U.S. Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs Bureau of Justice Statistics Special Report Truth in Sentencing in State Prisons January 1999, NCJ 170032 By Paula M. Ditton Doris James Wilson BJS Statisticians The amount of time offenders serve in prison is almost always shorter than the time they are sentenced to serve by the court. Prisoners released in 1996 served on average 30 months in prison and jail or 44% of their sentence. Many States have recently enacted a truth-in-sentencing law which requires offenders to serve a substantial portion of their sentence and reduces the discrepancy between the sentence imposed and actual time served in prison. In the early 1970's States followed an indeterminate sentencing model in which a parole board decided when an offender would be released from prison. Pressure for longer sentences and uniform punishment led to mandatory minimums and sentencing guidelines in the 1980's. However, prison crowding, good-time sentence reductions for satisfactory prison behavior, and earned-time resulted in the early release of prisoners. To assure that offenders serve a large portion of their sentence, the U.S. Congress authorized funding for additional State prisons and jails through the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994. In 1998 incentive grants were awarded to 27 States and the District of Columbia that met the eligibility criteria for the Truth-in-Sentencing program. Another 13 States have adopted a truth-in-sentencing law requiring certain offenders to serve a specific percent of their sentence. -------------- Highlights -------------- Three decades of sentencing reform -- 1970's through 1990's * Indeterminate sentencing: Common in the early 1970's, parole boards have the authority to release offenders from prison. * Determinate sentencing: States introduced fixed prison terms which could be reduced by good-time or earned-time credits. * Mandatory minimum sentences: States added statutes requiring offenders to be sentenced to a specified amount of prison time. * Sentencing guidelines: States established sentencing commissions and created ranges of sentences for given offenses and offender characteristics. * Truth in sentencing: First enacted in 1984, TIS laws require offenders to serve a substantial portion of their prison sentence. Parole eligibility and good-time credits are restricted or eliminated. * Violent offenders released from prison in 1996 were sentenced to serve an average of 85 months in prison. Prior to release they served about half of their prison sentence or 45 months. * Under truth-in-sentencing laws requiring 85% of the sentence, violent offenders would serve an average of 88 months in prison based on the average sentence for violent offenders admitted to prison in 1996. * Nearly 7 in 10 State prison admissions for a violent offense in 1997 were in States requiring offenders to serve at least 85% of their sentence. * By 1998, 27 States and the District of Columbia met the Federal Truth-in-Sentencing Incentive Grant Program eligibility criteria. Eleven States adopted truth-in-sentencing laws in 1995, 1 year after the 1994 Crime Act. -------------------------------------------------------- Data were compiled from multiple sources -------------------------------------------------------- The findings in this report are based primarily on data from the Bureau of Justice Statistics, National Corrections Reporting Program (NCRP), and data collected through the Violent Offender Incarceration and Truth-in-Sentencing (VOI/TIS) Incentive Grants program, administered by the Office of Justice Programs Corrections Program Office. Since 1983 BJS has compiled the NCRP data series that collects individual inmate records for prison admissions and releases and parole discharges. It is the only national level data base with information on sentence length, time to be served in prison, actual time served by released prisoners, time served on parole, type of parole discharge, and offense composition of inmates entering and exiting prison and parole. The annual series includes prison population movement data and parole population data, providing a comprehensive description of offenders as they enter and exit correctional custody and supervision. During the 1990's between 35 and 41 States have participated in NCRP. In 1996, 37 States and the California Youth Authority reported 469,650 admissions that represented 91% of all admissions to State prisons, based on data from the BJS National Prisoner Statistics data collection. The releases reported (427,627) represented 91% of all releases from State prison in 1996. All 50 States and the District of Columbia reported data through the VOI/TIS incentive grants program as part of the data collection for determining grant eligibility. The VOI/TIS data provide an additional State-level indicator of time served with a common definition of violent offenses. For each year between 1993 and 1997, States reported the number of admissions and releases for Part 1 violent offenses and sentence length and time served by released violent offenders. Part 1 violent crimes include murder/ nonnegligent manslaughter, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Sentencing reforms parallel 'get tough on crime' attitude ----------------------------------------------------------------- Sentencing reform policies have paralleled the mood of the country on crime and punishment, shifting between requiring a fixed prison time prior to release or allowing discretionary release of offenders by judges, parole boards, or corrections officials. Over the last two decades, sentencing requirements and release policies have become more restrictive, primarily in response to widespread 'get tough on crime' attitudes in the Nation. (See References for sources on sentencing reform on page 15.) In the early 1970's, States generally permitted parole boards to determine when an offender would be released from prison. In addition, good-time reductions for satisfactory prison behavior, earned-time incentives for participation in work or educational programs, and other time reductions to control prison crowding resulted in the early release of prisoners. These policies permitted officials to individualize the amount of punishment or leniency an offender received and provided means to manage the prison population. Such discretion in sentencing and release policies led to criticism that some offenders were punished more harshly than others for similar offenses and to complaints that overall sentencing and release laws were too soft on criminals. By the late 1970's and early 1980's, States began developing sentencing guidelines, enacting mandatory minimum sentences and adopting other sentencing reforms to reduce disparity in sentencing and to toughen penalties for certain offenses, specifically drug offenses (as part of the 'war on drugs'), offenses with weapons, and offenses committed by repeat or habitual criminals. ***Footnote 1: For additional information on sentencing reform see the 1996 National Survey of State Sentencing Structures, Bureau of Justice Assistance, NCJ 169270, September, 1998.*** ----------------------------------------------------------------- Washington State enacted the first truth-in-sentencing law in 1984 ----------------------------------------------------------------- States continued to increase the severity of sentencing laws (primarily for violent offenders) by enacting restrictions on the possibility of early release, which became known as truth in sentencing. Truth-in-sentencing laws require offenders to serve a substantial portion of the prison sentence imposed by the court before being eligible for release. Previous policies which reduced the amount of time an offender served on a sentence, such as good-time, earned-time and parole board release, are restricted or eliminated under truth-in-sentencing laws. The definition of truth in sentencing varies among the States, as do the percent of sentence required to be served and the crimes covered by the laws. Most States have targeted violent offenders under truth in sentencing. A few States, such as Florida, Mississippi, and Ohio, require all offenders to serve a substantial portion of the sentence before being eligible for release. The percent of sentence required to be served under truth in sentencing in general spans from 50% to 100% of a minimum sentence (table 1). ----------------------------------------------------------------- Most truth-in-sentencing States require offenders to serve 85% of the prison sentence ----------------------------------------------------------------- In response to prison crowding and public dismay with the early release of prisoners, the U.S. Congress authorized incentive grants to build or expand correctional facilities through the Violent Offender Incarceration and Truth-in-Sentencing Incentive Grants Program in the 1994 Crime Act (Pub.L. No. 103-322, 108 Stat. 1796 (1994)). To qualify for the truth-in-sentencing grants, States must require persons convicted of a Part 1 violent crime to serve not less than 85% of the prison sentence. Along with other exceptions, States may qualify by demonstrating that the average time served in prison is not less than 85% of the sentence. ***Footnote 2: For additional information on eligibility criteria and other program requirements see Violent Offender Incarceration and Truth-in-Sentencing Incentive Grants: Program Guidance and Application Kit, FY98, Office of Justice Programs Corrections Program Office, U.S. Department of Justice, Solicitation Number 244, NCJ 168942.