BJS: Bureau of Justice Statistics

clear image
Home  |  About Us  |  Contact Us  |  Help  |  A-Z Topic List
 
 
Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS)
clear image
Home | Corrections | Special populations
Special populations
On This Page
About this Topic

The Corrections Unit collects data for special populations in corrections through administrative records and inmate interviews (see Prison Data Sources for more information). Special population include inmates held by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, jails in Indian country, the U.S. military, the U.S. territories, and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Juvenile data is limited to persons under 18 years of age held in adult correctional facilities. For data on youth in the juvenile system, please see statistics provided by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency and Prevention (OJJDP).

Back to Top
Data Collections & Surveys

Back to Top
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

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 ยง 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

Jails in Indian Country, 2015 Describes jails, confinement facilities, detention centers, and other correctional facilities operated by tribal authorities or the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
  Summary (PDF 211K) | Full report (PDF 845K) | ASCII file (17K) | Comma-delimited format (CSV) (Zip format 41K)
Part of the Jails in Indian Country 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

Jails in Indian Country, 2014 Presents findings from the 2014 Survey of Jails in Indian Country, an enumeration of 79 jails, confinement facilities, detention centers, and other correctional facilities operated by tribal authorities or the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
  Press Release | Summary (PDF 210K) | Full report (PDF 874K) | ASCII file (23K) | Comma-delimited format (CSV) (Zip format 53K)
Part of the Jails in Indian Country Series

Back to Top
Terms & Definitions

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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
Jurisdiction count Prisoners under legal authority of state or federal correctional authorities who are housed in prison facilities (e.g., prisons, penitentiaries, and correctional institutions; boot camps; prison farms; reception, diagnostic, and classification centers; release centers, halfway houses and road camps; forestry and conservation camps; vocational training facilities; prison hospitals; and drug and alcohol treatment facilities for prisoners), regardless of which government entity physically holds them. This number also includes prisoners who are temporarily absent (fewer than 30 days), out to court, or on work release; housed in local jails, private facilities, and other states or federal facilities; and serving a sentence for two jurisdictions at the same time. This count excludes prisoners held in a state or federal facility for another state or the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP). However, prisoners housed in another state and under the legal authority of the governing state are included.
 
Parole Parole refers to criminal offenders who are conditionally released from prison to serve the remaining portion of their sentence in the community. Prisoners may be released to parole by a parole board decision (discretionary release/discretionary parole), according to provisions of a statute (mandatory release/mandatory parole), through other types of post-custody conditional supervision, or as the result of a sentence to a term of supervised release. In the federal system, a term of supervised release is a sentence to a fixed period of supervision in the community that follows a sentence to a period of incarceration in federal prison, both of which are ordered at the time of sentencing by a federal judge. Parolees can have a number of different supervision statuses, including active supervision, which means they are required to regularly report to a parole authority in person, by mail, or by telephone. Some parolees may be on an inactive status, which means they are excluded from regularly reporting, and that could be due to a number of reasons. For instance, some may receive a reduction in supervision, possibly due to compliance or meeting all required conditions before the parole sentence terminates, and therefore may be moved from an active to inactive status. Other supervision statuses include parolees who have only financial conditions remaining, have absconded, or have active warrants. Parolees are also typically required to fulfill certain conditions and adhere to specific rules of conduct while in the community. Failure to comply with any of the conditions can result in a return to incarceration.
 
Back to Top