BJS: Bureau of Justice Statistics

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Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS)
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Home | Corrections | Local jail inmates and jail facilities
Local jail inmates and jail facilities
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BJS collects information on jail inmates and jail facilities from administrative records maintained by local jurisdictions and through periodic personal interviews with inmates held in local jails (see Jail Data Collections and Surveys for more information). Jails are correctional facilities that confine persons before or after adjudication and are usually operated by local law enforcement authorities. Jail sentences are usually for 1 year or less. Jails also—

  • receive individuals pending arraignment and hold those awaiting trial, conviction, or sentencing
  • remit probation, parole, and bail-bond violators and absconders
  • temporarily detain juveniles pending transfer to juvenile authorities
  • hold mentally ill persons pending transfer to appropriate mental health facilities
  • hold individuals for the military, for protective custody, for contempt, and for the courts as witnesses
  • release 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 in their facilities
  • sometimes operate community-based programs as alternatives to incarceration.

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Data Collections & Surveys

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Publications & Products


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

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

Jail Inmates in 2018 This report is the 32nd in a series that began in 1982. It provides statistics based on BJS's Annual Survey of Jails and Census of Jail Inmates.
  Press Release (179K) | Summary (PDF 479K) | Full report (PDF 825K) | Data tables (Zip format 40K)
Part of the Prison and Jail Inmates at Midyear Series

Jail Inmates in 2017 Presents data on inmates confined in local jails from 2005 to 2017, including population counts and incarceration rates, inmate demographic characteristics and conviction status, admissions, jail capacity, and inmate turnover rates.
  Press Release (213K) | Summary (PDF 203K) | Full report (PDF 705K) | Data tables (Zip format 24K)
Part of the Prison and Jail Inmates at Midyear Series

Correctional Populations in the United States, 2016 Presents statistics on persons supervised by U.S. adult correctional systems at year-end 2016, including persons supervised in the community on probation or parole and those incarcerated in state or federal prison or local jail.
  Press Release (71K) | Full report (PDF 635K) | Data tables (Spreadsheet 14K)
Part of the Correctional Populations in the United States Series

Jail Inmates in 2016 Presents data on inmates confined in local jails between 2000 and 2016, including population counts and incarceration rates, inmate demographic characteristics and conviction status, average daily population, rated capacity of local jails and percent of capacity occupied, and turnover rates by jurisdiction size.
  Press Release (80K) | Summary (PDF 198K) | Full report (PDF 662K) | Comma-delimited format (CSV) (Zip format 21K)
Part of the Prison and Jail Inmates at Midyear Series

American Indian and Alaska Natives in Local Jails, 1999-2014 Describes the population of American Indian and Alaska Natives (AIAN) held in local jails, including national and state level estimates, characteristics of adult AIAN inmates, and comparisons to all other races and Hispanic origin.
  Summary (PDF 211K) | Full report (PDF 703K) | ASCII file (40K) | Comma-delimited format (CSV) (Zip format 18K)
Part of the American Indians and Crime Series

Drug Use, Dependence, and Abuse Among State Prisoners and Jail Inmates, 2007-2009 Presents prevalence estimates of drug use, drug use disorders, and participation in drug treatment programs among state prisoners and sentenced jail inmates, including trends in drug use over time by demographics and most serious offense, drug use at the time of offense and whether an inmate committed the offense to obtain drugs, and comparisons to the general population.
  Press Release | Summary (PDF 221K) | Full report (PDF 670K) | ASCII file (64K) | Comma-delimited format (CSV) (Zip format 43K)

Correctional Populations in the United States, 2015 Presents statistics on persons supervised by adult correctional systems in the United States at yearend 2015, including persons supervised in the community on probation or parole and those incarcerated in state or federal prison or local jail.
  Press Release | Full report (PDF 787K) | ASCII file (43K) | Data tables (Spreadsheet 23K)
Part of the Correctional Populations in the United States Series

Jail Inmates in 2015 Presents information on the change in the number of jail inmates between 2000 and 2015 by sex, race, Hispanic origin, and conviction status. This report also provides estimates of year-to-year changes from 2000 to 2015 in the average daily population, rated capacity of local jails, and percent of capacity occupied.
  Press Release | Summary (PDF 163K) | Full report (PDF 582K) | ASCII file (24K) | Comma-delimited format (CSV) (Spreadsheet 22K)
Part of the Prison and Jail Inmates at Midyear Series

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Terms & Definitions

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.
 
Design capacity The number of inmates that planners or architects intended for the facility.
 
Incarcerated population Incarcerated population is the population of inmates confined in a prison or a jail. This may also include halfway houses, boot camps, weekend programs, and other facilities in which individuals are locked up overnight.
 
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, U.S. Department of the Interior.
 
Jail inmates 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.
 
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