*** Twenty-seven States and the District of Columbia qualified for the Federal grant program in 1998 (table 1). Five States (Delaware, Minnesota, Tennessee, Utah and Washington) adopted truth in sentencing prior to the 1994 Crime Act. Arizona, California, Missouri, and North Carolina enacted truth in sentencing in 1994, and 11 States enacted laws in 1995, 1 year after the Crime Act (Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Maine, Michigan, Mississippi, New York, North Dakota, Oregon, and Virginia). Table 1. Truth-in-sentencing requirements, by State 50% 100% of minimum Other Meet Federal 85% requirement requirement requirement requirements Arizona Missouri Indiana Idaho Alaska/c California New Jersey Maryland Nevada Arkansas/d Connecticut New York Nebraska New Hampshire Colorado/e Delaware North Carolina Texas Kentucky/f District of Col. North Dakota Massachusetts/g Florida Ohio Wisconsin/h Georgia Oklahoma/b Illinois/a Oregon Iowa Pennsylvania Kansas South Carolina Louisiana Tennessee Maine Utah Michigan Virginia Minnesota Washington Mississippi a/Qualified for Federal funding in 1996 only. b/Effective July 1, 1999 offenders will be required to serve 85% of the sentence. c/Two-part sentence structure (2/3 in prison; 1/3 on parole); 100% of prison term required. d/Mandatory 70% of sentence for certain violent offenses and manufacture of methamphetamine. e/Violent offenders with 2 prior violent convictions serve 75%; 1 prior violent conviction, 56.25%. f/Effective July 15, 1998, offenders are required to serve 85% of the sentence. g/Requires 75% of a minimum prison sentence. h/Effective December 31, 1999, two-part sentence: offenders serve 100% of the prison term and a sentence of extended supervision at 25% of the prison sentence. Several States have not adopted the Federal 85% standard. Maryland and Texas have a 50%-requirement for violent offenders. Nebraska and Indiana require all offenders to serve 50% of the sentence. Arkansas requires certain offenders to serve 70%. Colorado requires violent offenders with 2 prior violent convictions to serve 75% and with 1 prior violent conviction, 56%. Massachusetts requires 75% of a minimum prison sentence. ----------------------------------------------------------------- 14 States have abolished parole board release for all offenders ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fourteen States have abolished early release by discretion of a parole board for all offenders. Seven States abolished parole board release within the last 10 years. Eight States abolished parole board release during the same year a truth-in-sentencing law was passed (Arizona, Delaware, Kansas, Mississippi, Ohio, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin). Parole boards still have discretion over inmates who were sentenced for crimes committed prior to the effective date of the law that eliminated parole board release. ------------------------------------------------- Abolished discretionary parole board release/a State Year Arizona 1994 Delaware 1990 Florida/b 1983 Illinois 1978 Indiana 1977 Kansas/c 1993 Maine 1975 Minnesota 1980 Mississippi 1995 North Carolina 1994 Ohio/d 1996 Oregon 1989 Washington 1984 Wisconsin 1999 a/For offenses committed after the effective date of the law. b/In 1995, parole eligibility was abolished for offenses with a life sentence and a 25-year mandatory term. c/Excluded a few offenses, primarily first degree murder and intentional second degree murder. Truth in sentencing passed 1993, amended in 1995 to meet 85% requirement. d/Excluded murder and aggravated murder. ----------------------------------------------------------------- A few other States have abolished parole board release for certain violent or felony offenders (Alaska, New York, Tennessee, and Virginia) or for certain crimes against a person (Louisiana). California allows discretionary release by a parole board only for offenders with indeterminate life sentences. In general, States restrict the possibility of parole board release based on the offender's criminal history or the circumstances of the offense. While discretionary release from prison by a parole board has been eliminated by some States, post release supervision still exists and is generally referred to as community or supervised release. Parole boards, in various forms, have the responsi- bility to set conditions of release for offenders under conditional or supervised release, the authority to return an offender to prison for violating the conditions of parole or supervised release, and the power to grant parole for medical reasons. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Between 1990 and 1997 the number of offenders in State prison increased 7% annually ----------------------------------------------------------------- As a result of truth-in-sentencing practices, the State prison population is expected to increase through the incarceration of more offenders for longer periods of time. One purpose of the VOI/TIS incentive grants is to enable States to manage prison capacity by providing funds to increase prison beds for violent offenders. On average, between 1990 and 1997 the prison population grew by 7% annually. State prison inmates totaled 1,100,850 in 1997, up from 689,577 in 1990 (table 2). Most of the growth occurred among violent offenders who accounted for 50% of the total increase in State prison inmates. Drug offenders comprised about 19% of the growth and property offenders, 16%. Table 2. Trends in State prison population and admissions, 1990-97 Yearend Number of Year population/a admissions/b 1990 689577 460739 1991 732914 466285 1992 780571 480676 1993 857675 475100 1994 936896 498919 1995 1001359 521970 1996 1048004 512618 1997 1100850 540748 Note: Includes only offenders with a sentence of more than 1 year. a/Sentenced prisoners under State jurisdiction. b/Excludes escapees, AWOLs returned and transfers to other jurisdictions. -------------------------------------- State prison admission rates have dropped -------------------------------------- While the number of inmates held in State prisons increased 60% since 1990, the number admitted to prison increased about 17%. In 1997, 540,748 offenders were admitted to State prison, up from 460,739 in 1990. The number of admissions relative to the number of inmates in prison dropped from 73 per 100 State prisoners in 1990 to 52 per 100 in 1997. During this period the source of admissions to prison also changed. New court commitments to State prison, or offenders admitted to prison under a new sentence, increased slightly between 1990 and 1997 (from 323,069 to 334,630), while parole violators represented an increased portion of prison admissions. The most recent data on admissions by offense type (table 3) reveal that offenders incarcerated for violent offenses increased, up from 86,600 in 1990 to 96,300 in 1996. New court commitments for property and drug offenders decreased between 1990 and 1996. Table 3. Sentenced prisoners under State jurisdiction and new court commitments to State prison, by offense, 1990 and 1996 Sentenced New court prisoners under commitments State jurisdiction to State prison Offense 1990 1996 1990 1996 Total 689577 1048004 323069 326547 Violent 315900 495400 86600 96300 Property 175000 240000 104400 94800 Drug 149700 237600 102400 98700 Public-order 45800 71300 26000 34600 Note: Sentenced prisoners under State jurisdiction by offense were estimated. See Methodology for details. --------------------------------------------- Over a third of prison admissions in 1997 were parole violators --------------------------------------------- The percent of prison admissions who were returned for a parole violation has steadily increased since 1985. Parole violators accounted for 23% of prison admissions in 1985, 29% in 1990, 34% in 1994, and by 1997, 35% of admissions were parole violators. Two-thirds of parole violators were drug or property offenders. A third of parole violators were drug offenders, and 16% were burglary offenders. Violent offenders accounted for 25% of those returned to prison on a parole revocation; nearly 11% were originally sentenced to prison for robbery. Percent of admissions to State prison New court Parole Year commitment violators 1985 76.1% 23.4% 1990 70.1 29.1 1991 68.0 30.5 1992 69.5 29.5 1993 66.9 30.8 1994 64.7 33.8 1995 64.7 33.7 1996 63.7 33.7 1997 61.9 34.5 Note: Includes only offenders with a sentence of more than 1 year. Excludes escapees, AWOLs returned and transfers to other jurisdictions. Percent of admissions to State prison, 1996 New court Parole Most serious offense commitments revocations All offenses 100% 100% Violent offenses 29.5% 24.5% Murder/nonnegligent manslaughter 2.7 1.4 Rape 1.9 1.4 Other sexual assault 4.1 2.4 Robbery 9.1 10.9 Assault 8.7 6.7 Property offenses 29.0 35.1 Burglary 12.0 15.7 Larceny/theft 7.5 9.7 Motor vehicle theft 2.1 3.7 Drug offenses 30.2 31.0 Possession 8.0 7.0 Trafficking 17.2 16.1 Public-order offenses 10.6 8.1 Note: Includes only offenders