U.S. Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs Bureau of Justice Statistics Statistical Tables Jail Inmates at Midyear 2009 - Statistical Tables June 2010 NCJ 230122 ------------------------------------------------------------- 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://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/index.cfm?ty=pbdetail&iid=2195 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.ojp.usdoj.gov/index.cfm?ty=pbse&sid=38 ------------------------------------------------------------- Todd D. Minton BJS Statistician Between midyear 2008 and midyear 2009, the confined inmate population in county and city jails (767,620) declined by 2.3% (down 17,936 inmates) (figure 1). Since midyear 2005, growth in the U.S. jail population has slowed (table 1), but this is the first actual decline in the jail population since the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) began the Annual Survey of Jails in 1982. During the 12 months ending June 30, 2009, the number of male (-1.7%), female (-6.0%), and adult (-2.2%) inmates declined. Also juvenile inmates held as adults (-8.8%) declined between midyear 2008 and 2009 (tables 6 and 7). At midyear 2009, whites represented 42.5% of all jail inmates; blacks, 39.2%; and Hispanics, 16.2%. These percents have remained nearly stable since midyear 2000. At midyear 2009, about 6 in 10 unconvicted offenders in jail were awaiting court action on a current charge, a trend unchanged since 2005. Similarly, the unconvicted male (54.8%) and female (7.4%) population has remained relatively stable during that time period. Jail jurisdictions held more than 24,200 inmates at midyear 2009 for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, nearly double the number held at midyear 2000 (12,500) (table 8). Population decline mostly concentrated in large jails During the 12-month period ending June 30, 2009, populations in the largest jail jurisdictions (with an average daily population of 1,000 or more) declined by 18,929. This decline was offset by increases in jail jurisdictions with an average daily population between 250 and 999 inmates. Jail population declines were mostly concentrated in large jails. Among the 171 jail jurisdictions with 1,000 or more inmates on an average day, two-thirds reported a decline. Seven jurisdictions reported a drop of more than 500 inmates (accounting for 29% of the decline nationwide). Miami-Dade County, Florida, with a drop of 1,090, and Orange County, Florida, with a drop of 944, led the nation in overall decline in their inmate population. The estimated rated capacity for all jail jurisdictions at midyear 2009 reached 849,544 beds (table 2), an increase of 2.6% from midyear 2008 and nearly equivalent to the average annual increase per year since 2000 (2.5%). Rated capacity is the maximum number of beds or inmates allocated to each jail facility by a state or local rating official. Within the decade, the percent of capacity occupied at midyear 2009 (90.4%) was the lowest since 2001 (90.0%). As a result of the decline in the number of large jail jurisdictions between 2008 (180) and 2009 (171), the bed space increased for inmates in jail jurisdictions with an average daily population between 500 and 999 inmates. This affected the overall decline in the percent of capacity occupied in these jail jurisdictions between midyear 2008 (100.2%) and 2009 (91.3%) (table 5). The amount of bed space occupied was also measured based on an average daily population in jail jurisdictions (767,992) in the year ending June 30, 2009, and the most crowded day in jails during June 2009. Overall, the nation's jails were operating at about 90% of rated capacity on an average day and about 95% of rated capacity on their most crowded day in June 2009. Local jails admitted almost 13 million persons during the 12 months ending June 30, 2009 The jail population at midyear 2009 represented a comparatively small percentage of all admissions reported over the 12-month period. Local jails admitted an estimated 12.8 million persons during the 12 months ending June 30, 2009, or about 17 times the size of the inmate population (767,620) at midyear (see Methodology on page 18 for methods used to estimate admissions). More than 4 in 10 (42%) admissions during the last week of June 2009 were to the largest jail jurisdictions (table 4). Small jail jurisdictions holding fewer than 50 inmates accounted for 6.0% of all jail admissions, but admitted about 35 times the size of their inmate population. They also experienced the highest turnover rate (137.8%), compared to large jail jurisdictions (52.5%). The turnover rate takes into account all admissions into and releases from jails. Higher turnover rates mean relatively larger numbers of admissions and releases relative to the size of the average daily population. 