U.S. Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs Bureau of Justice Statistics Prison Inmates at Midyear 2008 - Statistical Tables March 2009, NCJ 225619 -------------------------------------------------------- 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/pim08st.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 the http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/pubalp2.htm#pim ---------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------- By Heather C. West, Ph.D. and William J. Sabol, Ph.D. BJS Statisticians Definitions Average annual change--mean average annual change across a specific time period. Total inmates in custody--includes inmates held in any public facility run by a state or the Federal Bureau of Prisons, including halfway houses, camps, farms, training/treatment centers, and hospitals. This number also includes the number of inmates held in local jails as reported by correctional authorities in the Annual Survey of Jails. Data for jails are as of the last working day of June. Imprisonment rate--the number of prisoners under state or federal jurisdiction sentenced to more than one year, per 100,000 U.S. residents. Total incarceration rate--the number of inmates held in the custody of state or federal prisons or in local jails, per 100,000 U.S. residents. Inmates--individuals held in the custody of state and federal prisons and in local jails. Jail--confinement facilities usually administered by a local law enforcement agency, intended for adults but sometimes holding juveniles before or after adjudication. Facilities include jails and city/county correctional centers, special jail facilities such as medical or treatment or 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. Jurisdiction--includes prisoners under state or federal jurisdiction held in prison facilities (e.g.,prisons, penitentiaries and correctional institutions; boot camps; prison farms; reception, diagnostic, and classification centers; release centers, halfway houses, and road camps; forestry and conservation camps; vocational training facilities; prison hospitals; and drug and alcohol treatment facilities for prisoners). This number also includes inmates who are temporarily absent (less than 30 days), out to court, or on work release; held in local jails, private facilities, and other states' or federal facilities; serving a sentence for two jurisdictions at the same time. This count excludes inmates held in a state or federal facility for another jurisdiction. Non-U.S. citizen--any foreign born person that has not been granted U.S. citizenship. This group can include, but is not mutually exclusive to--individuals of alien status, lawful permanent residents (green card holders), refugees, asylum applicants (depending upon date asylum was pending or approved), asylum grantees, diplomats, and foreign nationals living in the United States on a temporary basis (e.g., tourism, medical treatment, business, temporary work, study, or other, similar reasons). Definitions may vary by state. See Jurisdiction notes for state specific information. Prisoners-- individuals under the jurisdiction of state and federal correctional authorities. Sentenced prisoner--a prisoner the jurisdiction of state and federal correctional authorities sentenced to more than one year. Methodology National Prisoner Statistics Begun in 1926 under a mandate from Congress, the National Prisoner Statistics (NPS) program collects statistics on prisoners at midyear and yearend. The Census Bureau serves as the data collection agent for Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS). BJS depends entirely on the voluntary participation by state departments of corrections and the Federal Bureau of Prisons for NPS data. The NPS distinguishes between prisoners in custody and prisoners under jurisdiction. To have custody of a prisoner, a state or federal prison must hold that prisoner in one of its facilities. To have jurisdiction over a prisoner, a state or federal prison must have legal authority over the prisoner. Some states are unable to provide counts that distinguish between custody and jurisdiction. The NPS jurisdiction counts include prisoners serving a sentence within a jurisdiction's facilities,including prisons, penitentiaries, correctional facilities, halfway houses, boot camps, farms, training/treatment centers, and hospitals. They include prisoners who are-- *temporarily absent (less than 30 days), out to court, or on work release *housed in privately-operated facilities, local jails, or other state or federal facilities *serving concurrent sentences for more than one correctional authority. The NPS custody counts include all inmates held within a jurisdiction's facilities, including inmates housed for other correctional authorities. The custody counts exclude inmates held in local jails and other facilities. With a few exceptions for several respondents, the NPS custody counts exclude inmates held in privately-operated facilities. Additionally, NPS data include counts of inmates in combined jail-prison systems in Alaska, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Rhode Island, and Vermont. NPS prisoner counts have excluded prisoners held by