with a sentence of more than 1 year. Detail may not add to total. ----------------------------------------------------------------- The commitment rate for murder rose from 460 per 1,000 arrests in 1990 to 613 per 1,000 in 1996 ----------------------------------------------------------------- In contrast to the increase in the number of incarcerated violent offenders and the slight increase in admissions overall, arrests for the major violent crimes (except for aggravated assault) actually declined between 1990 and 1996. Arrests for murder dropped 19%; rape, 18%; other sexual assault, 13%; and robbery, 16%. There was also a sharp decline of burglary arrests (21%) (table 4). Table 4. Adult arrests and new court commitments to State prison per 1,000 arrests, by offense, 1980, 1990, and 1996 Number of new court commitments Number of adult arrests to State prison per 1,000 arrests Most serious offense 1980 1990 1996 1980 1990 1996 Violent offenses Murder 18200 19800 16100 621 460 613 Rape 26700 33300 27400 182 229 219 Other sexual assault 55600 90500 78600 61 112 177 Robbery 102200 127400 106700 245 233 277 Aggravated assault 236600 410800 445005 45 56 62 Property offenses Burglary 282800 290000 229700 107 160 165 Larceny/theft 745300 1088700 983900 14 24 27 Motor vehicle theft 75600 119800 102600 40 72 72 Fraud 358800 382100 565400 19 24 24 Drug offenses 471200 1008300 1294700 19 103 77 Weapons offenses 141200 181000 163400 11 34 55 Note: Arrest data were obtained from the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting Program. Data on new court commitments by offense were estimated and include offenders with a sentence of more than 1 year. (See Methodology for details.) At the same time, the commitment rate, or the number of new court commitments to State prison relative to the number of arrests, increased for most violent offenses between 1990 and 1996. The number of admissions to State prison for murder per 1,000 arrests rose from 460 in 1990 to 613 in 1996, almost reaching the high of 621 admissions per 1,000 arrests in 1980. The likelihood of going to prison upon arrest for drug offenses substantially increased between 1980 and 1990 as the commitment rate soared from 19 per 1,000 arrests to 103 per 1,000. The rate dropped to 77 commitments per 1,000 arrests in 1996. For property offenders, the commitment rate also increased between 1980 and 1990 and remained relatively constant between 1990 and 1996. ----------------------------------------------------------------- The implementation of truth-in-sentencing laws ----------------------------------------------------------------- The phase-in of truth-in-sentencing requirements, or the number of offenders sentenced under the new law, may vary considerably by State. Differences in the effective date of the law, court backlogs, case processing, and the type of offenders covered under the law (violent offenders versus all offenders) may affect the number of prison admissions sentenced under truth in sentencing. Monthly data on the percent of prison admissions sentenced under truth-in-sentencing laws in Nevada, Virginia, and New York demonstrate the lag between the effective date of truth-in-sentencing and the subsequent admission of offenders to prison covered under the new law. ----------------------------------------------------------------- At 12 months, 57% of New York's violent felony prison admissions were under truth in sentencing ----------------------------------------------------------------- Under a truth-in-sentencing law which became effective October 1, 1995, New York requires repeat violent felony offenders to serve at least 85% of the sentence. The law requires first time violent felony offenders to serve 85% based on a presumptive sentence set at 2/3 of the maximum. By August 1998, 3 years after the effective date, 94% of violent felony offenders admitted to prison were sentenced under the 1995 truth-in- sentencing law. A more recent law, effective September 1, 1998, requires first time violent felons to serve 85% of a determinate sentence. ----------------------------------------------------------------- In Nevada, nearly 80% of prison admissions were under truth-in-sentencing requirements, 3 years after implementation of the law ----------------------------------------------------------------- Effective for crimes committed after July 1, 1995, Nevada's truth-in-sentencing law requires all offenders to serve 100% of the minimum prison term prior to becoming eligible for parole release. Offenders are allowed to earn good-time reductions off the maximum prison sentence, but not the minimum. Six months after the effective date, 28% of offenders admitted to Nevada's prisons were sentenced under the truth-in-sentencing law. After 1 year the number increased to 43%, and after 2 years, 60%. After 3 years, 79% of prison admissions were sentenced under truth in sentencing. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Virginia estimates 100% truth-in-sentencing admissions by yearend 1999 ----------------------------------------------------------------- Virginia implemented a truth-in-sentencing law on January 1, 1995, requiring all felony offenders to serve 85% of the sentence. A year after the effective date, 74% of prison admissions were sentenced under truth in sentencing. 39% were admitted under truth in sentencing only and about 35% under both truth-in-sentencing and the old parole system. These offenders were returned for a new offense sentenced under truth-in-sentencing and a prior offense under the parole system (old law). Five years after implementation, or yearend 1999, Virginia estimates 100% of admissions will be sentenced under truth in sentencing. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Nearly 40% of all female, black, and Hispanic prison admissions were drug offenders Thirty-seven percent of black offenders, 40% of Hispanics, and 39% of females admitted to prison in 1996 had committed a drug offense. Black and Hispanic inmates were nearly twice as likely as white inmates to be admitted to prison for a drug offense. Women were most likely to be admitted to prison for a drug offense (39%) or property offense (36%). Almost 31% of all males admitted to prison in 1996 had committed a violent offense, compared to 17% of women. Slightly less than a third of admissions in each racial and ethnic group had committed a violent offense. White offenders were more likely to be admitted to prison for a property offense (38%), particularly burglary (16%). New court commitments to State prison, 1996: Offense, by sex, race, and Hispanic or Percent of new court commitments Male Female White* Black* Hispanic All offenses 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% Violent offenses 30.8 17.3 28.7 29.5 30.2 Murder/nonnegligent manslaughter 2.9 2.2 2.3 2.9 3.3 Negligent manslaughter 1.1 1.4 1.4 1 0.9 Rape 2.1 0.2 2.9 1.3 1.4 Other sexual assault 4.5 0.5 6.7 2 4.3 Robbery 9.6 5.0 5.4 12.2 8.9 Assault 9.0 6.0 7.9 8.8 9.7 Other violent 1.7 1.9 2.2 1.4 1.7 Property offenses 28.3% 36.0% 38.1% 24.9% 20.0% Burglary 12.6 5.9 16.1 9.5 9.7 Larceny/theft 6.8 13.6 9.0 7.3 4.1 Motor vehicle theft 2.2 1.0 2.2 1.7 2.7 Fraud 3.1 12.8 6.0 3.5 1.3 Other property 3.6 2.8 4.8 2.9 2.2 Drug offenses 29.3% 39.1% 18.7% 36.8% 39.7% Possession 7.7 11.2 6.1 9.9 8.0 Trafficking 17.0 19.3 9.1 20.8 26.8 Other/unspecified drug 4.6 8.6 3.6 6.1 5.0 Public-order offenses 11.0% 6.8% 13.7% 8.2% 9.3% Other offenses 0.6% 0.7% 0.8% 0.5% 0.8% Note: Includes only offenders with a sentence of more than 1 year. Detail may not add to total. *Excludes inmates of Hispanic origin. --------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------- Nearly 7 in 10 violent offenders are in a State that requires 85% of the sentence be served ----------------------------------------------------------------- Based on data reported through the VOI/TIS program, State facilities reported that 78,917 new court commitments were admitted to prison for a Part 1 violent offense in 1997. About two-thirds (54,023) of those admissions were in a truth-in-sentencing State which met the Federal standard, requiring violent offenders to serve at least 85% of their sentence prior to release. Over 90% of Part 1 violent offenders admitted to prison in 1997 were in a State which had passed a law requiring at least 50% of the sentence be served prior to release. Despite the large proportion of offenders being admitted in States with truth-in-sentencing laws, not all of these offenders were sentenced under truth in sentencing. Due to the time lag between commission of the offense, arrest, and conviction, some offenders entering prison in 1997 committed the offense prior to the effective date of recently enacted truth-in-sentencing laws. In 1997 an estimated 42% of all Part 1 violent offenders admitted to prison were actually sentenced under a truth-in-sentencing law that met the Federal standard requiring at least 85% of the sentence be served in prison. