U.S. Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs Bureau of Justice Statistics April 2012, NCJ 237961 Jail Inmates at Midyear 2011 Statistical Tables Todd D, Minton, BJS Statistician --------------------------------------------------- This file is text without graphics and many of the tables. A Zip archive of the tables in this report in spreadsheet format (.cvs) and the full report including tables and graphs in .pdf format are available at: http://bjs.gov/index.cfm?ty=pbdetail&iid=4235 This reports is one in series. More recent editions may be available. To view a list of all reports in the series go to http://bjs.gov/index.cfm?ty=pbse&sid-38 --------------------------------------------------- *********************************************** From June 2010 to June 2011, the total number of persons confined in county and city jails (735,601) declined by 1.8% (or 13,127 inmates) (figure 1, table 1). This was the third consecutive year of declining inmate populations. The number confined in local jails peaked in June of 2008 at 785,533 inmates. Since then, the number has declined by about 50,000 persons (or 6.4%). The average daily count of persons in jails also declined by about 50,000 inmates during this same 3-year period. The jail incarceration rate--the confined population per 100,000 U.S. residents--dropped to 236 in 2011,down from 259 in 2007. The 2011 incarceration rate was the lowest jail incarceration rate since 2002. Males accounted for 87% of the jail population on June 30, 2011 (tables 6 and 7). Whites accounted for 45% of the total, blacks represented 38%, and Hispanics represented 15% of inmates. Fewer than 6,000 juveniles were held in local jails (or less than 1% of the confined population). At midyear 2011, about 6 in 10 inmates were not convicted, but were in jail awaiting court action on a current charge--a rate unchanged since 2005. About 4 in 10 inmates were sentenced offenders or convicted offenders awaiting sentencing. More than half of the decline in the jail inmate population occurred in large jails The decline in confined population in the largest jails-- those with an average daily population of more than 1,000 inmates--accounted for more than half (53%) of the total decline of 13,127 inmates that occurred during 2011 (table 3). The largest jails held a disproportionately large number of inmates, accounting for 48% of the jail population at midyear 2011. The share of inmates in each jail size category did not change significantly between 2010 and 2011, indicating that all size categories of jails had somewhat similar rates of decline in population. Across jail size categories, the decline in confined population ranged from about 0.8% to 2.6%. Percentage of capacity occupied continued to decline The estimated rated capacity for all jail jurisdictions at midyear 2011 reached 877,302 beds, an increase of 1.2% (10,520 beds) from midyear 2010 (figure 2, table 2). The increase in 2011 was less than the average annual increase each year since 2000 (2.5% or 21,742 beds). Rated capacity is the maximum number of beds or inmates allocated to each jail facility by a state or local rating official. The percentage of rated capacity occupied at midyear 2011 (84%) was the lowest since 1984 (86%). Jail jurisdictions holding 1,000 or more inmates reported the highest percentage of occupied bed space at midyear 2010 (91%) and 2011 (88%), compared to jails holding fewer than 50 inmates at midyear 2010 (69%) and 2011 (66%) (table 5). In addition to measuring the rated capacity occupied based on the inmate count at midyear, the measurement can be based on an average daily population in jail jurisdictions (726,657) in the 12 months ending June 30, 2011, and by the number of inmates on the most crowded day in jails during June 2011. Using these two measures, the nation's jails operated at about 83% of rated capacity on an average day and about 88% of rated capacity on their most crowded day in June 2011. While the confined population and rated jail capacity both increased at roughly comparable rates from 2000 through 2008, since that year their growth rates have diverged. The confined population declined by about 2% per year while rated capacity increased by about 2% per year. The increase in capacity and decrease in confined population almost equally contributed to the decline in the percentage of capacity occupied from 95% in 2008 to 84% in 2011. Jail jurisdictions holding between 100 and 249 inmates experienced the largest difference in change rates between rated capacity and the jail inmate population (figure 3). Over the 4-year period these jail jurisdictions reported a 3.8% decline in their inmate custody population and a 19.2% increase in their rated capacity. The smallest jail jurisdictions, which held fewer than 50 inmates, reported the smallest difference between change in their inmate population (down 3.0%) and change in rated capacity (up 4.7%). Jail jurisdictions holding 250 to 999 inmates reported similar patterns. Since 2008, the largest jail jurisdictions reported a decline in their inmate population and in their rated capacity. Jail jurisdictions holding 50 to 99 inmates reported an increase in their inmate population andin their rated capacity. Local jails admitted almost 11.8 million persons during the 12 months ending June 30, 2011 Local jails admitted an estimated 11.8 million persons during the 12 months ending midyear 2011, down from 12.9 million persons