the District of Columbia, which has operated only a jail system since yearend 2001. Prisoners sentenced under the District of Columbia criminal code are housed in federal facilities. Ratio estimates were used to generate the jurisdiction counts for gender and sentenced individuals in Illinois during 2007 and 2008 using the data provided in 2006. (Yearend 2007 and midyear 2008 data were not received from Illinois Department of Corrections.) Nevada was not able to provide data for December 31, 2007. Estimates were calculated using ratio estimates. All numbers were reviewed and approved by individuals at the respective departments of corrections. For more information about the NPS data collection instruments, see . Other inmate counts Data on the number of inmates held in the custody of local jails are from the BJS Annual Survey of Jails (ASJ). The ASJ provides data on inmates in custody at midyear. For more information about the ASJ, see Methodology in Jail Inmates at Midyear 2008 at . Data on federal prisoners are obtained from the BJS Federal Justice Statistics Program (FJSP). The FJSP obtains data from the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP). These data include individual-level records of prisoners in federal facilities as of September 30. Specifically, the FJSP provides counts of sentenced federal inmates by gender, race, Hispanic origin, and offense. Estimating age-specific incarceration rates Estimates are provided for the number of inmates held in custody in state and federal prisons or in local jails by gender. Within the gender estimates, prisoners are characterized by age group, race (non-Hispanic white and non-Hispanic black), and Hispanic origin. The detailed race and Hispanic origin categories exclude estimates of persons identifying two or more races. For 2000 and 2008 estimates were produced separately for inmates held in the custody of state and federal prisons and local jails and then combined to obtain a total estimated population. State estimates were prepared by combining information about the gender of prisoners from the NPS with information on self-reported race and Hispanic origin from the 2005 Survey of Inmates of State Correctional Facilities. To estimate federal prisoners, the distributions of FJSP counts of sentenced federal prisoners by gender, age, race, and Hispanic origin on September 30, 2007, were applied to the NPS counts of sentenced federal prisoners by gender at midyear 2008. Estimates of the U.S. resident population for July 1, 2008, by age, gender, race, and Hispanic origin were generated by applying the June 30, 2008, age distributions within gender, race, and Hispanic origin groups to the July 1, 2008, population estimates by gender. These population estimates were provided by the U.S. Census Bureau. Age - specific rates of incarceration for each demographic group were calculated by dividing the estimated number of inmates in custody within each age group by the estimated number of U.S. residents in each age group. That number was multiplied by 100,000 and then rounded to the nearest whole number. Gender totals include all inmates and U.S. residents regardless of race or Hispanic origin. Imprisonment rates for detailed race and Hispanic origin groups exclude persons identifying two or more races. NPS jurisdiction notes Alabama -- Between June 30, 2007, and December 31, 2007, the Department of Corrections transferred prisoners into private facilities to relieve overcrowding. Prior to June 30, 2008, these prisoners were transferred back to the state facilities due to cost issues. Alaska -- Prisons and jails form one integrated system. All NPS data include jail and prison populations housed in state and out of state. Jurisdictional counts exclude inmates held in local jails that are operated by communities. Arizona -- Population counts are based on custody data and inmates in contracted beds. California -- Jurisdiction counts include felons and unsentenced inmates who are temporarily absent, i.e., housed in local jails, hospitals, etc. Colorado -- Counts include 220 inmates in the Youthful Offender System, which was established primarily for violent juvenile offenders. Connecticut -- Prisons and jails form one integrated system. All NPS data include jail and prison populations. Delaware -- Prisons and jails form one integrated system. All NPS data include jail and prison populations. Federal-- Custody counts include inmates housed in secure facilities where the BOP contracted directly with a private operator or subcontracted with a private provider at a local government facility. Custody includes inmates held in non-secure privately-operated community corrections centers, e.g., halfway houses and on home confinement. Georgia -- Counts are based on custody data. Hawaii --Prisons and jails form one integrated system. All NPS data include jail and prison populations. Illinois --Data for 2008 were not received. All data for June 30, 2008, are based on ratio estimates using data submitted at midyear 2005 and 2006. Population counts are based on jurisdiction data. Counts of prisoners with a sentence of more than one year include an undetermined number of prisoners with a sentence of less than one year. These