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Offenders admitted to prison in 1996 for robbery were expected to serve 7 months longer than in 1990 ----------------------------------------------------------------- Though recent sentencing reforms are linked to increasing time served, the average (or mean) sentence length imposed on offenders entering prison decreased, from 72 months in 1990 to 68 months in 1996 (table 5). Consistent with sentencing policy change, the projected minimum time expected to be served by persons entering prison increased slightly. If parole eligibility requirements, good-time credits, and early release policies are taken into account, persons entering State prisons in 1996 were expected to serve a minimum of 42 months in prison, up from 40 months in 1990. Table 5. New court commitments to State prison, 1990 and 1996: Average sentence length and minimum time to be served Mean maximum Mean minimum time sentence length/a to be served/b Most serious offense 1990 1996 1990 1996 All offenses 72mo 68mo 40mo 42mo Violent offenses 107mo 104mo 67mo 70mo Murder/nonnegligent manslaughter 233 253 176 215 Negligent manslaughter 106 117 63 61 Rape 153 140 90 72 Other sexual assault 97 107 62 64 Robbery 101 101 53 60 Assault 74 72 49 46 Other violent 96 82 70 54 Property offenses 62mo 54mo 31mo 30mo Burglary 75 67 37 37 Larceny/theft 50 43 24 25 Motor vehicle theft 51 41 27 29 Fraud 54 47 23 22 Drug offenses 63mo 57mo 30mo 32mo Possession 62 51 24 30 Trafficking 66 62 33 34 Public-order offenses 41mo 44mo 26mo 25mo Number of admissions 278417 266705 129489 128863 Note: Includes only offenders with a sentence of more than 1 year. Excludes sentences of life without parole, life plus additional years, life, and death. a/Maximum sentence length an offender may be required to serve for the most serious offense. b/Minimum time to be served is the jurisdiction's estimate of the shortest time each admitted prisoner must serve before becoming eligible for release. For violent offenders the average imposed sentence decreased from 107 months in 1990 to 104 months in 1996, while the expected time to be served increased. On average, violent offenders admitted to prison in 1996 were expected to serve about 3 months longer than those admitted in 1990 (or a minimum term of 70 months versus 67 months). By offense, the average sentence length for murder (excluding offenders sentenced to life) showed the largest increase between 1990 and 1996, up from 233 months to 253 months. Offenders admitted to prison in 1996 for murder, without a life sentence, were expected to serve about 40 months longer (215 months) than offenders admitted in 1990 (176 months). Just over a third of offenders admitted to prison in 1996 for murder/ nonnegligent manslaughter were sentenced to life in prison. Another 6% were sentenced to life without parole, and about 2% were sentenced to death. Both the average sentence length and minimum time to be served in prison decreased for rape offenders admitted between 1990 and 1996. The average sentence length for rape dropped from 153 months to 140 months. The minimum time to be served for rape offenders decreased, from 90 months in 1990 to 72 months in 1996. Offenders admitted to prison in 1996 for drug law violations were sentenced to an average of 57 months in prison, a 6 month decrease from 1990. Drug offenders were expected to serve 2 months longer in prison (32 months in 1996 versus 30 months in 1990). ------------------------------------------------------------- Violent offenders admitted to prison in 1996 were expected to serve about half of their sentence ------------------------------------------------------------- Based on the average sentence length and minimum time to be served, violent offenders admitted to prison in 1996 were expected to serve at minimum 51% of their sentence. Drug and property offenders were expected to serve about 46% of their sentence in prison prior to release. Public order offenders were expected to serve 49% percent of their sentence. Since many States are unable to report the minimum time to be served by offenders admitted to prison, estimates of minimum time to be served and percent of sentence to be served were calculated with data from 26 States or about half of State prison admissions. The projected percent of sentence to be served is expected to increase as the number of offenders entering prison who were sentenced under recently enacted truth-in-sentencing laws continues to grow. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Percent of sentence to be served by new court commitments to State prison, 1996* Most serious offense Percent All offenses 49% Violent 51% Property 46 Drug 46 Public-order 49 *Based on total sentence length. ----------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------- Truth-in-sentencing laws would increase the minimum prison term by 15 months for violent offenders ----------------------------------------------------------------- Under a truth-in-sentencing law requiring 85% of the sentence, violent offenders would be expected to serve an estimated 15 months longer than the projected average minimum time to be served by offenders entering prison in 1996 (table 6). Assuming the average sentence length for those sentenced under truth in sentencing remains the same as that for new court commitments to State prison in 1996, violent offenders required to serve 85% of their sentence would serve a minimum of 88 months in prison prior to becoming eligible for release. Table 6. Estimated average time to be served under truth-in-sentencing laws New court commitments, 1996 Maximum Minimum Estimated time to be served sentence time to be 85% of 75% of 50% of Most serious offense length served sentence sentence sentence Selected violent offenses 104mo 73mo 88mo 78mo 52mo Murder/nonnegligent manslaughter 253 214 215 190 127 Rape 140 72 119 105 70 Robbery 101 60 86 76 51 Assault 72 45 61 54 36 Note: Includes only offenders with a sentence of more than 1 year. Excludes sentences of life without parole, life plus additional years, life and death. Offenders in prison for murder (excluding offenders sentenced to life) are projected to serve about the same amount of time in prison under an 85% requirement, compared to the current projected minimum prison term for 1996 (215 months). Offenders in prison for rape are estimated to serve a minimum of 119 months in prison if sentenced under an 85% requirement, or 47 months longer than the 1996 projected minimum term of 72 months. Based on the maximum sentence length of offenders entering prison for robbery, a minimum 86-month prison term would be expected under an 85% requirement, compared to the current 60-month projected minimum prison term for 1996. --------------------------------------- Violent offenders would serve about 10 months less under a 75%-requirement than an 85%-requirement -------------------------------------- Assuming sentence length remains constant, violent offenders would be expected to serve on average 78 months in prison under a 75% requirement, or 10 months less than offenders under an 85% truth-in-sentencing requirement. Under a 50% truth-in-sentencing requirement, violent offenders would serve on average a minimum of 52 months in prison prior to becoming eligible for release. ----------------------------------------------------------------- For releases, average time served in prison increased from 22 months in 1990 to 25 months in 1996 ----------------------------------------------------------------- State prisoners released for the first time on their current offense served on average 30 months, or 25 months in prison and 5 months in jail in 1996. Offenders released in 1990 served on average 28 months, or 22 months in prison and 6 months in jail (table 7). Table 7. Mean sentence length and time served for first releases from State prison, 1990 and 1996 Mean maximum Mean time served for first releases Percent of sentence length/a Jail/b Prison Total time served/c sentence served/d Most serious offense 1990 1996 1990 1996 1990 1996 1990 1996 1990 1996 All offenses 69mo 62mo 6mo 5mo 22mo 25mo 28mo 30mo 38.0% 44.4% Violent offenses 99mo 85mo 7mo 6mo 39mo 39mo 46mo 45mo 43.8% 49.6% Murder/e 209 180 9 11 83 84 92 95 43.1 50.9 Negligent manslaughter 88 97 5 6 31 41 37 47 41.0 46.6 Rape 128 116 7 6 55 61 62 66 45.5 52.6 Other sexual assault 77 81 5 5 30 39 36 45 43.8 51.7 Robbery 104 92 7 6 41 40 48 46 42.8 47 Assault 64 61 6 6 23 28 30 33 43.9 51.7 Other violent 80 67 6 6 33 29 38 35 43.5 48.9 Property offenses 65mo 56mo 6mo 5mo 18mo 22mo 24mo 26mo 34.4% 43.0% Burglary 79 68 6 5 22 26 29 31 33.9 42.4 Larceny/theft 52 47 6 4 14 18 20 22 35.5 43.2 Motor vehicle theft 56 45 7 5 13 19 20 24 33.1 49.1 Fraud 56 51 6 4 14 18 20 22 33.2 38.2 Other property 55 48 4 4 18 20 22 24 37.6 46.1 Drug offenses 57mo 57mo 6mo 5mo 14mo 20mo 20mo 24mo 32.9% 39.8% Possession 61 55 6 4 12 17 18 22 29.0 37.6 Trafficking 60 62 6 5 16 22 22 26 34.8 39.3 Other/unspecified 42 45 4 5 12 17 16 23 34.8 46.7 Public-order offenses 40mo 41mo 5mo 4mo 14mo 17mo 18mo 21mo 42.6% 45.9% Other offenses 51mo 50mo 6mo 6mo 16mo 19mo 23mo 25mo 39.2% 45.6% Total 212166 252238 174161 203167 214871 254217 Note: Includes only offenders with a sentence of more than 1 year released for the first time on the current sentence. Excludes prisoners released from prison by escape, death, transfer, appeal or detainer. Data were reported on maximum sentence length for 93.4% of the 227,100 first releases reported to NCRP in 1990 and 97.6% of the 258,480 first releases reported in 1996. Data were reported on time served in jail for 