BJS: Bureau of Justice Statistics

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Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS)
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Home | Corrections | Special populations | Federal Bureau of Prisons
Federal Bureau of Prisons
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BJS collects data on the characteristics and movements of the federal prison population through the National Prisoner Statistics, the Federal Justice Statistics Program, and the Survey of Inmates in State and Federal Facilities. See Corrections Data Sources for more information. The federal prisoner population differs from prisoners held in jail or state correctional facilities most notably by offense, conviction status, length of stay, and offense distribution. 

Note that jurisdiction and custody numbers for federal prisoners now include counts for sentenced felons from the District of Columbia. After 2001, responsibility for sentenced felons from the District of Columbia was transferred to the Federal Bureau of Prisons.

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Data Collections & Surveys

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Publications & Products


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

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

Data Collected Under the First Step Act, 2019 This is the first report as required under the First Step Act of 2018 (FSA, P.L. 115-391 § 610). It includes data on federal prisoners provided to BJS by the Federal Bureau of Prisons for calendar year 2018, which is prior to the enactment of the FSA.
  Full report (PDF 583K) | Data tables (Zip format 12K)

Prisoners in 2017 Presents final counts of prisoners under the jurisdiction of state and federal correctional authorities at year-end 2017 and includes findings on admissions, releases, and imprisonment rates.
  Press Release (213K) | Summary (PDF 207K) | Full report (PDF 596K) | Data Tables (Zip format 100K)
Part of the Prisoners Series

Drug Offenders in Federal Prisons: Estimates of Characteristics Based on Linked Data Presents a description of drug offenders in federal prison, including criminal history, demographics, gun involvement in the offense, and sentence imposed.
  Press Release | Summary (PDF 223K) | Full report (PDF 499K) | ASCII file (24K) | Comma-delimited format (Zip format 14KB)

Drug Offenders in Federal Prisons: Estimates of Characteristics Based on Linked Data MORE THAN HALF OF DRUG OFFENDERS IN FEDERAL PRISON WERE SERVING SENTENCES FOR POWDER OR CRACK COCAINE
  Press Release

Federal Justice Statistics, 2010 Describes the annual activity, workloads, and outcomes associated with the federal criminal justice system from arrest to imprisonment, using data from the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS), Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys (EOUSA), Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts (AOUSC), and the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP).
  Full report (PDF 4.3M) | ASCII file (67K) | Comma-delimited format (CSV) (Zip format 183K)
Part of the Federal Justice Statistics Series

Correctional Populations in the United States, 2012 TOTAL U.S. CORRECTIONAL POPULATION DECLINED IN 2012 FOR FOURTH YEAR
  Press Release
Part of the Correctional Populations in the United States Series

Correctional Populations in the United States, 2012 Summarizes data from various correctional collections to provide statistics on the number of offenders supervised by the adult correctional systems in the United States. Adult correctional systems include offenders supervised in the community under the authority of probation or parole agencies and inmates held in state and federal prisons or local jails.
  Press Release | Full report (PDF 766K) | ASCII file (23K) | Comma-delimited format (CSV) (Zip format 15K)
Part of the Correctional Populations in the United States Series

Prisoners in 2007 Presents data on prisoners under jurisdiction of federal or state correctional authorities on December 31, 2007, collected from the National Prisoner Statistics series.
  Press Release | Full report (PDF 194K) | ASCII file (34K) | Spreadsheet (Zip format 39K)
Part of the Prisoners Series

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Terms & Definitions

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.
 
Imprisoned population The population of inmates confined in prison or other facilities under the jurisdiction of the state or Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP).
 
Institutional corrections 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 (BOP). 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, including the U.S. Armed Forces, U.S. territories, and federal agencies, such as U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
 
Jurisdiction A unit of government or the legal authority to exercise governmental power. In corrections, it refers to the government that 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.
 
Operational capacity The number of inmates that can be accommodated based on a facility's staff, existing programs, and services.
 
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