Adult correctional facilities

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

ADVANCE FOR RELEASE AT 5 P.M. EST           BJS
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 1995          202/307-0784

 23 PERCENT OF THOSE ARRESTED FOR WEAPONS OFFENSES
           ARE YOUNGER THAN 18 YEARS OLD

     WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Almost a quarter of those
arrested for weapons offenses are minors, the
Department of Justice said today.  In a study of
people arrested for weapons offenses during 1993,
23 percent were...

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE    

ADVANCE FOR RELEASE AT 5 P.M. EDT         BJS
SUNDAY, JUNE 30, 1996            202/307-0703

PROBATION AND PAROLE POPULATION REACHES 
ALMOST 3.8 MILLION

     WASHINGTON, D.C. -- There were almost 3.8
million adult men and women on probation or parole
at the end of 1995, an increase of about 119,000
during the year, the Department of Justice
announced today.  The 3.2 percent increase was...

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

ADVANCE FOR RELEASE AT 5 P.M. EDT           BJS
SUNDAY, AUGUST 18, 1996            202/633-3047


         Almost 1.6 milllion men and women
        in the Nation's Prisons and Jails

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- There were almost 1.6 million
men and women in the nation's jails and prisons
last year, an increase of 66,843 in state prisons
and 5,216 in federal prisons from 1994, the
Department of...

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

ADVANCE FOR RELEASE AT 4:30 P.M. EST          BJS
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 1997             202/633-3047

     SIXTY PERCENT OF CONVICTED SEX OFFENDERS
            ARE ON PAROLE OR PROBATION

        Rapes and Sexual Assaults Decline

     WASHINGTON, D.C. -- According to a report
released today by the Justice Department's Bureau
of Justice Statistics (BJS), on any given day in
1994 almost 60 percent of the 234,000 convicted
sex...

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

ADVANCE FOR RELEASE AT 4:30 P.M. EST          BJS
SUNDAY, JANUARY 19, 1997             202/633-3047

    NATION'S JAIL AND PRISON INCARCERATION RATE
         ALMOST DOUBLED DURING LAST DECADE

     WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The incarceration rate in
the nation's federal and state prisons and local
jails almost doubled during the last decade, the
Justice Department's Bureau of Justice Statistics
(BJS) announced today.  However, this growth
recently slowed...

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

ADVANCE FOR RELEASE AT 4:30 P.M. EDT           BJS
THURSDAY, AUGUST 7, 1997              202/633-3047
       
       PRISON CONSTRUCTION KEEPING PACE 
           WITH POPULATION GROWTH


     WASHINGTON, D.C. -- State and federal officials
built 213 new prisons--168 state and 45 federal
facilities--with more than 280,000 beds between 1990
and 1995 to keep pace with the growing prison
population, the Justice Department announced today. 
As of mid-year 1995...

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

ADVANCE FOR RELEASE AT 4:30 P.M. EST         BJS
SUNDAY, JANUARY 18, 1998            202/307-0784
         
NATION'S PRISONS AND JAILS HOLD MORE THAN 1.7
MILLION     Up Almost 100,000 in a Year

     WASHINGTON, D.C. -- As of last June 30 the
nation's prisons and jails held 1,725,842 men
and women, an increase of more than 96,100
inmates over the prior year, the Justice
Department's Bureau...

Truth in Sentencing in State Prisons

U.S.DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

ADVANCE FOR RELEASE AT 4:30 P.M. EST         BJS 
SUNDAY, JANUARY 10, 1999            202/307-0784
         
STATE SENTENCING LAW CHANGES LINKED TO
INCREASING TIME SERVED IN STATE PRISONS  

     WASHINGTON, D.C.--As the states continue to
enact restrictions on the possibility of
early release, prisoners, especially violent
offenders, are spending more time behind bars, the
Justice Department's Bureau of Justice Statistics...

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

ADVANCE FOR RELEASE AT 4:30 P.M. EDT               BJS
SUNDAY, AUGUST 2, 1998                    202/307-0784
      

       NATION'S PRISON POPULATION INCREASED
         BY MORE THAN 5 PERCENT DURING 1997

     WASHINGTON, D.C.--The nation's adult prison population
grew by 5.2 percent last year--somewhat less than the
average annual growth rate of 7 percent recorded since 1990,
the Department's Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS)
announced today. The additional 61,186...

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

ADVANCE FOR RELEASE AT 4:30 P.M. EDT           BJS
SUNDAY, AUGUST 16, 1998               202/307-0784

NATION'S PROBATION AND PAROLE POPULATION
REACHED NEW HIGH LAST YEAR

     WASHINGTON,  D.C. -- More than 3.9 million
adult men and women--a new record--were
on probation or parole at the end of 1997, the
Justice Department's Bureau of  Justice Statistics
(BJS) announced today.  The 2.9 percent increase
of about...

Prior Abuse Reported by Inmates and Probationers

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

ADVANCE FOR RELEASE AT 4:30 P.M. EDT          BJS
SUNDAY, APRIL 11, 1999               202/307-0784
         
PRISON AND JAIL INMATES REPORT HIGH RATES
OF PHYSICAL AND SEXUAL ABUSE BEFORE THEIR
CONFINEMENT

     WASHINGTON, D.C.--Almost half of the women in
the nation's jails and prisons told interviewers
they had been physically or sexually abused before
their imprisonment, the Justice...

