system employees at 46%. Virginia and North Carolina followed at 44% and 43%, respectively. Definition of terms Expenditure includes only external cash payments made from any source of funds, including any payments financed from borrowing, fund balances, intergovernmental revenue, and other current revenue. It excludes any intragovernmental transfers and noncash transactions, such as the provision of meals or housing of employees. It also excludes retirement of debt, investment in securities, extensions of loans, or agency transactions. Total expenditures for all government functions do include interest payments on debt, but the justice expenditure data do not. Expenditures two major categories–- * Direct expenditure is all expenditure except that classified as intergovernmental. It includes "direct current expenditure" (salaries, wages, fees, and commissions and purchases of supplies, materials, and contractual services) and "capital outlays" (construction and purchase of equipment, land, and existing structures). Capital outlays are included for the year when the direct expenditure is made, regardless of how the funds are raised (for example, by bond issue) or when they are paid back. * Intergovernmental expenditure is 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. ------------------------------------------ Components of total expenditure The expenditure data discussed in this Bulletin include direct expenditure and intergovernmental expenditure. Intergovernmental expenditure is the sum of payments from one government to another, including grants-in-aid, shared revenues, and amounts for services performed by one government for another on a reimbursable or cost-sharing basis. The three levels of government in the United States (Federal, State, and local) have varying responsibilities for justice activities, and funds are often passed between governments to reflect these responsibilities. For example, Federal intergovernmental expenditures include grants to States, and State direct expenditures will include those grants. To avoid double counting the sum of Federal, State, and local intergovernmental expenditures, the direct expenditure is used to calculate total expenditure for all governments. For 2003, the total direct expenditure for all governments was over $185 billion. ------------------------------------------ Employees are all persons on government payrolls during the pay period including March 15, 2003. They include all paid officials and persons on paid leave, but exclude unpaid officials, persons on unpaid leave, pensioners, and contractors. Full-time employees are all persons employed on a full-time basis, including all full-time temporary or seasonal workers who were employed during this pay period. Full-time equivalent employment(FTE)is a statistical measure that estimates the number of full-time employees that could have been employed if the reported number of hours worked by part-time employees had been worked by full-time employees. This statistic is calculated separately for each function of a government by dividing the "part-time hours paid" by the standard number of hours for full-time employees in the particular government and then adding the resulting quotient to the number of full-time employees. Payroll is the gross 1-month payroll before deductions and includes salaries, wages, fees, and commissions paid to employees as defined above for March 2003. Police protection is the function of enforcing the law, preserving order, and apprehending those who violate the law, whether these activities are performed by a city police department, sheriff's department, State police, or Federal law enforcement agency such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation or the Drug Enforcement Administration. Private security police are outside the scope of the survey. Judicial and legal services include 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). Corrections involves the community supervision, confinement, and rehabilitation of adults and juveniles convicted of offenses against the law and the confinement of persons suspected of a crime awaiting trial or adjudication. It includes the costs of operation and employment for jails, prisons, probation, parole, pardon, and correctional administration. Data for institutions with authority to hold prisoners beyond arraignment (usually 48 hours or more) are included in this sector. Data for lockups or "tanks" holding prisoners less than 48 hours are included in "police protection." Methodology The justice data in this report include the expenditures and employment of the Federal Government, the State governments, and a sample of county, municipal, and township governments. Unless otherwise noted, data for total governmental functions and non-justice governmental functions also include the expenditures of special districts and school districts, which generally do not have justice functions. This report is based on a compilation of data from the U.S. Census Bureau's annual surveys of governmental finances and employment. The survey sample was selected from the 1997 Census of Local Governments and consists of large units of government (including all 50 States) sampled with certainty and smaller units selected with a probability proportional to the unit's expenditure. The total number of local governments in the finance sample was 7,002, and the number of local governments in the employment sample was 10,574. Certain limitations reflect the fact that the surveys from which this Bulletin was extracted are not designed to obtain data on specific justice functions. The sampling variability, or standard error, for each of the justice activities is likely to be larger than for the major categories that the surveys were designed to estimate. Similarly, the standard error is likely to be greater for local governments than for State-local aggregates which are sampled in part with certainty. Specific standard errors can be found on the Census Bureau's website (). Differences in functional responsibilities from State to State and government to government can affect the comparability of expenditure and employment data. Readers should be generally cautious in comparing governmental expenditures because of this variation in the division of responsibilities. The data in this report differ in some cases from those previously published in the Census Bureau's finance and employment survey reports because of definitional differences and the more intensive review procedures and data refinements used for this compilation. Data on State and local justice system per capita expenditure by State and activity were not collected in 2003. These data are available for 2002. The data here differ from other BJS series which collect agency-based BJS employment and expenditure data because of collection methods, units of analysis, and data collection purposes. These include-- Law Enforcement Management and Administrative Statistics, Prosecutors in State Courts and various court statistics series, The Census of Local Jails, 1999, The Census of State and Federal Correctional Facilities, 2000, and the report State Prison Expenditures, 2001. Financial data for the Federal Government were extracted from The Budget of the United States Government, FY 2003, Appendix. The historical finance data may differ slightly from the justice expenditure data found in the Expenditure and Employment Extracts because of definitional differences. Federal Government civilian employment data were obtained from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Statistics for State and local governments were obtained by a mail survey including all State departments, agencies, and institutions, and a local central reporting office supplemented by special mailings. Trend comparisons between the data in this report and reports covering data for 1971-79, 1985, 1988, 1990, and 1997 from the Justice Assistance Data Survey (JADS) are complicated by differences in methodology. These differences are described in the BJS reports for these years, and on the BJS website. In making trend comparisons, users should limit their analysis to one of the two sources: * long-term trends for 1971-79, 1985, 1988,1990, and 1997 from the JADS * recent year-to-year trends from the 1980-2001 Justice Expenditure and Employment Extracts data. A more detailed description of the survey methodology (including sample design and sampling errors) can be found in the Justice Expenditure and Employment Extracts at . ------------------------------------ This report is available in portable document format and in ASCII. Its related statistical data and tables are available at the BJS World Wide Web Internet site: The data from the Justice Expenditure and Employment Extracts are available from the National Archive of Criminal Justice Data, maintained by the Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research at the University of Michigan, 1-800-999-0960. The archive may also be accessed through the BJS Internet site. Office of Justice Programs Partnerships for Safer Communities http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov ----------------------------------- -------------------------------------- The Bureau of Justice Statistics is the statistical agency of the U.S. Department of Justice. Jeffrey L. Sedgwick is director. BJS Bulletins present the first release of findings from permanent data collection programs. Kristen Hughes wrote this report under the supervision of Steven K. Smith. Mark Motivans and Steven D. Owens provided statistical review. Tina Dorsey and Marianne W. Zawitz produced and edited the report. Jayne Robinson prepared the report for final printing. The data extraction, editing, and tabulation for the 2002 and 2003 Justice Expenditure and Employment Extracts were performed at the U.S. Census Bureau by Steven D. Owens. April 2006, NCJ 212260 ------------------------------------- End of file 04/25/06 ih