76.7% in 1990 and 78.6% in 1996, and time served in prison for 94.6% in 1990 and 98.4% in 1996. a/Maximum sentence length an offender may be required to serve for the most serious offense. Excludes sentences of life without parole, life plus additional years, life and death. b/Average time spent in jail credited towards the current offense. c/Based on mean time served in jail and mean time served in prison by offense. d/Based on the mean total time served and mean total sentence length by offense. Details may not add to total because of rounding. e/Includes nonnegligent manslaughter. Between 1990 and 1996 total time served by released prisoners increased for every offense, except robbery, which decreased slightly from 48 months in 1990 to 46 months in 1996, and a small category of other violent offenses, which dropped from 38 months in 1990 to 35 months in 1996. Violent prisoners released in 1996 served on average 45 months in prison and jail, or about 50% of the average sentence prior to release, up from 44% in 1990. Offenders released from prison for rape in 1996 served a total of 66 months, up from 62 months for those released in 1990. Offenders released for other sexual assault offenses in 1996 served 45 months or 9 months longer than those released in 1990. Offenders released for assault also served longer in 1996 compared to 1990 (33 months versus 30 months). Offenders released for motor vehicle theft during 1996 served on average 24 months in prison and jail, a 4-month increase from those released in 1990. Drug offenders released in 1996 served nearly 6 months longer in prison than offenders released for a drug offense in 1990 (20 months versus 14 months). Overall, offenders released from prison in 1996 served about 44% of their sentence, up from 38% in 1990. Drug offenders served the smallest percentage of their sentence, about 40% for those released in 1996, up from 33%. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Time served by released Part 1 violent offenders increased in 38 States between 1993 and 1997 ----------------------------------------------------------------- Data on the average time served reported to the VOI/TIS incentive grants program vary from the NCRP data due to differences in the definition of violent crimes. NCRP time served statistics for violent offenders include Part 1 violent crimes and a number of other violent crimes such as kidnapping, simple assault, sexual assault, and reckless endangerment. VOI/TIS data generally include only Part 1 violent crimes (murder/ nonnegligent manslaughter, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault) (table 8). Some States used an alternative definition of violent crime approved through the grant program, based on the NCRP definition. Table 8. Part 1 violent offenders released from State prison, 1993, 1995, and 1997 1993 1995 1997 Mean Percent of Mean Percent of Mean Percent of maximum Mean time sentence maximum Mean time sentence maximum Mean time sentence sentence/a served served/b sentence/a served served/b sentence/a served served/b All States/c 98 43 47 95 46 51 93 49 54% Alabama -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- Alaska 115 65 57 95 61 64 83 55 67% Arizona 69 43 62 66 43 65 70 52 74 Arkansas 131 35 27 137 38 28 150 38 25 California/d 58 33 57 62 35 57 62 36 58 Colorado 98 39 40 99 51 52 97 50 51 Connecticut 71 38 54 71 45 64 77 53 68 Delaware/e -- 41 -- -- 43 -- -- 44 -- Florida/d 67 28 42 71 40 56 84 50 59 Georgia/d 150 63 42 134 64 48 110 68 62 Hawaii 138 64 47 139 66 48 134 61 46 Idaho 104 59 57 119 72 61 104 51 49 Illinois 91 40 44 90 40 45 106 46 44 Indiana 108 54 50 109 57 52 115 55 48 Iowa/e,f 192 39 20 155 40 26 130 49 38 Kansas/e,f -- 29 -- -- 31 -- -- 41 -- Kentucky/f 242 77 32 210 80 38 180 87 49 Louisiana/d,e 104 67 64 113 65 58 117 59 51 Maine/d -- 43 -- -- 35 -- -- 49 -- Maryland/d 118 63 53 110 61 55 108 60 56 Massachusetts/d 123 51 42 119 59 50 99 58 58 Michigan -- 46 -- -- 50 -- -- 54 -- Minnesota 50 34 68 54 36 66 50 35 69 Mississippi/d,e 105 45 43 117 54 46 122 57 46 Missouri 92 72 78 87 68 78 82 71 86 Montana/e 163 54 33 117 43 37 105 49 47 Nebraska/e 118 55 47 109 52 48 134 60 45 Nevada -- -- -- -- -- -- 83 37 45 New Hampshire/e 98 36 37 98 37 38 95 42 44 New Jersey 121 47 39 123 50 41 102 46 45 New Mexico/e 70 37 54 62 38 61 67 38 57 New York/d 94 50 53 94 52 55 96 57 60 North Carolina 136 33 24 127 39 31 117 47 40 North Dakota 47 31 66 34 26 77 74 47 64 Ohio 237 61 26 230 68 29 192 63 33 Oklahoma 104 34 33 106 38 36 98 42 43 Oregon 111 43 39 64 38 60 60 38 63 Pennsylvania 117 54 46 115 59 51 108 64 59 Rhode Island 80 44 55 72 45 63 70 46 66 South Carolina 100 44 44 102 46 45 91 46 51 South Dakota 101 36 35 78 37 47 88 41 47 Tennessee 130 48 37 121 54 45 127 56 44 Texas/d 150 52 35 142 61 43 114 59 52 Utah/e 121 43 36 111 51 46 109 46 43 Vermont/e 93 32 34 107 44 41 94 82 87 Virginia 107 41 38 91 44 49 105 55 52 Washington 41 31 76 47 33 70 49 36 74 West Virginia/e 171 76 44 175 80 46 160 65 41 Wisconsin 83 41 49 84 41 49 87 48 55 Wyoming/d,e 140 69 49 76 43 56 124 54 44 Note: Data were obtained from the Violent Offender Incarceration and Truth-in-Sentencing Incentive Grants Program. Includes only offenders with a sentence of more than 1 year released for the first time on the current sentence. Excludes persons released from prison by escape, death, transfer, appeal or detainer. Part I violent crimes include murder/nonnegligent manslaughter, rape, robbery and aggravated assault. --Not reported. a/Excludes sentences of life or death. b/Based on States which reported both mean maximum sentence and mean time served. c/Mean sentence length, mean time served, and percent of sentence served are weighted averages. d/Used broader definition of violent crime approved for the grant program. e/Jail time not included in time served data. f/Time served includes released offenders sentenced to life or death. Through the VOI/TIS program, 38 States reported an increase in the average time served by released Part 1 prisoners between 1993 and 1997. Vermont reported the largest increase in time served (up 50 months) between 1993 and 1997, followed by Florida (22 months) and North Dakota (16 months). Overall, time served for released Part 1 violent offenders increased from 43 months in 1993 to 46 months in 1995 and 49 months by 1997. The average time served for Part 1 violent offenders released in 1997 ranged from 35 months in Minnesota to 87 months in Kentucky. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Part I violent offenders released in 1997 served between 25% and 87% of their sentence ----------------------------------------------------------------- Among prisoners released in 1997, the average sentence for a Part 1 violent crime was about 93 months and the average time served in prison and jail was 49 months, or 54% of the average total maximum sentence. Overall, the average percent of sentence served increased from 47% in 1993 to 51% in 1995, and by 1997 released Part 1 violent offenders had served 54% of the average sentence. The percent of sentence served by released violent offenders varied widely among reporting States, ranging from 25% in Arkansas to 87% in Vermont for 1997. Variations in the percent of sentence served are due to State differences in both time served and the maximum sentence length of released offenders. The average sentence length of released violent prisoners ranged from 49 months in Washington to nearly four times that in Ohio (192 months). Part of the variation in sentence length and percent of sentence served is due to differences between determinate and indeterminate sentencing. Offenders in indeterminate sentencing States may be sentenced to a relatively long maximum prison term and a short minimum term, compared to the fixed sentence of a determinate sentencing State. Variations by State in the percent of sentence served may also reflect other State-specific sentencing practices, a differing mix of the type of violent offenders being released, and changing release policies. --------------------------------------------------------------- Black offenders released in 1996 served 2 months longer than white offenders Black offenders released in 1996 served about 41 months in prison for a violent offense, compared to 38 months for white offenders. For murder white offenders served 90 months, compared to 86 months for black offenders and 76 months for Hispanics. Black offenders sentenced to prison for rape served about 14 months longer than whites (70 months versus 56 months). Females released in 1996 served an average of 8 months less than males. Females served 9 months less than males for a violent offense, about 8 months less for a property offense, and 4 months less for a drug offense. Mean time served in prison by first releases from State prison, by sex and race, 1996 First releases from State prison Male Female White* Black* Hispanic All offenses 26mo 18mo 24mo 26mo 23mo Violent offenses 39mo 30mo 38mo 41mo 33mo Murder/nonnegligent manslaughter 86 67 90 86 76 Rape 61 48 56 70 51 Robbery 41 28 42 42 30 Assault 28 23 25 30 27 Property offenses 23mo 15mo 21mo 23mo 22mo Burglary 27 18 25 29 26 Larceny/theft 19 15 18 19 19 Motor vehicle theft 19 14 19 21 17 Drug offenses 20mo 16mo 18mo 20mo 20mo Possession 18 15 15 18 21 Trafficking 22 