U.S. Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs Bureau of Justice Statistics Data Brief Prisoners at Yearend 2009-Advance Counts June 2010 NCJ 230189 ------------------------------------------------------------- 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=2272. 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=408 ------------------------------------------------------------- Heather C. West, Ph.D. BJS Statistician At yearend 2009, state and federal correctional authorities had jurisdiction over 1,613,656 prisoners, an increase of 0.2% (3,897 prisoners) from yearend 2008 (figure 1).*** Footnote Jurisdiction refers to prisoners under the legal authority of state or federal correctional officials, regardless of where a prisoner is held.*** This was the smallest annual increase in the current decade and continued the trend of slower growth observed in the prison population since 2006. The number of prisoners under state jurisdiction declined by 2,941 prisoners (0.2%), the only decrease in the state prison population between 2000 and 2009; the federal prison population increased by 6,838 prisoners (3.4%) and accounted for all of the increase in the U.S. prison population; (appendix table 1). Twenty-four states reported decreases in their prison population during 2009, with a combined total decrease of 15,223 state prisoners (table 1). About three-fourths (71.7%) of this decrease resulted from declines reported in six states reporting decreases of more than 1,000 prisoners: Michigan (down 3,260), California (down 2,395), New York (down 1,660), Mississippi (down 1,272), Texas (down 1,257), and Maryland (down 1,069). Offsetting the total decrease of 15,223 state prisoners was a total increase of 12,282 prisoners in the remaining 26 states. Five of these states reported increases of more than 1,000 prisoners and accounted for more than half (60.7%) of the total increase: Pennsylvania (up 2,214), Florida (up 1,527), Louisiana (up 1,399), Alabama (up 1,282), and Arizona (up 1,038). The factors contributing to the yearend change will be discussed in Prisoners in 2009. The drop in semi-annual change continued during 2009 During recent years, most of the annual change in the U.S. prison population has occurred over the period from December to June, with a relatively small amount of change occurring from June to December. The seasonality has been particularly marked since 2006, as the pattern of larger changes from December to June followed by smaller changes from June to December has been extremely consistent (figure 2). From 2006 to 2009, the population change from December to June accounted for over 75%, on average, of the annual change. For example, growth in the first half of 2006 accounted for 72.1% of the total year's growth (table 2). Growth in the first half of 2007 accounted for 87.2% of the overall growth. During 2008 and 2009, all of the population growth occurred in the first half of the year. Since 2006, the level of change during each semi-annual period (December 31 through June 30 and June 30 through December 31) has dropped. During the first half of 2006, the prison population increased by 30,306 prisoners. The prison population continued to increase during the same time period in 2007, with a smaller increase of 24,666 prisoners. This trend continued during the first half of 2008 and 2009, when the prison population increased by 12,297 prisoners and 7,719 prisoners, respectively. Similarly, the level of semi-annual change for the second half of the year also dropped. From June 30, 2006 to December 31, 2006, the prison population increased by 11,710. During the same period in 2007, there was an increase of 3,634 prisoners. In 2008, the direction of growth in the prison population reversed, decreasing by 783 prisoners. The decrease of 3,822 prisoners from June 30, 2009 to December 31, 2009 was the largest drop in the last 6 months of any year from 2000 through 2009. Smaller increases have led to slower rates of growth in the number of prisoners during these semi-annual periods. In the first half of 2006, the prison population grew at a rate of 2.0%. Over the next 3 years, growth in the prison population during the first half of the year slowed from 1.6% in 2007 to 0.8% in 2008, and 0.5% at midyear 2009. From June 30, 2005 to December 31, 2005, the prison population increased by 0.9%. During the same period in 2006 and 2007, the growth slowed to 0.8% and 0.2%, respectively. A negligible decrease in growth (783 prisoners) was observed during the last half of 2008. The growth rate continued to decrease by 0.2% during the last half of 2009, the largest decrease observed in the last 10 years. 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 the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS). BJS depends entirely on voluntary participation by state departments of corrections and the Federal Bureau of Prisons for NPS data. The NPS distinguishes between inmates in custody and prisoners under jurisdiction. To have custody of an inmate, a state or the Federal Bureau of Prisons must hold that inmate in one of its facilities. To have jurisdiction over a prisoner, a state or the Federal Bureau of Prisons 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 or 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, other state or federal facilities *serving concurrent sentences for more than one correctional authority. The NPS custody counts include all inmates held within a respondent's facilities including inmates housed for other correctional facilities. The custody counts exclude inmates held in local jails and in other jurisdictions. With a few exceptions, the NPS custody counts exclude inmates held in private facilities. Additionally, NPS data include counts of inmates in combined jail-prison systems in Alaska, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Rhode Island, and Vermont. States and the Federal Bureau of Prisons have the ability to update data submitted the previous year. This report provides updates for midyear and yearend 2008 counts. The District of Columbia (D.C.) became a jail-only jurisdiction by yearend 2001, when the Federal Bureau of Prisons assumed responsibility for housing all sentenced felons from D.C. Selected previously published prisoner counts and percent population change statistics include D.C. jail inmates for 2001, the last year of collection. See notes in tables for additional information. Additional information about the NPS data collection instrument is available on the BJS Website at . Definitions Average annual change the arithmetic average (mean) annual change across a specific time period. Jurisdiction the number of prisoners under the legal authority of state or federal correctional officials, regardless of where the prisoners are held. For example, state-sentenced prisoners held in local jails are under the jurisdiction of state correctional authorities. Prisons compared to jail facilities, prisons are longer-term facilities run by a state or the federal government and typically hold prisoners with sentences of more than 1 year. However, sentence length may vary by state. Connecticut, Rhode Island, Vermont, Delaware, Alaska, and Hawaii operate integrated systems which combine prisons and jails. Prisoners individuals under the legal authority (jurisdiction) of state and federal correctional officials. NPS jurisdiction notes 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, e.g., housed in local jails, hospitals, etc. This definition is comparable to the 1998 NPS 1b definition. Colorado Counts include 222 male and 10 female 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. Georgia Counts are based on custody data. Hawaii Prisons and jails form one integrated system. All NPS data include jail and prison populations. Iowa Population counts are based on custody data. The jurisdiction count for December 31, 2009 is not comparable to previous years due to a change in measurement. As of 2009, the Iowa Department of Corrections began including the Operating While Intoxicated population, prisoners on work release, and prisoners in violation of their sentence. Oklahoma Population counts for inmates with sentences of less than 1 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 inmates with sentences of 1 year or less. County authorities retain jurisdiction over the majority of these types of inmates. 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. ---------------------------------------------------------- The Bureau of Justice Statistics is the statistical agency of the U.S. Department of Justice. Michael D. Sinclair is acting director. This Crime Data Brief was written by Heather C. West, Ph.D., Todd Minton, Sheri Simmons, and Tracy Snell verified the report. Joshua Giunta carried out the data collection and processing under the supervision of Steve Simoncini, Governments Division, Census Bureau, U.S. Department of Commerce. 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 230189 ----------------------------------------------------------- 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: . ------------------------------------------------------------- Office of Justice Programs Innovation  Partnerships  Safer Neighborhoods http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov --------------------------------------------------------- Revised 6/232/2010/JER/ 7:26