estimates will be updated upon receipt of data. Iowa --Population counts are based on custody data. Population counts for prisoners with a sentence of more than one year include an undetermined number of prisoners with a sentence of less than one year and unsentenced prisoners. Iowa does not differentiate between these groups in its data system. Due to a change in reporting in 2006, out-of-state prisoners have been included in jurisdiction counts. Kansas --Population counts for prisoners with a sentence of more than one year include an undetermined number of prisoners with a sentence of less than one year and unsentenced prisoners. Louisiana -- Custody and jurisdiction counts include evacuees from Hurricane Katrina and other pre-trial offenders from Orleans and Jefferson parish jails. Due to the effects of Hurricane Katrina, Orleans and Jefferson parish prison capacities are down; therefore, local jail population is down from the 2004 counts. Maryland -- The number of prisoners listed with their race as "unknown" has increased due to changes in the information system. Massachusetts -- By law, offenders may be sentenced to terms of up to 2 years and 6 months in locally-operated jails and correctional institutions. Such populations are included in counts and rates for local jails and correctional institutions. About 6,200 male inmates with sentences of more than one year were held in local jails. Jurisdiction and custody counts include an undetermined number of inmates who were remanded to court, transferred to the custody of another state, federal, or locally-operated system, and subsequently released. Michigan --The data recorded for Hispanic race are under counted due to a new database conversion. The new database categorizes Hispanic individuals as white. Montana -- Population counts include a small number of prisoners with unknown sentence lengths. In 2006, the Department of Corrections changed the method of accounting for community corrections offenders placed in residential treatment programs. To track growth patterns, a new standard process was applied to historic populations which resulted in some changes to previous years' counts. Nevada -- Due to a system conversion, data for December 31, 2007, were calculated with ratio estimates and are based on 2006 numbers. All estimates were reviewed by individuals at theNevada Department of Corrections. New Hampshire -- Due to a system conversion implemented in June 2008, some information could not be exported from the system. Therefore, counts may vary from those previously published. New Jersey -- Counts of inmates with a sentence of more than one year include an undetermined number of prisoners with sentences of one year. The Department of Corrections has no jurisdiction over prisoners with sentences of less than one year or over unsentenced prisoners. New York -- Juveniles refer to prisoners held in custody that have not reached age 18 prior to June 30, 2008. Most of these prisoners committed their crime after age 16 and are considered adult offenders in New York State. Juvenile offenders are prisoners who committed certain serious, violent offenses prior to turning age 16. Between ages 16 and 21 these prisoners were transferred from the juvenile system to the adult system to complete their sentence. Ohio -- Counts of prisoners with a sentence of more than one year include an undetermined number of prisoners with sentences of one year or less. Oklahoma -- Population counts for prisoners with sentences of less than one year consist mainly of offenders ordered by the court to the Delayed Sentencing Program for Young Adults pursuant to 22 O.S. 996 through 996.3. Oregon -- Counts include an undetermined number of prisoners with sentences of one year or less. County authorities retain jurisdiction over the majority of these types of prisoners. Rhode Island -- Prisons and jails form one integrated system. All NPS data include jail and prison populations. Vermont -- Prisons and jails form one integrated system. All NPS data include jail and prison populations. Washington -- A recently revised law allows increasing numbers of certain prisoners with sentences of less than one year to be housed in prison. ------------------------------------------------------- The Bureau of Justice Statistics is the statistical agency of the U.S. Department of Justice. Michael D. Sinclair is the acting director. The data were analyzed and tables were prepared by Heather C. West, Ph.D. and William J.Sabol, Ph.D. James J. Stephan and Todd D. Minton verified the report. Joshua Giunta and Steve Simoncini carried out the data collection and processing under the supervision of Jill O'Brien, Governments Division, Census Bureau, U.S. Department of Commerce. Duane H. Cavanaugh provided technical assistance. Tina Dorsey produced the tables. Jayne E. Robinson prepared the report for final printing under the supervision of Doris J. James. March 2009, NCJ 225619 --------------------------------------------------------------- Office of Justice Programs Innovation . Partnerships . Safer Neighborhoods http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov --------------------------------------------------------------- 3/31/2009/ JER