18 20 22 21 Public-order offenses 17mo 15mo 16mo 18mo 15mo Note: Data were obtained from the National Corrections Reporting Program. Includes only offenders with a sentence of more than 1 year released for the first time on the current sentence. Excludes persons released from prison by escape, death, transfer, appeal, or detainer. *Excludes inmates of Hispanic origin. ----------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------- Prisoners released in 4 States served over 70% of the sentence ----------------------------------------------------------------- Part 1 violent offenders released in Vermont, Missouri, Washington, and Arizona during 1997 served on average over 70% of the average sentence. Time served in these four States ranged from an average of 36 months for offenders released in Washington to 82 months for prisoners released in Vermont. Part 1 violent offenders released from Kentucky served the longest amount of time in prison and jail (87 months), which represented 49% of the average maximum sentence. ---------------------------------- Top 10 States, by percent of sentence served, 1997 Time Percent of served sentence Vermont 82 mo 87% Missouri 71 86 Washington 36 74 Arizona 52 74 Minnesota 35 69 Connecticut 53 68 Alaska 55 67 Rhode Island 46 66 North Dakota 47 64 Oregon 38 63 ---------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------- Nearly 18% of released offenders served their entire prison sentence ----------------------------------------------------------------- About 81% of prisoners released in 1997 were conditionally released to community supervision (table 9). The remaining 19% were released into the community without further correctional supervision, up from 14% in 1990. Table 9. Type of release from State prison, 1990, 1993-1997 1990 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997* Conditional releases 86.0% 86.0% 85.9% 84.1% 81.4% 81.4% Parole 40.5 39.9 36.1 33.4 31.5 29.3 Mandatory 29.6 32.5 36.8 40.2 39.4 41.2 Other 15.9 13.7 13.0 10.5 10.5 10.9 Unconditional 14.0% 14.0% 14.1% 15.9% 18.6% 18.6% Expiration of sentence 13.0 12.2 12.9 15.0 17.4 17.5 Other 1.0 1.8 1.2 0.9 1.2 1.1 Note: Data were obtained from the National Prisoners Statistics data collection. *Preliminary. Consistent with recent trends in requiring longer portions of the sentence to be served, more released prisoners in 1997 served their entire prison term (18%), compared to 1990 (13%). Also, more offenders were released to mandatory parole (release supervision mandated by law rather than granted by a parole board) during 1997, compared to 1990 (41% versus 30%). ----------------------------------------------------------------- Time served increased for parole board releases between 1990 and 1996 ----------------------------------------------------------------- Parole boards have followed the trend toward increasing the amount of time offenders serve in prison. The average time served among offenders released by a parole board increased from 23 months in 1990 to 24 months in 1994 and 25 months in 1996 (table 10). The time served for those released under nondiscretionary mandatory parole also increased from 20 months in 1990 to 23 months in 1995 and 24 months in 1996. Table 10. Time served in prison for first releases from State prison, by release type, 1990-96 Release type Expiration Parole Mandatory of Year board parole sentence 1990 23 20 27 1991 23 20 27 1992 23 19 22 1993 23 19 23 1994 24 20 26 1995 24 23 25 1996 25 24 26 Note: Includes only offenders with a sentence of more than 1 year released for the first time on the current sentence. Excludes persons released from prison by escape, death, transfer, appeal or detainer. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Violent offenders released by parole boards served 4 months longer than other conditional releases ----------------------------------------------------------------- During 1996, violent offenders released by the discretion of a parole board served 42 months while other conditional releases (mandatory parole and other non-discretionary conditional releases) served 38 months in prison (table 11). Offenders released by a parole board who were in prison for murder/nonnegligent manslaughter served 21 months longer than other conditional releases (96 months versus 75 months). Offenders serving time for assault who were released by a parole board served 30 months, or 5 months longer than other conditional releases (25 months). Table 11. Sentence length, time served, and percent of sentence served, for first releases, by offense and release type, 1996 Time served in prison Percent of sentence served in prison Parole Other Parole Other Parole Other Most serious offense board conditional* board conditional* board conditional* All offenses 79mo 47mo 25mo 25mo 29.1% 47.0% Violent offenses 113mo 65mo 42mo 38mo 34.0% 53.2% Murder/nonnegligent manslaughter 229 138 96 75 35.6 52.3 Rape 157 94 65 64 37.6 57.2 Other sexual assault 117 75 44 41 35.5 50.0 Robbery 118 63 42 40 32.4 56.9 Assault 81 45 30 25 35.1 51.5 Property offenses 73mo 43mo 23mo 22mo 28.0% 45.7% Burglary 88 50 27 28 28.3 49.3 Larceny/theft 59 39 18 19 27.9 43.3 Motor vehicle theft 61 36 19 18 28.7 41.8 Drug offenses 74mo 40mo 21mo 19mo 25.6% 41.8% Possession 66 42 18 18 24.5 39.6 Trafficking 80 42 22 21 25.3 44.4 Public-order offenses 47mo 36mo 16mo 17mo 29.9% 42.8% Other offenses 60mo 33mo 20mo 14mo 31.2% 36.5% Note: Data were obtained from the National Corrections Reporting Program. Includes only offenders with a sentence of more than 1 year released for the first time on the current sentence. Excludes persons released from prison by escape, death, transfer, appeal or detainer. *Includes mandatory parole releases and other nondiscretionary conditional releases for selected States. Property offenders served about 22 months under both types of release. Drug offenders released by a parole board served 21 months and other conditional releases served about 19 months in prison. Persons in prison for a public-order offense served about the same amount of time whether released by a parole board (16 months) or other conditional releases (17 months). ---------------------------------------------- Parole board releases served 29% of the sentence, and other conditional releases, 47% ---------------------------------------------- Offenders released by a parole board during 1996 served a smaller percent of their sentence than other conditional releases (29% versus 47%). Offenders in prison for a violent offense who were released by a parole board served 34% of their sentence, and other conditional releases served just over half (53%) of their sentence. The difference between the two release types in percent of sentence served was the result of longer sentences for offenders who were eligible for discretionary parole board release. Offenders released in 1996 by a parole board had an average sentence of 79 months, 32 months longer than other conditional releases (47 months). ----------------------------------------------------------------- Prisoners are serving more time than release data indicate ----------------------------------------------------------------- The average time-served data reported for released prisoners understate the actual time that will be served by persons entering prison. The numbers reflect the time served by prisoners actually released without accounting for those who will never be released. In addition, prisoners with extremely long sentences will not show up in the release statistics for many years. Current time-served data are based on released offenders who were generally sentenced under past or "old law" sentencing policies. Offenders sentenced under recently implemented truth in sentencing or "new laws" requiring large portions of the sentence to be served do not show up in current release statistics. ----------------------------------------------------------------- State prison population growth is linked to increasing time served ----------------------------------------------------------------- The State prison population dramatically increased between 1990 and 1997 (figure 1). Since 1990 the State prison custody population has increased by 57%, reaching a high of 1,075,052 inmates in 1997, up from 684,544 in 1990. The growth has not been entirely the result of more offenders entering State prison. The number of offenders admitted each year has remained fairly constant in recent years. Admissions to State prisons have increased by about 17% since 1990, up from 460,739 to 540,748 in 1997. An increasing amount of time served by offenders is contributing to the growth in State prison populations. (See Blumstein and Beck, 1999.) ----------------------------------------------------------------- The sentences of released offenders decreased between 1990 and 1996 ----------------------------------------------------------------- Another indicator of increasing time served is a shorter average sentence length of those actually released from prison. As a result of changes in sentencing and release policies, the more serious offenders with long sentences are being held in prison, and less serious offenders with shorter sentences make up an increasing fraction of the released prisoners. Overall, the average sentence length of offenders released