Sentencing and Corrections - Jail Inmates

Inmates may be in jails for a variety of reasons:

• They may be individuals waiting for arraignment, trial, conviction, and/or sentencing, or they may be probation, parole, and bail bond violators.
• Juveniles may be temporarily jailed to wait for transfer to juvenile facilities.
• Mentally ill persons are often held in jails pending transfer to mental health facilities.

Table 6.6 lists these and other reasons for holding inmates in jails.

Jails are a generally neglected part of the corrections system. They frequently fail to meet minimum standards

TABLE 6.5
Number of sentenced prisoners under state or federal jurisdiction, by gender, race, Hispanic origin, and age, 2002

	Number of sentenced prisoners
	Males				Females
	Total1	White2	Black2	Hispanic	Total1	White2	Black2	Hispanic
Total	1,291,326	436,800	586,700	235,000	89,044	35,400	36,000	15,000
18–19	36,400	8,800	17,300	8,400	1,300	700	500	200
20–24	218,300	59,400	105,400	47,400	8,900	3,700	3,100	2,100
25–29	248,400	70,700	123,000	49,300	15,900	5,500	6,500	3,000
30–34	245,700	83,900	111,400	46,200	22,100	8,500	9,200	3,600
35–39	220,600	79,400	102,500	34,200	19,400	7,800	8,300	2,900
40–44	150,200	56,300	64,600	25,300	10,700	4,100	4,700	1,400
45–54	127,300	55,800	48,500	18,800	8,400	3,700	3,000	1,400
55 or older	38,900	21,500	10,800	4,800	1,900	1,200	500	200
Note: Based on custody counts from National Prisoners Statistics and updated from jurisdiction counts by gender at yearend. Estimates by age derived from the Surveys of Inmates in State and Federal Correctional facilities, 1997. Estimates were rounded to the nearest 100.
1Includes American Indians, Alaska Natives, Asians, Native Hawaiians, and other Pacific Islanders.
2Excludes Hispanics.
SOURCE: Paige M. Harrison and Allen J. Beck, "Table 13: Number of Sentenced Prisoners under State and Federal Jurisdiction by Gender, Race, Hispanic Origin, and Age, 2002," in "Prisoners in 2002," Bureau of Justice Statistics Bulletin, July 2003

for space, care, and staffing and have to mix a wide range of inmates—hardened criminals awaiting trial, those with serious mental problems or addictions, drunks disturbing the peace, and those who are not yet convicted (and may never be). Because the stay in jail is usually brief, medical care, recreation, and opportunities for work or activity are frequently minimal.

Population in the Nation's Jails

Department of Justice statisticians Paige M. Harrison and Jennifer C. Karberg report on the U.S. jail population in "Prison and Jail Inmates at Midyear 2002" (Bureau of Justice Statistics, Washington, D.C., April 2003). At midyear 2002, 737,912 persons were under some form of jail supervision, either confined in jails or supervised outside jail facilities, up from 702,044 in 2001. Of those, 665,475 were being held in jail, while the remaining persons were in jail-supervised programs such as electronic monitoring or community service or other work programs.

For the year ending June 26, 2002, the average daily jail population was 652,082, up from 618,319 in 2000 and 509,828 in 1995. Between 1995 and 2002 the average daily population of female jail inmates rose from 51,300 to 76,817, while the male population increased from 448,000 to 581,441. Proportionally the number of female inmates grew from 10 percent of the jail inmate population to 11.7 percent, and the number of males decreased from 90 percent to 88.3 percent.

Minority groups accounted for a majority (54.5 percent) of local jail inmates in 2002. Non-Hispanic whites made up 43.8 percent of the jail population; non-Hispanic African-Americans, 39.8 percent; and Hispanics, 14.7 percent. Other races (Asian Americans, Pacific Islanders, American Indians, and Alaska Natives) accounted for 1.6

TABLE 6.6
Characteristics of jails

• receive individuals pending arraignment and hold them awaiting trial, conviction, or sentencing

• readmit probation, parole, and bailbond violators and absconders

• temporarily detain juveniles pending transfer to juvenile authorities

• hold mentally ill persons pending their movement to appropriate health facilities

• hold individuals for the military, for protective custody, for contempt, and for the courts as witnesses

• release convicted inmates to the community upon completion of sentence

• transfer inmates to Federal, State, or other authorities

• house inmates for Federal, State, or other authorities because of crowding of their facilities

• relinquish custody of temporary detainees to juvenile and medical authorities

• sometimes operate community-based programs as alternatives to incarceration

• hold inmates sentenced to short terms (generally under 1 year).

SOURCE: Allen J. Beck and Jennifer Karberg, "Jails," in Prison and Jail Inmates at Midyear 2000, U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, Washington, DC, 2001

percent. Among non-Hispanic African-Americans, the jail incarceration rate (740 per 100,000) was more than five times that of non-Hispanic whites (147 per 100,000) and almost three times the rate of Hispanics (256 per 100,000).

Most juveniles in correctional custody were housed in juvenile facilities. However, at midyear 2002 an estimated 7,248 persons under age 18 were kept in adult jails, most having been tried as adults or awaiting trial as adults in criminal court.

The Growing Jail Population

From 1995 to 2002 the number of jail inmates grew from 507,044 to 665,475, a rise in the jail incarceration rate from 193 to 231 jail inmates per 100,000 U.S. residents. In June 2002 jails housed 33 percent of all incarcerated prisoners, the same as at midyear 2001. Since jail sentences

TABLE 6.7
Prisoners under age 18 in state and private adult correctional facilities, by type of facility, security level, and region, June 30, 2000

					Type of facility
		All facilities			Confinement facilities			Community-based facilities
	Total	Maximum*	Medium	Minimum/low	Maximum*	Medium	Minimum/low	Maximum*	Medium	Minimum/low
Total	4,095	2,008	1,582	505	2,008	1,490	444	X	92	61
State	3,927	2,007	1,441	479	2,007	1,427	437	X	14	42
Private	168	1	141	26	1	63	7	X	78	19
Region
Northeast	760	461	233	66	461	231	66	X	2	0
Midwest	699	244	225	230	244	234	197	X	1	33
South	2,150	1,132	819	199	1,132	730	175	X	89	24
West	486	171	305	10	171	305	6	X	0	4
Note: As of June 30, 2000, there were no persons under age 18 in federal facilities. Age information was not available for 1,471 state inmates.
*Includes facilities with the security designations super maximum, close, or high.
SOURCE: "Table 6.33: Prisoners under Age 18 in State and Private Adult Correctional Facilities, by Type of Facility, Security Level, and Region, United States, June 30, 2000," in Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics 2002, U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, Washington, DC, 2003

remained stable at about seven months, the dramatic growth of the local jail population seemed more related to the increased number of arrests than to longer sentences. In June 2002 jails were about 93 percent occupied.