admitted during the same period in 2010 and 13.6 million in 2008. The number of persons admitted in 2011 was about 16 times the size of the inmate population (735,601) at midyear 2011. (See Methodology for methods used to estimate admissions.) Nearly 4 in 10 (39%) admissions during the last week of June 2011 were to the largest jail jurisdictions (table 4). Jail jurisdictions holding fewer than 50 inmates accounted for 6.7% of all jail admissions, but the number of inmates admitted was about 32 times the size of the inmate population at midyear 2011. These small jails also experienced the highest turnover rate (132%) compared to large jail jurisdictions (50%). Higher turnover rates mean larger numbers of admissions and releases relative to the size of the average daily population. ********************************************************** List of tables Table 1. Inmates confined in local jails at midyear, average daily population, and incarceration rates, 2000--2011 Table 2. Rated capacity of local jails and percent of capacity occupied, 2000--2011 Table 3. Inmates confined in local jails at midyear, by size of jurisdiction, 2010 and 2011 Table 4. Average daily jail population, admissions, and turnover rate, by size of jurisdiction, week ending June 30, 2010 and 2011 Table 5. Percent of jail capacity occupied at midyear, by size of jurisdiction, 2010 and 2011 Table 6. Number of inmates in local jails, by characteristic, midyear 2000 and 2005--2011 Table 7. Percent of inmates in local jails, by characteristic, midyear 2000 and 2005--2011 Table 8. Inmate population in jail jurisdictions reporting on confined persons being held for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, midyear 2002--2011 Table 9. Persons under jail supervision, by confinement status and type of program, midyear 2000 and 2006--2011 Table 10. Estimated standard errors, by confinement status, Annual Survey of Jails, 2011 Table 11. Estimated standard errors, by selected characteristic, Annual Survey of Jails, 2011 Table 12. Estimated percentages of local jail inmates, by selected characteristic and ratio estimates, 2011 *********************************************************** Methodology Annual Survey of Jails In years between the complete census of local jails, the Bureau of Justice Statistics (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 2011 ASJ, the U.S. Census Bureau, as the collection agent, drew a sample of 873 jail jurisdictions represented by 930 jail facilities (also referred to as reporting units). This sample represents approximately 2,830 jail jurisdictions nationwide. Local jail jurisdictions include counties (parishes in Louisiana) or municipal governments that administer one or more local jails. The 2011 ASJ sample included all jails with certainty (67) that were operated jointly by two or more jurisdictions (also referred to as 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, 538 jurisdictions were selected from eight strata based on the two conditions described above, and from four strata based on the average daily jail inmate population when the latest Census of Jail Inmates was completed during 2005. BJS obtained data from sampled jail jurisdictions by mailed and web-based survey questionnaires. After follow-up phone calls and facsimiles, the response rate for data reporters was 100% for critical items, such as the number of inmates confined, average daily population, and rated capacity. (See tables 10, 11 and 12 for standard errors associated with reported estimates from the ASJ 2011.) Response rate, nonresponse adjustment, and out-of scope jail facilities The 2011 ASJ sampling frame comprised 926 reporting units. Ninety-six percent (or 888) of the 926 individual reporting units responded to the 2011 data collection, and 38 individual reporting units did not respond to the survey.***Footnote *The sampling frame initially comprised 930 units. However, four units were out-of-scope for the 2011 data collection because they had closed, either permanently or temporarily, which resulted in the sampling frame of 926 active respondents***. BJS implemented nonresponse weight adjustment procedures to account for missing data from survey nonrespondents, as it did in 2010. However, prior to implementing the plan, data were estimated for four nonrespondents. After November 2, 2011, BJS implemented the nonresponse weight adjustment procedure to account for 34 respondents that did not participate. Respondent indicators The respondent reporting unit indicator JAILRhij is set for each individual reporting unit j in jurisdiction i in stratum h on the file, based on the status of the individual reporting unit. = { 0 if nonrespondent, closed, or out of scope. { 1 if respondent or using prior year data JAILRhij The respondent jurisdiction indicator JURISRhi is set for each jurisdiction i in stratum h on the file, based on the value of JAILRhij for the reporting units within the jurisdiction. { 1 if JURISRhi = { 0 otherwise. j=1 ni JAILRhij 1 Active indicators The active reporting unit indicator JAILAhij is set for each individual reporting unit j in jurisdiction i in stratum h on the file, based on the status of the individual reporting unit. = { 0 if closed, or out of scope. { 1 if respondent, using prior year data, or nonrespondent JAILAhij The active jurisdiction indicator JURISAhi is set for each jurisdiction i in stratum h on the file, based on the value of JAILAhij for the reporting units