Abusive sexual contacts
Unwanted contacts with another inmate or any contacts with staff that involved
touching of the inmate's buttocks, thigh, penis, breasts, or vagina in a sexual way.
Community corrections
Community corrections refers to the supervision of criminal offenders in the resident
population, as opposed to confining them in secure correctional facilities. The two
main types of community corrections supervision are probation and parole. Community
corrections is also referred to as community supervision.
Custody
To have custody of a prisoner, a state or the Federal Bureau of Prisons must hold that
person in one of its facilities. A locality, state, or the Federal Bureau of Prisons
may hold inmates over whom a different government maintains jurisdiction.
Custody count
To have custody of a prisoner, a state or the Federal Bureau of Prisons must hold that
person in one of its facilities. A state may have custody of a prisoner over whom
another state maintains jurisdiction.
Design capacity
The number of inmates that planners or architects intended for the facility.
Federal prisons
Prison facilities run by the Federal Bureau of Prisons. Prisoners housed in these
facilities are under the legal authority of the federal government. This definition
excludes the private facilities that are under exclusive contract with BOP.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainees
ICE holds persons for immigration violations in federal, state, and locally operated
prisons and jails, as well as in privately-operated facilities under exclusive contract
and ICE-operated facilities. Persons serving time in a local jail or in state or
federal prison for either a criminal or immigration offense may be turned over to ICE
after completing their sentence.
Imprisonment rate
The number of prisoners under state or federal jurisdiction sentenced to more than one
year, per 100,000 U.S. residents.
Incarcerated population
Incarcerated population is the population of inmates confined in a prison or a jail.
This may also include halfway-houses, bootcamps, weekend programs, and other entities
in which individuals are locked up overnight.
Indian country
Statutory term that includes all lands within an Indian reservation, dependent Indian
communities, and Indian trust allotments (18 U.S.C. § 1151). Courts interpret § 1151
to
include all lands held in trust for tribes or their members. See United States v.
Roberts, 185 F.3d 1125 (10th Cir. 1999). Tribal authority to imprison American Indian
offenders is limited to one year per offense by statute (25 U.S.C. § 1302), a $5,000
fine, or both.
Indian country jails
Indian country adult and juvenile detention centers, jails, and other correctional
facilities operated by tribal authorities or the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), U.S.
Department of the Interior.
Institutional corrections
Institutional corrections refers to those persons housed in secure correctional
facilities. There are many different types of correctional facilities, operated by
different government entities. Local jails are operated by county or municipal
authorities, and typically hold offenders for short periods ranging from a single day
to a year. Prisons serve as long-term confinement facilities and are only run by the 50
state governments and the federal Bureau of Prisons. Private correctional facilities
also operate under contracts for a wide variety of local, state and federal agencies.
Other correctional facilities are operated by special jurisdictions such as the U.S.
Armed Forces, U.S. territories and federal agencies such as Immigrations and Customs
Enforcement (ICE).
Jail inmates
Jail inmates are offenders confined in short-term facilities that are usually
administered by a local law enforcement agency and that are intended for adults but
sometimes hold juveniles before or after adjudication. Jail inmates usually have a
sentence of less than 1 year or are being held pending a trial, awaiting sentencing,
or
awaiting transfer to other facilities after a conviction.
Jurisdiction
Jurisdiction generally refers to a unit of government or to the legal authority to
exercise governmental power. In corrections, it refers to the government which has
legal authority over an inmate (state or federal). Prisoners under a given state's
jurisdiction may be housed in another state or local correctional facility.
Jurisdiction count
Includes prisoners under legal authority of state or federal correctional authorities
who are housed in prison facilities (e.g., prisons, penitentiaries and correctional
institutions; boot camps; prison farms; reception, diagnostic, and classification
centers; release centers, halfway houses, and road camps; forestry and conservation
camps; vocational training facilities; prison hospitals; and drug and alcohol
treatment
facilities for prisoners), regardless of which state they are physically held in. This
number also includes prisoners who are temporarily absent (less than 30 days), out to
court, or on work release; housed in local jails, private facilities, and other
states'
or federal facilities; serving a sentence for two jurisdictions at the same time. This
count excludes prisoners held in a state or federal facility for another state or the
Federal Bureau of Prisons. However, prisoners housed in another state and under the
legal authority of the governing state are included.
Movement
In corrections, a movement refers to an admission or a release from a status such as
prisoner, parolee, or probationer. Unless specifically noted, a transfer between
facilities does not count as a movement.
Nonconsensual sexual acts
Unwanted contacts with another inmate or any contacts with staff that involved oral,
anal, or vaginal penetration, handjobs, and other sexual acts.
Operational capacity
The number of inmates that can be accommodated based on a facility¿s staff, existing
programs, and services.