2009 Statistical Tables Table 1. Inmates confined in local jails at midyear, average daily population and incarceration rates, 2000-2009 Table 2. Rated capacity of local jails and percent of capacity occupied, 2000-2009 Table 3. Inmates confined in local jails at midyear, by size of jurisdiction, 2008 and 2009 Table 4. Average daily jail population, admissions, and turnover rate, by size of jurisdiction, week ending June 30, 2008 and 2009 Table 5. Percent of jail capacity occupied at midyear, by size of jurisdiction, 2000, 2008, and 2009 Table 6. Number of inmates in local jails, by characteristics, midyear 2000 and 2005-2009 Table 7. Percent of inmates in local jails, by characteristics, midyear 2000 and 2005-2009 Table 8. Inmate population in jail jurisdictions reporting on confined persons being held for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, midyear 2002-2009 Table 9. The 50 largest local jail jurisdictions: Number of inmates held, average daily population, and rated capacity, midyear 2007-2009 Table 10. Persons under jail supervision, by confinement status and type of program, midyear 2000 and 2006-2009 Table 11. Estimated standard errors by confinement status, Annual Survey of Jails, 2009 Table 12. Estimated standard errors by selected characteristics, Annual Survey of Jails, 2009 Table 13. Estimated percentages of local jail inmates, by selected characteristics and ratio estimates, 2009 Methodology Annual Survey of Jails In years between complete census of local jails, BJS conducts the Annual Survey of Jails (ASJ). ASJ is a sample survey of local jails used to estimate the number and characteristics of local inmates nationwide. For the 2009 ASJ, the U.S. Census Bureau, as the collection agent, drew a sample of 874 jurisdictions and 934 jail facilities. This sample represents approximately 2,829 jail jurisdictions nationwide. Local jail jurisdictions included counties (parishes in Louisiana) or municipal governments that administered one or more local jails. Data were estimated for one jurisdiction that did not respond to the survey. Two jail facilities were closed during the survey collection. The 2009 ASJ sample included all jails with certainty (67) that were operated jointly by two or more jurisdictions, or multi-jurisdictional jails. Other jail jurisdictions included with certainty (268) were those that-- *held juvenile inmates at the time of the 2005 Census of Jail Inmates and had an average daily population of 500 or more inmates during the 12 months ending June 30, 2005. *held only adult inmates and had an average daily population of 750 or more. The remaining jurisdictions were stratified into two groups: jurisdictions with jails holding at least one juvenile on June 30, 2005, and jails holding only adults on that date. Using stratified random sampling, 541 jurisdictions were selected from 8 strata based on the two conditions enumerated above and 4 strata based on the average daily jail inmate population during 2005. The average daily jail inmate population was derived from the 2005 Census of Jail Inmates. Data were obtained from sampled jurisdictions by mail-out and web-based survey questionnaires. After follow-up phone calls and facsimiles to respondents, the response rate for the survey was 100% for critical items, such as the number of inmates confined, average daily population, and rated capacity. (See appendix tables 11, 12, and 13 for standard errors associated with reported estimates from the ASJ 2009 at . Weekly admission and release estimation procedures Based on the 2009 ASJ, 861 of the 934 jail facilities (92%) provided valid data on weekly admissions and releases. Because there were non response and incomplete data on admissions and releases, data on offender flows through local jails were estimated for 73 jail facilities to calculate a weekly estimate. Estimates were based on-- *Data for 45 jail facilities included admission and release data based on estimates from the 2008 Annual Survey of Jails. *Data for 21 jail facilities included admission and release data based on estimates from the 2007 Annual Survey of Jails. *Release data for 7 jail facilities was based on admission data reported in 2009. Calculating annual admissions Based on findings from the 2004 Survey of Large Jails (SLJ), BJS determined that the June admission data were a reliable source to calculate a nationwide annual admission estimate. Although the number of admissions to jails fluctuated throughout the year, the SLJ tracked monthly movements from January 2003 to January 2004 and determined that the June 2003 count (339,500) closely matched the annual average number of admissions (342,956). The number of annual admissions was calculated by multiplying the weekly admissions by the sum of 365 days divided by 7 days. Calculating weekly turnover rates Weekly jail turnover rates were modeled after the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey. Additional information on turnover rates is available at . Jail turnover rates were calculated by adding admissions and releases and dividing by the average daily population. The turnover rate takes into account admissions into and releases from jails and gives an indication of the volatility of the jail population. Higher turnover rates mean relatively larger numbers of admissions and releases relative to the size of the average daily population. Functions and definitions relating to the Annual Survey of Jails (ASJ) Jails in the ASJ include confinement facilities--usually administered by a local law enforcement agency--that are intended for adults