from prison in 1996 was 62 months, down from 65 months in 1990 (table 12). The average sentence length of violent offenders released in 1996 was 10 months shorter than those released in 1990 (84 months versus 94 months). Property offenders released in 1996 had a 5 month shorter average sentence length. Offenders with long sentences for violent and property offenses may be serving longer periods of time in prison. Table 12. Mean sentence length of first releases from State prison, 1990-96 Mean maximum sentence length All Public- Year offenders Violent Property Drug order 1990 65mo 94mo 61mo 54mo 37mo 1991 66 92 63 59 38 1992 60 89 53 53 35 1993 66 90 61 61 39 1994 64 85 60 60 42 1995 61 84 56 57 39 1996 62 84 56 57 40 Note: Includes only offenders with a sentence of more than 1 year released for the first time on the current sentence. Excludes persons released from prison by escape, death, transfer, appeal, or detainer. ----------------------------------------------------------------- The release rate for rape offenders dropped from 24 per 100 to 15 per 100 State prison inmates ----------------------------------------------------------------- While the actual number of prisoners released each year continues to increase, the rate of release (or the number of releases relative to the number of inmates in prison) dropped. In 1996 an estimated 467,200 offenders were released from prison up from 405,400 in 1990 (table 13). However, the release rate dropped from 37 per 100 State prisoners in 1990 to 31 per 100 in 1996. Table 13. Rate of release from State prison, by offense, 1990 and 1996 Number of releases Release rate* Most serious offense 1990 1996 1990 1996 Total 405400 467200 37.0 30.9 Violent offenses 103000 115300 24.8 19.0 Murder/nonnegligent manslaughter 7700 6100 9.7 5.2 Negligent manslaughter 4100 4200 22.2 20.1 Rape 7700 7000 23.8 15.4 Other sexual assault 9700 13500 20.4 17.4 Robbery 46600 44800 31.8 23.9 Assault 23900 33100 31.6 25.4 Other violent 4100 6100 24.4 21.9 Property offenses 158900 154000 46.8 38.5 Burglary 75800 65800 45.8 36.2 Larceny/theft 42200 41100 53.2 43.9 Motor vehicle theft 11400 14000 44.2 38.9 Fraud 17800 18200 46.1 39.3 Other property 11800 14900 38.6 35.0 Drug offenses 105800 148900 41.6 38.8 Public-order offenses 30000 44800 40.6 38.8 Other offenses 7700 4200 71.8 54.9 Note: Releases exclude escapees, AWOL's, and transfers, and include prisoners with a sentence of more than 1 year. *Number of releases per 100 State prisoners. The prisoner count includes inmates at the beginning of each year plus those admitted during the year. The overall decline in the release rate was also due to a declining rate of release for violent and property offenders. The violent offender release rate dropped from 25 per 100 State prisoners in 1990 to 19 per 100 in 1996. The release rate for murder showed the most dramatic decline, cut nearly in half from about 10 per 100 in 1990 to 5 per 100 in 1996. Robbery and assault decreased from a release rate of 32 per 100 in 1990 to about 25 per 100 in 1996. The release rate for property offenders decreased from 47 per 100 State prisoners in 1990 to 39 per 100 in 1996. The rate for drug and public-order offenses decreased slightly from about 41 per 100 prisoners in 1990 to 39 per 100 in 1996. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Few offenders admitted under truth-in-sentencing laws are being released from prison ----------------------------------------------------------------- Through the VOI/TIS program, 15 Federally funded truth-in-sentencing States and 3 non-Federally funded States reported 1997 admission and release data on offenders sentenced under truth in sentencing (table 14). Three States reported that none of the offenders admitted under a truth-in-sentencing law was released from prison during 1997 (Illinois, Iowa, and Missouri). Four States reported fewer than ten offenders were released (Connecticut, North Dakota, South Carolina, and Tennessee). Table 14. Part I violent offenders admitted and released from State prison under truth in sentencing, for selected States, 1997 New court commitments First releases Maximum Average time Maximum Time Percent of Number sentence/a to be served Number sentence served Sentence served Determinate Arizona 1359 74mo 64mo 360 30mo 27mo 90% Connecticut 561 128 / 2 29 25 88 Delaware/b 264 82 / 68 35 31 88 Florida/c,d 3720 72 61 465 19 15 80 Illinois/e,f 936 208 192 0 - -- -- Minnesota/g 748 46 46 433 22 22 100 New York/d,h 1107 100 86 0 - -- -- Ohio 2660 54 / 165 9 9 100 Virginia 932 140 126 110 25 22 88 Indeterminate California/d 5277 123mo 105mo / / / / Iowa 66 233 198 0 -- -- -- Massachusetts/d,e 753 80 59 186 36 26 71 Missouri 464 201 171 0 -- -- -- Nevada/e 483 173 / 48 43 18 42 New York/d,h 1805 64 54 98 24 19 80 North Dakota 29 92 / 4 21 19 88 South Carolina 515 183 160 2 18 15 83 Tennessee/i 346 207 184 9 10 6 59 Note: Data were obtained from the Violent Offender Incarceration and Truth-in-Sentencing Incentive Grants Program. /Not reported. --Not applicable. a/Excludes prisoners sentenced to life or death. b/Jail time not included in time served data. c/Releases serving less than 85% are the result of a judicial action impacting sentencing structure. d/Used a broader definition of violent crime. e/Not a Federally funded truth-in-sentencing State. f/Includes only select violent crimes (primarily murder). g/Average executed sentence (which includes the maximum supervised release term) was 68 months for admissions and 33 months for releases. h/Under New York's 1995 truth-in-sentencing law first felony offenders are given an indeterminate sentence, second felony offenders a determinate sentence. For indeterminate cases the statutory presumptive release date is reported rather than the maximum sentence. i/All 9 releases were either judicially released or sentenced under a split confinement and released on probation. Among the reporting States, prisoners admitted under truth-in-sentencing and released from prison during 1997 had both short sentences and prison terms. The average sentence of released offenders ranged from 9 months in Ohio where offenders served 9 months in prison to 43 months in Nevada where offenders served 18 months. Since the small number of truth-in-sentencing prisoners who were released during 1997 had short sentences, the average time served by these offenders is not comparable to national time served data. Due to the estimated time to be served by offenders admitted under truth-in-sentencing, these offenders are not expected to be released from prison for many years. ------------------------------------------ Six States projected an average 10-year prison term under truth in sentencing ------------------------------------------ Both the sentence length and projected average time to be served by Part 1 violent offenders admitted to prison during 1997 under a truth-in-sentencing law vary greatly by State. Of the 17 States able to report data, the average maximum sentence length ranged from 46 months in Minnesota to 233 months in Iowa. Generally, the average maximum sentence of indeterminate sentencing States was longer than that of determinate sentencing States. For the 12 States reporting data, the average projected time to be served for Part 1 violent offenders admitted under a truth-in-sentencing law during 1997 ranged from 46 months in Minnesota to 198 months in Iowa. Six of the 12 States projected that offenders admitted under a truth-in-sentencing law would serve on average over 10 years in prison prior to becoming eligible for release. ----------------------------------------------------------------- 7 States reported an average percent of sentence served above 85% ----------------------------------------------------------------- Violent offenders sentenced and released under truth-in-sentencing requirements are serving a large portion of their sentence. For Part 1 violent offenders sentenced under a truth-in-sentencing law and released during 1997, seven States reported an average percent of sentence served above 85% (Arizona, Connecticut, Delaware, Minnesota, Ohio, North Dakota, and Virginia). An additional 3 States reported an average percent of sentence served between 70% and 80% (Florida, Massachusetts, and South Carolina). As the number of offenders sentenced under truth in sentencing continues to grow, the national average percent of sentence served by violent offenders should also continue to increase. Because truth-in-sentencing laws are relatively recent, however, the majority of offenders sentenced under them will not be released from prison for many years. Statistics based on current release data may underestimate changes in time served due to truth in sentencing. ----------------- Methodology ----------------- The National Corrections Reporting Program (NCRP) collects individual level data for persons admitted to and released from State prisons and offenders exiting parole supervision, by calendar year. The data cover prisoners admitted to or released from custody regardless of the jurisdiction where the prisoner was sentenced. While NCRP collects data on all offenders, this report includes data on prisoners with a total sentence of more than a year. The NCRP datasets are available from the National Archive of Criminal Justice Data at the