within the jurisdiction. JURISAhi = { 1 if { 0 otherwise. j=1 ni JAILAhij 1 Nonresponse weighting adjustment factor The nonresponse weighting adjustment factor is calculated within each stratum. We use the sample weights in the nonresponse adjustment factor. The nonresponse weighting adjustment factor F2h is calculated as F2h = JURISAhi i=1nh Whi JURISRhi i=1 nh Whi where nh = number of jurisdictions in stratum h, whi = sample weight for jurisdiction i in stratum h. Final weight The final weight FWhij for each individual reporting unit on the 2011 ASJ data file is calculated as FWhij = F2h Whij JAILRhij where Whij= sample weight for reporting unit j in jurisdiction i in stratum h. JAILRhij is used to set the final weight to 0 for units that are closed, out-of-scope, or nonrespondents. Weekly admission and release estimation procedures Based on the 2011 ASJ, 855 of the 892 (including estimates for four nonrespondents) individual reporting units (96%) provided valid data on weekly admissions or releases. To calculate an overall weekly estimate, data on offender flows through local jails were estimated for the 37 reporting units that did not report specific data on admissions and releases. Nonresponse weight adjustments account for the 34 survey nonrespondents. Estimates were calculated based on the following criteria: * Data for 8 individual reporting units included admission and release data based on estimates from the 2009 Annual Survey of Jails. * Data for 17 individual reporting units included admission and release data based on estimates from the 2010 Annual Survey of Jails. * Admission and release data for 1 individual reporting unit were based on admission data reported in 2010. * Admission data for 11 individual reporting units were based on release data reported in 2011. Calculating annual admissions The Annual Survey of Jails collects data on weekly admissions. BJS determined that the June admission data from the 2004 Survey of Large Jails (SLJ) 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 showed 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 365 days and dividing 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 http://www.bls.gov/jlt/. Jail turnover rates were calculated by adding admissions and releases, and then dividing by the average daily population. The turnover rate takes into account jail admissions and releases and gives an indication of the fluctuation of the jail population. Jurisdiction size categories BJS categorized jurisdiction sizes in tables 3, 4, and 5 and in figure 3 of this report, based on the average daily jail population during the 12 months ending midyear 2006 (which was the first year in the current Annual Survey of Jails series). For the 2010 report, comparisons of size categories from midyear 2009 to midyear 2010 were based on the average daily population during the 12 months ending midyear 2009. In previous reports (2007 through 2009) the size category comparisons were based on the 12 months ending midyear of the specific collection year. As a result, not all data in previous reports' tables are comparable with data in this report's tables. Jail functions 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, and 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. Within the ASJ, jails-- * receive individuals pending arraignment and hold them awaiting trial, conviction, or sentencing * re-admit probation, parole, and bail bond 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 Terms and definitions used in the report 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 re-entering the facility after an escape, work release, medical appointment or treatment facility appointment, 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, 2010, and June 30, 2011). Average annual change--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 Calculating weekly turnover rates for additional information. Inmates confined at midyear--The number of inmates held in custody on the last weekday in June. Jail incarceration rate--The number of inmates held in the custody of local jails, per 100,000 U.S. residents. Percent of capacity occupied--This percentage is calculated by taking the number of inmates at midyear, dividing by the rated capacity, and multiplying by 100. Rated capacity--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). ********************************************************* Office of Justice Programs Innovation -- Partnerships -- Safer Neighborhoods www.ojp.usdoj.gov *********************************************************** *********************************************************** The Bureau of Justice Statistics is the statistical agency of the U.S. Department of Justice. James P. Lynch is director. These Statistical Tables were prepared and data were analyzed by Todd D. Minton. Margaret Noonan verified the report. Jennifer Deppe carried out the data collection and processing with assistance provided by Lorelle Dennis, Joshua Giunta and Alonzo Johnson, under the supervision of Stephen Simoncini and Heather C. West, Ph.D., Governments Division, Census Bureau, U.S. Department of Commerce. Suzanne Dorinski and David Kahwajy provided statistical and technical assistance, respectively. Catherine Bird and Jill Thomas edited the report, and Barbara Quinn produced the report under the supervision of Doris J. James. April 2012, NCJ 237961 ********************************************************* April 16,2012/ JER/12:00pm