Laura M. Maruschak, Jennifer Bronson, Ph.D., BJS Statisticians

August 24, 2017    NCJ 250641

Presents data on state and federal prisoners who were HIV-positive or had confirmed AIDS and prisoners who died from AIDS-related causes. This report includes the number and rate of prisoners with HIV by sex, the number of AIDS-related deaths in state and federal prisons, a demographic profile of state prisoners who died from AIDS-related causes, and the national AIDS-mortality rate among prisoners. It also describes HIV testing practices of jurisdictions at intake, while in custody, and upon discharge. Findings are based on data from BJS's National Prisoner Statistics program and Deaths in Custody Reporting Program. 

Highlights:

• The number of state prisoners who had HIV declined by 560, from an estimated 16,170 in 2014 to 15,610 in 2015.
• From yearend 2010 to yearend 2015, the number of male prisoners who had HIV declined from 18,510 to 15,920 (down 2,590), and the number of females who had HIV declined from 1,780 to 1,220 (down 560).
• Among state prisoners, 44 males and 1 female died from AIDS-related causes in 2015, down from 61 males and 3 females in 2014.
• In 2015, 23 non-Hispanic black, 18 non-Hispanic white, and 2 Hispanic state prisoners died from AIDS-related causes. In comparison, 38 black, 21 white, and 3 Hispanic state prisoners died from AIDS-related causes in 2014.
• Among prison admissions in 2015, about a third (34%) were admitted in states that conducted mandatory HIV testing and an additional 31% were admitted in states with opt-out HIV testing during intake.

Part of the HIV in Prisons and Jails Series

Press Release
Summary (PDF 184K)
Full report (PDF 980K)
ASCII file (26K)
Comma-delimited format (CSV) (Zip format 25K)

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