Parole
Parole refers to criminal offenders who are conditionally released from prison to
serve the remaining portion of their sentence in the community. Prisoners may be
released to parole by a parole board decision (discretionary release/discretionary
parole), according to provisions of a statute (mandatory release/mandatory parole),
through other types of post-custody conditional supervision, or as the result of a
sentence to a term of supervised release. In the federal system, a term of supervised
release is a sentence to a fixed period of supervision in the community that follows a
sentence to a period of incarceration in federal prison, both of which are ordered at
the time of sentencing by a federal judge. Parolees can have a number of different
supervision statuses including active supervision, which means they are required to
regularly report to a parole authority in person, by mail, or by telephone. Some
parolees may be on an inactive status which means they are excluded from regularly
reporting, and that could be due to a number of reasons. For instance, some may
receive a reduction in supervision, possibly due to compliance or meeting all required
conditions before the parole sentence terminates, and therefore may be moved from an
active to inactive status. Other supervision statues include parolees who only have
financial conditions remaining, have absconded, or who have active warrants. Parolees
are also typically required to fulfill certain conditions and adhere to specific rules
of conduct while in the community. Failure to comply with any of the conditions can
result in a return to incarceration.
Prison
Compared to jail facilities, prisons are longer-term facilities owned by a state or by
the Federal Government. Prisons typically hold felons and persons with sentences of
more than a year; however, the sentence length may vary by state. Six states
(Connecticut, Rhode Island, Vermont, Delaware, Alaska, and Hawaii) have an integrated
correctional system that combines jails and prisons. There are a small number of
private prisons, facilities that are run by private prison corporations whose services
and beds are contracted out by state or federal governments.
Prisoners
Prisoners are inmates confined in long-term facilities run by the state or federal
government or private agencies. They are typically felons who have received a sentence
of incarceration of 1 year or more. (Sentence length may vary by state because a few
states have one integrated prison system in which both prison and jail inmates are
confined in the same types of facilities.)
Private prisons
Prison facilities run by private prison corporations whose services and beds are
contracted out by state governments or the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
Probation
Probation refers to adult offenders whom courts place on supervision in the community
through a probation agency, generally in lieu of incarceration. However, some
jurisdictions do sentence probationers to a combined short-term incarceration sentence
immediately followed by probation, which is referred to as a split sentence.
Probationers can have a number of different supervision statuses including active
supervision, which means they are required to regularly report to a probation
authority in person, by mail, or by telephone. Some probationers may be on an inactive
status which means they are excluded from regularly reporting, and that could be due
to a number of reasons. For instance, some probationers may be placed on inactive
status immediately because the severity of the offense was minimal or some may receive
a reduction in supervision and therefore may be moved from an active to inactive
status. Other supervision statuses include probationers who only have financial
conditions remaining, have absconded, or who have active warrants. In many instances,
while on probation, offenders are required to fulfill certain conditions of their
supervision (e.g., payment of fines, fees or court costs, participation in treatment
programs) and adhere to specific rules of conduct while in the community. Failure to
comply with any conditions can result in incarceration.
Rated capacity
The number of beds or inmates assigned by a rating official to institutions within the
jurisdiction.
Sentenced prisoners
Prisoners under the jurisdiction of state and federal correctional authorities who have
been given a sentence of more than one year.
Sexual victimization/sexual assault/sexual violence
All types of sexual activity, e.g., oral, anal, or vaginal penetration; handjobs;
touching of the inmate¿s buttocks, thighs, penis, breasts, or vagina in a sexual way;
abusive sexual contacts; and both willing and unwilling sexual activity with staff.
Staff-on-inmate unwilling activity
Incidents of unwanted sexual contacts between inmates and staff.
Staff-on-inmate willing activity
Incidents of willing sexual contacts with staff. These contacts are characterized by
the reporting inmate as willing; however, all sexual contacts between inmates and staff
are legally nonconsensual.
State prisons
Prison facilities run by state correctional authorities. Prisoners housed in these
facilities are under the legal authority of the state government and generally serving
a term of more than 1 year.
Total correctional population
Total correctional population is the population of persons incarcerated, either in a
prison or a jail, and persons supervised in the community, either on probation or
parole.
Total incarceration rate
The number of inmates held in the custody of state or federal prisons or in local
jails, per 100,000 U.S. residents.
Total inmates in custody count
To have custody of a prisoner, a state or the Federal Bureau of Prisons must hold that
person in one of its facilities. A state may have custody of a prisoner over whom
another state maintains jurisdiction. This count includes inmates held in any public
facility run by a state or the Federal Bureau of Prisons, including halfway houses,
camps, farms, training/treatment centers, and hospitals. This number includes the
number of inmates held in local jails as reported by correctional authorities in the
Annual Survey of Jails.
Tribal jurisdiction
Tribal law enforcement agencies act as first responders to both felony and misdemeanor
crimes. For most of Indian country, the federal government provides felony law
enforcement concerning crimes by or against Indians. Certain areas of Indian country
are under Public Law 83-280, as amended. P.L. 280 conferred jurisdiction on certain
states over Indian country and suspended enforcement of the Major Crimes Act (18
U.S.C.
§ 1153) and the General Crimes Act (18 U.S.C. § 1152) in those areas. Indian tribes
retain concurrent jurisdiction to enforce laws in Indian country where P.L. 280
applies.