BJS: Bureau of Justice Statistics

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Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS)
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Home | Corrections
Corrections
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Corrections refers to the supervision of persons arrested for, convicted of, or sentenced for criminal offenses. Correctional populations fall into two general categories: institutional corrections and community corrections. Corrections data, with a few exceptions, covers adult agencies or facilities and adult offenders.

The Bureau of Justice Statistics Corrections Unit maintains over 30 data collections. Most are annual collections of administrative data from correctional administrators, ranging from basic population counts and offender demographic characteristics to facility capacity, programs, staff, and resources. These data collections include—

The NPS also collects counts on specific inmate populations from the Department of Defense (DoD) and the U.S. territories. Some limited information on the number of juveniles held in adult facilities is also collected in the NPS and the ASJ. Jails in Indian Country is a separate collection for data on counts and characteristics of persons held in tribal jails. BJS also tracks administrative data on other topics, such as HIV in correctional facilities; deaths in custody; sexual assault in correctional facilities; and capital punishment statutes, populations, and executions.

In addition to collecting administrative data, BJS maintains a number of recurring national surveys of prison and jail inmates. These surveys are conducted periodically and use a nationally representative sample of inmates. The surveys, Survey of Prison Inmates (formerly known as the Survey of Inmates in State and Federal Correctional Facilities) and the Survey of Inmates in Local Jails, are broad in scope and collect a wide range of data on the personal and criminal histories of criminal offenders. Topics cover childhood experiences, family structure, educational background, prior criminal activity, substance abuse experiences, mental and physical health problems, and conditions of current confinement. Estimates derived from these surveys are national and, with rare exceptions, are not available at the state or facility level.

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Data Collections & Surveys

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Publications & Products


Victim, Perpetrator, and Incident Characteristics of Sexual Victimization of Youth in Juvenile Facilities, 2018 - Statistical Tables This report describes victim, perpetrator, and incident characteristics of sexual victimization of youth in juvenile facilities. These tables accompany the full BJS report Sexual Victimization Reported by Youth in Juvenile Facilities, 2018.
  Full report (PDF 483K) | Data tables (Zip format 16K)
Part of the PREA Publications Series

Prisoners in 2019 This report is the 94th in a series that began in 1926. It provides counts of prisoners under the jurisdiction of state and federal correctional authorities in 2019 and includes findings on admissions, releases, and imprisonment rates.
  Press Release (203K) | Summary (PDF 176K) | Full report (PDF 796K) | Data tables (Zip format 46K) | Jurisdiction notes (PDF 86K)
Part of the Prisoners Series

Jails in Indian Country, 2017-2018 This report is the 17th in a series that began in 1998. It provides statistics from BJS's Annual Survey of Jails in Indian Country on the demographic characteristics, most serious offense, and conviction status of the tribal inmate population, and it describes facility characteristics, including bed space and staffing.
  Full report (PDF 796K) | Data tables (Zip format 34K)
Part of the Jails in Indian Country Series

Capital Punishment, 2018 - Statistical Tables This report presents information on persons under sentence of death on December 31, 2018 and persons executed in 2018. Preliminary data on executions by states during 2019 are included.
  Full report (PDF 729K) | Data tables (Zip format 27K)
Part of the Capital Punishment Series

Prisoners Executed Prisoners executed under civil authority in the United States, by year, region, and jurisdiction, 1977-2019.
  Data tables (Spreadsheet 8K) | Report: Capital Punishment, 2018 - Statistical Tables (HTML)
Part of the Capital Punishment Series

Correctional Populations in the United States, 2017-2018 This report is the 23rd in a series that began in 1985. It provides statistics on populations supervised by adult correctional systems in the United States, including persons held in prisons or jails and those supervised in the community on probation or parole.
  Full report (PDF 701K) | Data tables (Zip format 17K)
Part of the Correctional Populations in the United States Series

Probation and Parole in the United States, 2017-2018 This report is the 27th in a series that began in 1980 and provides national data on the adult population on probation or parole in 2017 and 2018.
  Summary (PDF 523K) | Full report (PDF 1.01M) | Data tables (Zip format 45K)
Part of the Probation and Parole Populations Series

Sexual Victimization Reported by Youth in Juvenile Facilities, 2018 - Supplemental Tables These supplemental tables present data on youth reporting sexual victimization, youth-on-youth incidents, and staff sexual misconduct in juvenile facilities with high rates of victimization.
  Full report (PDF 330K)
Part of the PREA Publications Series

PREA Data-Collection Activities, 2020 The report fulfills the mandate established by the Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003 (P.L. 108-79), requiring BJS to carry out a comprehensive statistical review and analysis of prison rape annually.
  Full report (PDF 596K)
Part of the PREA Data Collection Activities Series

Prisoners in 2018 This report is the 93rd in a series that began in 1926. It provides counts of prisoners under the jurisdiction of state and federal correctional authorities in 2018 and includes findings on admissions, releases, and imprisonment rates.
  Press Release (221K) | Summary (PDF 579K) | Full report (PDF 2M) | Data tables (Zip format 48K) | Jurisdiction notes (PDF 166K)
Part of the Prisoners Series

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Terms & Definitions

Community corrections The supervision of criminal offenders in the resident population, as opposed to confining offenders 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 (BOP) must physically hold that person in one of its facilities. A locality, state, or the BOP may hold inmates over whom a different government maintains jurisdiction.
 
Custody count The number of offenders in custody. To have custody of a prisoner, a state or the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) must physically hold that person in one of its facilities. A locality, state, or the BOP may have custody of a prisoner over whom a different government 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 (BOP). Prisoners housed in these facilities are under the legal authority of the federal government. This excludes private facilities under exclusive contract with BOP.
 
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Related Links

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