This table has been updated with a new version in 2024.
Era of Mass Expansion:
Why State Officials Should Fight Jail Growth
a Prison Policy Initiative Report
by
Joshua Aiken
May 31, 2017
Table 1.
Conviction status, 1983-2013
| 1983 | 1988 | 1993 | 1998 | 2003 | 2008 | 2013 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pre-trial (unadjusted) | 113,984 | 175,669 | 228,900 | 331,800 | 414,800 | 494,200 | 453,200 |
| Convicted (unadjusted) | 107,660 | 166,224 | 226,600 | 252,600 | 269,900 | 291,200 | 278,000 |
| Held for state prisons | 9,134 | 14,314 | 50,966 | 24,925 | 73,440 | 83,497 | 85,662 |
| Held for immigration authorities | 1,304 | 1,954 | 3,763 | 8,544 | 13,337 | 20,785 | 17,241 |
| Held for Bureau of Prisons or U.S. Marshals Service | 2,044 | 6,302 | 11,833 | 16,690 | 25,522 | 32,761 | 31,745 |
| Total held for other authorities | 12,482 | 22,570 | 66,562 | 50,159 | 112,299 | 137,043 | 134,648 |
| Pre-trial (adjusted) | 112,632 | 172,863 | 223,568 | 322,147 | 399,860 | 472,607 | 434,188 |
| Convicted (adjusted) | 96,530 | 146,460 | 165,370 | 212,094 | 172,541 | 175,750 | 162,364 |
Sources and methodology
- Pre-trial (unadjusted)
- The number of people physically held in a jail who are pre-trial/unconvicted as reported by jails to the Bureau of Justice Statistics. See our methodology.
- Convicted (unadjusted)
- The number of people physically held in a jail who are convicted as reported by jails to the Bureau of Justice Statistics. See our methodology.
- Held for state prisons
- The number of people physically held in a jail for state prison authorities, as reported by the Bureau of Justice Statistics Prisoners Series. See our methodology.
- Held for immigration authorities
- The number of people physically held in a jail for federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (formerly known as the Immigration and Naturalization Service) as reported by individual jails to the Bureau of Justice Statistics. See our methodology.
- Held for Bureau of Prisons or U.S. Marshals Service
- The number of people physically held in a jail for the federal Bureau of Prisons or the U.S. Marshals Service, as reported by individual jails to the Bureau of Justice Statistics. See our methodology.
- Total held for other authorities
- This is the sum of the number people held in jails for state prisons, immigration authorizes, the Bureau of Prisons and the U.S. Marshals Service.
- Pre-trial (adjusted)
- The number of people in jail who are being held for local authorities who are pre-trial/unconvicted. For the details on the portion of each state or federal population that we removed from the pre-trial/unconvicted population, see the adjustment section of our methodology.
- Convicted (adjusted)
- The number of people in jail who are being held for local authorities who are convicted. For the details on the portion of each state or federal population that we removed from the convicted population, see the adjustment section of our methodology.
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Events
- November 13-15, 2024:
Members of our Research and Advocacy teams will be attending the American Society of Criminology annual meeting in San Francisco from November 13 through the 15th. Please reach out if you’d like to set up a meeting. - November 14-16, 2024:
Members of our Research and Advocacy teams will be attending a convening at the University of Texas in Austin from November 14 through the 16th. Please reach out if you’d like to set up a meeting.
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