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

ADVANCE FOR RELEASE AT 4:30 P.M. EDT          BJS
SUNDAY, JUNE 13, 1999                202/307-0784

         MORE THAN 500,000 DRUNK DRIVERS 
       ON PROBATION OR INCARCERATED IN 1997

     WASHINGTON, D.C.   An estimated 513,200
people were under correctional supervision as a
consequence of driving while intoxicated by
alcohol (DWI) in 1997 up from 270,100 in 1986, the
Justice Department's Bureau of Justice Statistics
(BJS) announced today...

ADVANCE FOR RELEASE AT 4:30 P.M. EDT              BJS
SUNDAY, JULY 11, 1999                     202/307-0784 
                
         
MORE THAN A QUARTER MILLION PRISON AND JAIL INMATES
ARE IDENTIFIED AS MENTALLY ILL

   WASHINGTON, D.C.   An estimated 283,800 mentally
ill offenders were held in the nation's state and
federal prisons and local jails at midyear 1998,
according to a special report released today by the
Justice Department's Bureau of Justice Statistics...

Prison and Jail Inmates at Midyear 1998

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

ADVANCE FOR RELEASE AT 4:30 P.M. EST            BJS
SUNDAY, MARCH 14, 1999                 202/307-0784   

INCARCERATION RATE MORE THAN DOUBLES IN DOZEN YEARS

     WASHINGTON, D.C.--At midyear 1998, one in
every 150 U.S. residents was incarcerated, with an
estimated 1,802,496 men and women held in the
country's prisons and jails, the Justice
Department's Bureau of Justice Statistics...

ADVANCE FOR RELEASE AT 4:30 P.M. EDT           BJS
SUNDAY, AUGUST 15, 1999               202/307-0784 


THE NATION'S PRISON POPULATION GREW BY 60,000
INMATES LAST YEAR THE LARGEST INCREASE SINCE 1995  

     WASHINGTON, D.C.   The nation's state and
federal prison population grew by almost 60,000
inmates during 1998 the states and the District of
Columbia added 49,798 prisoners and the federal
system added 10,068, the Justice Department's
Bureau of...

ADVANCE FOR RELEASE AT 4:30 P.M. EST                       BJS
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 1999                      202/307-0784 
revised 11/19/99
                
RATES OF HIV INFECTION AND AIDS-RELATED
DEATHS DROP AMONG THE NATION'S PRISONERS

     WASHINGTON, D.C.   The rate of human
immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection among state and federal
prisoners dropped from 2.2 percent in 1996 to 2.1 percent in 1997,
according to a new bulletin released today by the Justice
Department's Bureau...

ADVANCE FOR RELEASE AT 4:30 P.M. EST                BJS
TUESDAY, JANUARY 18, 2000                  202/307-0784 
                
MALE MILITARY VETERANS ARE INCARCERATED
AT LESS THAN HALF THE RATE OF NON-VETERANS

     WASHINGTON, D.C.   Male military veterans are
incarcerated in the nation's prisons and jails at less
than half the rate of non-veterans, the Justice
Department's Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) announced
today.  In a new study BJS found that there...

ADVANCE FOR RELEASE AT 4:30 P.M. EDT                  BJS                 
WEDNESDAY,  APRIL 19, 2000                   202/307-0784                            

NATION'S PRISON AND JAIL POPULATION REACHES 1,860,520
       COULD REACH TWO MILLION BY LATE 2001

     WASHINGTON, D.C.   The nation's prisons and jails held
1,860,520 inmates at midyear 1999, the Justice Department's
Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) announced today.  That
was an increase of  58,333 from a year earlier, or 1,122
more inmates each...

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

EMBARGOED UNTIL 4:30 P.M. EDT                                   BJS
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 30,  2000                       202/307-0784    
             
         
ALMOST 1.5 MILLION MINOR CHILDREN
HAVE A MOTHER OR FATHER IN PRISON

     WASHINGTON, D.C.   Of the nation's 72 million minor
children (17 years old and younger), an estimated 2 percent had an
imprisoned parent in 1999, the Justice Department's Bureau of
Justice Statistics (BJS) announced today.  Last year, an estimated...

EMBARGOED UNTIL 4:30 P.M. EDT                                          BJS
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 9,  2000                                    202/307-0784  
               
THE NATION'S PRISON POPULATION GROWTH RATE SLOWS

     WASHINGTON, D.C.   During 1999, the nation's prison population
rose at the lowest rate since 1979 and recorded the smallest absolute
increase since 1988, according to a bulletin released today by the
Justice Department's Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS). The prison
population growth slowed to 3.4 percent last...

ADVANCE FOR RELEASE AT 4:30 P.M. EST
SUNDAY, March 25, 2001      202/307-0784

NATION'S STATE PRISON POPULATION GROWTH SLOWS -- LOWEST ANNUAL RATE INCREASE SINCE 1971

WASHINGTON, D.C. - During the year ending June 30, 2000, the nation's state prison population grew by the smallest percentage in 29 years, the Justice Department's Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) announced today. The growth in the number of prisoners...