University of Michigan and can be downloaded via the Internet. A code book, explanatory notes, and sample SPSS and SAS statistical setup files are included with each dataset. The datasets for 1983 through 1995 are also available on a series of eight CD ROMs. Caution should be used for year-to-year comparisons of NCRP data to account for differences based on State participation and valid data reported. Variations in the ability of a State to report certain variables (such as sentence length and minimum time to be served) and in definitions used by participating jurisdictions are reported in the explanatory notes. NCRP participating States The number of jurisdictions reporting data varies from year to year. In 1996 admissions and releases were reported by the following 37 States and the California Youth Authority: Alabama, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, and Wisconsin. Except Florida and Maine, these States and Massachusetts also reported in 1990. Estimating the admission and release rates by offense The admission and release rates for sentenced prisoners under State jurisdiction by offense were estimated using the yearend custody population derived through the forward and backward estimation procedure outlined in BJS report Prisoners in 1996 (NCJ 164619). Data from the BJS State and Federal inmate surveys, conducted in March 1986 and August 1991, were used to estimate a custody population by type of offense for each year from 1986 through 1996. To obtain the base year jurisdiction population, the proportion of the estimated 1989 and 1995 custody numbers by type of offense was applied to the sentenced jurisdiction population from the National Prisoners Statistics (NPS) collection. For the 1990 and 1996 admissions and releases, the offense distribution (in percentages) from NCRP were multiplied by the total number of admissions and releases of sentenced prisoners reported in NPS. The final estimates of the number of inmates by offense for 1990 and 1996 were calculated by adding admissions and subtracting releases from the 1989 and 1995 yearend jurisdiction estimates. The admission rate was calculated by dividing all admissions during the year by the yearend population of the preceding year. The rate of release was calculated by dividing the number of inmates released during the year by the number in prison at the beginning of the year plus the number admitted during the year. Truth-in-sentencing reform BJS contacted each State for verification of all truth-in-sentencing State-level references in this report. Truth-in-sentencing laws vary from State to State on effective date, offenses covered by the law, and percent of sentence required to be served prior to release, among other requirements. The Violent Offender Incarceration and Truth in Sentencing Incentive grants program provided State-validated sentence length and time served data. All 50 States reported data on admissions and releases with a common definition of Part 1 violent offenses. Weighted averages were used to calculate the average sentence, time served, and percent of sentence served from State-level VOI/TIS data. A weighted average for time served is calculated by multiplying the mean time served for each State by the number of releases in the State. The results were summed and divided by the total number of releases. ------------------------ Definition of terms ------------------------ New court commitments -- persons entering prison directly from a sentence by a court and not from an unsuccessful period of community supervision (parole). Includes new court admissions, probation revocations, and admissions after the imposition of a suspended sentence. Violent offenses -- Crimes involving personal injury, threat of injury and theft of property or attempted theft by force or threat of force. Includes murder, manslaughter, rape, other sexual assault, robbery, assault, extortion, intimidation, criminal endangerment, child abuse, and other offenses involving confrontation, force, or threat of force. Maximum sentence length -- the sentence for the most serious offense, as determined by the offense with the longest sentence. Whenever a sentence had both a minimum and a maximum term, the maximum was used to define the sentence length. Total sentence length -- the longest time that an offender could be required to serve for all offenses. Minimum time to be served -- the jurisdiction's estimate of the shortest time that each admitted prisoner must serve before becoming eligible for release. Factors used in this estimate include minimum sentence length, good-time credits, earned-time credits, parole eligibility requirements, and early release requirements and allowances. Life sentence -- any prison sentence with a fixed or maximum term of life in prison, regardless of the possibility of parole. First release from prison -- anyone released for the first time on the current sentence. Excluded from first releases from prison are persons who had previously been conditionally released from prison for the same offense and then were returned to prison for violating the conditions of that release. Subsequent release from prison -- persons released from prison after having been admitted to prison for a violation of parole or other conditional release. Conditional release -- anyone released from prison into community supervision with a set of conditions for remaining on parole, which, if violated, can cause the person to be returned to prison. This subsequent incarceration can be for any of the remaining portion of the sentence the inmate may have on the current offense. Unconditional release -- anyone released from any further correctional supervision who cannot be returned to prison for any remaining portion of the sentence for the current offense. Total time served -- calculated by adding the average time spent in prison and the average time spent in jail. --------------- References --------------- Association of Paroling Authorities, International. 1997 Parole Board Survey. St. Louis, Missouri: APAI Publications, May 1998. Blumstein, Alfred and Allen J. Beck. "Factors Contributing to the Growth in U.S. Prison Populations," in Crime and Justice: A Review of Research on Corrections, Michael Tonry and Joan Petersilia, eds. Chicago, Illinois: University of Chicago Press, forthcoming (1999). Beck, Allen J. and Lawrence Greenfeld. Violent Offenders in State Prison: Sentences and Time Served. BJS Selected Findings, NCJ 154632, July 1995. Bureau of Justice Assistance. 1996 National Survey of State Sentencing Structures. Washington, D.C.: NCJ 169270, September 1998. The National Assessment of Structured Sentencing. Washington, D.C.: NCJ 153853, February 1996. Corrections Program Office, Office of Justice Programs. Violent Offenders and Truth-In-Sentencing Incentive Grants: Program Guidance and Application Kit. FY98. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Justice, 1998. Gilliard, Darrell and Allen J. Beck. "Prisoners in 1997," BJS Bulletin, NCJ 170014, August 1998. General Accounting Office. Truth in Sentencing: Availability of Federal Grants Influenced Laws in Some States. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Congress, GAO/GGD-98-42, February 1998. National Center for State Courts. Sentencing Digest, Examining Current Sentencing Issues and Policies. Williamsburg, Virginia: NCSC Publications, Number R-204, 1998. National Institute of Corrections. State Legislative Actions on Truth in Sentencing. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Justice, NCJ 157895, May 1995. Tonry, Michael, ed. Crime and Justice, A Review of Research. Chicago, Illinois: University of Chicago Press, 1992. Wicharay, Tamasak. Simple Theory, Hard Reality: The Impact of Sentencing Reforms on Courts, Prisons, and Crime. New York: State University of New York Press, 1995. The Bureau of Justice Statistics is the statistical agency of the U.S. Department of Justice. Jan M. Chaiken, Ph.D., is director. BJS Special Reports address a specific topic in depth from one or more datasets that cover many topics. Doris James Wilson and Paula M. Ditton wrote this report under the supervision of Allen J. Beck, Ph.D. Tom Bonczar provided statistical review. Tom Hester edited the report, assisted by Tina Dorsey. Marilyn Marbrook, assisted by Yvonne Boston and Jayne Robinson, prepared the report for publication. Tammy Anderson, Elizabeth K. Griffin, Marc Roemer, and Laarni Verdolin, Demographic Surveys Division, U.S. Bureau of the Census, carried out data collection and processing under the supervision of Kathleen P. Creighton and Gertrude B. Odom. Ruth Breads and Dave Pysh under the supervision of Stephen T. Phillips provided programming assistance for data processing. These affiliations date to the time of the data collection. January 1999, NCJ 170032 This report in portable document format and in ASCII, its tables, and related statistical data are available at the BJS World Wide Web site: http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/ The data from the National Corrections Reporting Program, 1996 can be obtained from the National Archive of Criminal Justice Data at the University of Michigan, 1-800-999-0960. The archive can also be accessed through the BJS web site. When at the archive site, search for data set ICPSR 2017. RCK 1/8/99