but may hold juveniles before or after adjudication. Facilities include jails and city/county correctional centers, special jail facilities such as medical or treatment release centers, halfway houses, work farms, and temporary holding or lockup facilities that are part of the jail's combined function. Inmates sentenced to jail facilities usually have a sentence of 1 year or less. Jail functions. Facilities are included in the ASJ function to-- *receive individuals pending arraignment and hold them awaiting trial, conviction, or sentencing *readmit probation, parole, and bailbond violators and absconders *temporarily detain juveniles pending transfer to juvenile authorities *hold mentally ill persons pending their movement to appropriate mental health facilities *hold individuals for the military, for protective custody, for contempt, and for the courts as witnesses *release convicted inmates to the community upon completion of sentence *transfer inmates to federal, state, or other authorities *house inmates for federal, state, or other authorities because of crowding of their facilities *sometimes operate community-based programs as alternatives to incarceration. Admissions. Persons are officially booked and housed in jails by formal legal document and the authority of the courts or some other official agency. Jail admissions include persons sentenced to weekend programs and who are booked into the facility for the first time. Excluded from jail admissions are inmates reentering the facility after an escape, work release, medical appointment or treatment facility, and bail and court appearances. BJS collects jail admissions for the last 7 days in June. Average daily population. The average is derived by the sum of inmates in jail each day for a year, divided by the number of days in the year (i.e., between July 1, 2008, and June 30, 2009). Average annual change. This term denotes the mean average change across a 12-month time period. Calculating annual admissions. BJS collects the number of jail admissions during the last 7 days in June. Annual jail admissions are calculated by multiplying weekly admissions by the sum of 365 days divided by 7 days. Calculating weekly jail turnover rate. This rate is calculated by adding admissions and releases and dividing by the average daily population. See Methodology for additional information. Inmates confined at midyear. This term refers to the number of inmates held in custody on the last weekday in June. Jail incarceration rate. This term refers to the number of inmates held in the custody of local jails, per 100,000 U.S. residents. Percent of capacity occupied. The percent of jail capacity occupied is calculated by taking the number of inmates at midyear, dividing by the rated capacity, and multiplying by 100. Rated capacity. This term describes the number of beds or inmates assigned by a rating official to a facility, excluding separate temporary holding areas. Releases. Persons released after a period of confinement (e.g., sentence completion, bail/bond releases, other pretrial releases, transfers to other jurisdictions, and deaths). Releases include those persons who have completed their weekend program and who are leaving the facility for the last time. Excluded from jail releases are temporary discharges including work release, medical appointment or treatment center, court appearance, furlough, day reporting, and transfers to other facilities within the jail's jurisdiction. Under jail supervision but not confined. This classification includes all persons in community-based programs operated by a jail facility. Programs include electronic monitoring, house arrest, community service, day reporting, and work programs. The classification excludes persons on pretrial release and who are not in a community-based program run by the jail, as well as persons under supervision of probation, parole or other agencies, inmates on weekend programs, and inmates who participate in work release programs and return to the jail at night. Weekend programs. Offenders in these programs are allowed to serve their sentences of confinement only on weekends (i.e., Friday-Sunday). ------------------------------------------------------------ The Bureau of Justice Statistics is the statistics agency of the U.S. Department of Justice. Michael D. Sinclair is acting director. The tables were prepared and data were analyzed by Todd D. Minton. James J. Stephan verified the report. Lisa A. McNelis carried out the data collection and processing with assistance provided by Alonzo Johnson, Janean Darden, Andrea Arroyo, and Brittany Whitaker under the supervision of Stephen Simoncini, Governments Division, Census Bureau, U.S. Department of Commerce. Duane H. Cavanaugh and Diron J. Gaskins provided technical assistance. Catherine Bird and Jill Duncan edited the report, Tina Dorsey produced the report, and Jayne E. Robinson prepared the report for final printing under the supervision of Doris J. James. June 2010, NCJ 230122 ----------------------------------------------------------- This report in portable document format and in ASCII and its related statistical data and tables are available at the BJS World Wide Web Internet site: