BJS: Bureau of Justice Statistics

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Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS)
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State Prisons
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For data on the number and characteristics of deaths that occurred in all 50 state prison systems, please see Mortality in State Prisons, 2001-2014 - Statistical Tables. Tables include national data on the number of deaths by year and state, cause of death, and decedent age, race or Hispanic origin and sex. Tables also include mortality rates per 100,000 prison inmates. Data on the number of deaths and mortality rate of federal prisoners are also included.

Please note that data do not include mandated executions carried out by state prison systems. For data on executions, please see BJS's Capital Punishment series. For a closer look at the specific medical causes of inmate deaths and comparative risks of death for various medical problems, please see Medical Causes of Death in State Prison, 2001-2004.

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Assessing Inmate Cause of Death: Deaths in Custody Reporting Program and National Death Index Provides a technical review of the coverage and quality of inmate cause of death data collected under BJS's Deaths in Custody Reporting Program (DCRP).
  PDF (439K) | ASCII file (89K) | Comma-delimited format (CSV) (Zip format 43K)

Mortality in Local Jails and State Prisons, 2000–2013 - Statistical Tables Present inmate death records from each of the nation's 50 state prison systems. Death records include information on decedent personal characteristics (age, race or Hispanic origin, and sex), decedent criminal background (legal status, offense type, and time served), and the death itself (date, time, location, and cause of death, as well as information on the autopsy and medical treatment provided
  Press Release | Summary (PDF 223KB) | PDF (2.3MB) | ASCII file (46KB) | Comma-delimited format (CSV) (Zip format 66KB)
Part of the Mortality in Local Jails and State Prisons Series

Mortality in Local Jails and State Prisons, 2000–2012 - Statistical Tables Presents national and state-level data on the number of inmate deaths that occurred in local jails and state prisons, the distribution of deaths across jails, and the aggregate count of deaths in federal prisons.
  Press Release | PDF (2M) | ASCII file (23K) | Zip format (98K)
Part of the Mortality in Local Jails and State Prisons Series

Mortality in Local Jails and State Prisons, 2000-2010 - Statistical Tables Presents national and state-level data on the number of inmate deaths that occurred in local jails and state prisons, and includes aggregated data on deaths in federal prisons.
  Press Release | PDF (1.11M) | ASCII file (23K) | Comma-delimited format (CSV) (Zip format 40K)
Part of the Mortality in Local Jails and State Prisons Series

Mortality in Local Jails and State Prisons, 2000-2010 - Statistical Tables MORTALITY RATES IN LOCAL JAILS AND PRISONS DROPPED IN 2010
  Press Release
Part of the Mortality in Local Jails and State Prisons Series

Prison and Jail Deaths in Custody, 2000-2009 - Statistical Tables Provides data on the number and causes of deaths that occurred in state prison or local jail custody.
  Press Release | PDF (675K) | ASCII file (19K) | Spreadsheet (Zip format 38K)
Part of the Mortality in Local Jails and State Prisons Series

Prison and Jail Deaths in Custody, 2000-2009 - Statistical Tables NUMBER OF DEATHS IN LOCAL JAILS DECLINED IN 2008 AND 2009
  Press Release
Part of the Mortality in Local Jails and State Prisons Series

Deaths in Custody: State Prison Deaths, 2001-2007 - Statistical Tables These tables provide national data on both the number and rate of prison deaths, by cause and over time, as well as specific data on each state's prisons. Tables include basic data on the number and characteristics of deaths reported each year by all 50 state prison systems.
 
Part of the Mortality in Local Jails and State Prisons Series

Deaths in Custody Reporting Program, 2007 (Update) Contains a series of data tables describing recent trends in mortality in state prison, local jails, and during the process of arrest by state and local law enforcement officers.
  State Prison Deaths, 2001-2007 (HTML) | Local Jail Deaths, 2000-2007 (HTML) | State and Local Law Enforcement Arrest-related Deaths, 2003-2006 - Statistical Tables (HTML)
Part of the Mortality in Local Jails and State Prisons Series

HIV in Prisons, 2007-08 Presents yearend 2007 and 2008 data from the National Prisoner Statistics and the Deaths in Custody series.
  Press Release | PDF | ASCII file | Zip format (Spreadsheet)
Part of the HIV in Prisons and Jails Series