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Era of Mass Expansion:

Why State Officials Should Fight Jail Growth

a Prison Policy Initiative Report
by Joshua Aiken
May 31, 2017

 

Table 3.
Jail conviction status by state over time

Alaska, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Rhode Island, and Vermont have combined prison and jail systems and therefore do not report jail data to the Bureau of Justice Statistics. See our methodology.
1978 1983 1988 1993 1999 2006 2013
Alabama
Jail population 3,642 3,838 4,363 7,873 9,327 11,430 10,436
Percent pre-trial 28% 47% 57% 48% 58% 70% 68%
Arizona
Jail population 2,231 2,737 5,032 13,393 10,167 14,526 13,434
Percent pre-trial 42% 54% 55% 56% 62% 74% 81%
Arkansas
Jail population 1,179 1,596 1,586 1,979 3,968 4,773 3,813
Percent pre-trial 62% 59% 53% 61% 60% 62% 55%
California
Jail population 25,774 38,965 62,600 141,910 70,916 75,008 77,859
Percent pre-trial 47% 47% 47% 53% 54% 67% 60%
Colorado
Jail population 1,570 2,273 4,032 10,106 5,996 12,117 11,637
Percent pre-trial 67% 57% 53% 52% 47% 49% 51%
District of Columbia
Jail population 1,300 2,241 1,177 1,427 1,623 1,376 1,518
Percent pre-trial 73% 43% 56% 59% 71% 64% 52%
Florida
Jail population 9,748 14,707 26,492 60,107 49,273 60,982 48,578
Percent pre-trial 52% 64% 67% 66% 64% 68% 70%
Georgia
Jail population 7,921 10,702 16,006 34,562 29,509 38,138 31,701
Percent pre-trial 33% 38% 50% 48% 60% 62% 54%
Idaho
Jail population 507 602 586 1,316 2,049 3,169 2,647
Percent pre-trial 56% 66% 39% 37% 43% 63% 56%
Illinois
Jail population 5,930 9,156 9,272 15,507 16,593 28,859 20,670
Percent pre-trial 71% 48% 78% 82% 74% 82% 68%
Indiana
Jail population 2,485 3,799 4,998 7,009 10,553 15,298 14,375
Percent pre-trial 74% 80% 63% 58% 58% 65% 70%
Idaho
Jail population 2,485 3,799 4,998 7,009 10,553 15,298 14,375
Percent pre-trial 74% 80% 63% 58% 58% 65% 70%
Iowa
Jail population 695 885 1,035 1,600 2,637 3,730 3,553
Percent pre-trial 48% 62% 67% 62% 70% 80% 80%
Kansas
Jail population 893 1,290 1,829 3,419 4,183 6,239 6,044
Percent pre-trial 56% 41% 38% 49% 46% 51% 41%
Kentucky
Jail population 2,226 3,514 3,666 7,634 7,020 10,137 8,584
Percent pre-trial 56% 41% 38% 49% 46% 51% 41%
Louisiana
Jail population 3,737 5,875 6,760 11,894 9,536 12,758 6,057
Percent pre-trial 43% 48% 47% 54% 42% 48% 49%
Maine
Jail population 304 465 627 731 1,231 1,447 953
Percent pre-trial 40% 42% 41% 47% 47% 64% 65%
Maryland
Jail population 3,145 4,575 7,174 15,675 10,758 12,043 11,614
Percent pre-trial 51% 60% 58% 61% 67% 66% 68%
Massachusetts
Jail population 2,088 3,483 5,081 11,491 10,486 11,264 9,428
Percent pre-trial 28% 25% 30% 24% 30% 40% 52%
Michigan
Jail population 5,701 7,560 9,307 14,733 14,968 17,438 16,465
Percent pre-trial 42% 42% 44% 48% 49% 49% 49%
Minnesota
Jail population 1,335 2,195 2,952 5,498 5,001 6,104 5,112
Percent pre-trial 26% 32% 34% 36% 41% 54% 60%
Mississippi
Jail population 1,297 1,452 2,113 6,006 5,409 6,264 4,941
Percent pre-trial 36% 43% 42% 50% 48% 54% 48%
Missouri
Jail population 2,831 3,888 4,178 6,511 6,661 9,362 10,918
Percent pre-trial 54% 58% 66% 69% 68% 77% 81%
Montana
Jail population 374 404 546 690 442 1,220 2,143
Percent pre-trial 34% 67% 44% 43% 56% 51% 46%
Nebraska
Jail population 524 944 1,089 1,649 1,272 2,601 3,011
Percent pre-trial 44% 42% 39% 43% 56% 63% 73%
Nevada
Jail population 958 925 2,069 2,929 4,445 5,323 6,574
Percent pre-trial 58% 63% 57% 61% 60% 74% 75%
New Hampshire
Jail population 387 483 779 1,560 1,155 1,726 1,819
Percent pre-trial 46% 41% 56% 52% 60% 59% 61%
New Jersey
Jail population 3,845 5,306 8,698 14,332 11,366 14,431 14,455
Percent pre-trial 48% 44% 52% 50% 55% 71% 82%
New Mexico
Jail population 693 1,205 2,020 3,549 4,575 7,002 7,113
Percent pre-trial 55% 52% 55% 41% 59% 71% 74%
New York
Jail population 10,592 16,313 25,139 52,066 32,103 29,214 25,193
Percent pre-trial 54% 57% 56% 62% 50% 67% 70%
North Carolina
Jail population 2,569 3,841 5,413 10,821 12,630 16,480 17,733
Percent pre-trial 74% 72% 75% 71% 74% 86% 87%
North Dakota
Jail population 140 249 241 321 450 817 861
Percent pre-trial 55% 37% 37% 46% 51% 51% 84%
Ohio
Jail population 5,355 7,537 8,989 15,677 16,098 19,047 17,700
Percent pre-trial 39% 44% 44% 51% 46% 59% 59%
Oklahoma
Jail population 1,692 2,444 2,573 4,416 5,357 7,848 6,838
Percent pre-trial 60% 67% 71% 56% 66% 67% 62%
Oregon
Jail population 1,812 2,311 2,718 6,172 5,766 6,365 5,336
Percent pre-trial 47% 52% 49% 54% 52% 57% 57%
Pennsylvania
Jail population 6,245 10,123 13,293 29,170 25,246 32,938 35,686
Percent pre-trial 45% 50% 49% 45% 54% 55% 61%
South Carolina
Jail population 1,493 2,321 3,028 5,607 8,048 11,062 10,645
Percent pre-trial 53% 47% 61% 69% 67% 72% 78%
South Dakota
Jail population 281 326 471 711 1,046 1,213 1,520
Percent pre-trial 37% 38% 33% 33% 54% 51% 67%
Tennessee
Jail population 4,451 5,154 7,750 23,683 14,348 15,910 16,412
Percent pre-trial 41% 44% 30% 26% 47% 49% 45%
Texas
Jail population 9,708 14,569 26,635 54,076 44,085 39,027 45,151
Percent pre-trial 61% 63% 52% 41% 54% 65% 75%
Utah
Jail population 633 864 1,296 2,430 3,069 4,523 4,360
Percent pre-trial 29% 50% 21% 33% 30% 49% 43%
Virginia
Jail population 3,161 5,886 7,937 11,475 13,139 19,802 19,582
Percent pre-trial 45% 44% 40% 37% 46% 45% 43%
Washington
Jail population 2,350 3,530 5,544 9,336 10,182 12,167 10,349
Percent pre-trial 41% 39% 48% 52% 51% 53% 59%
West Virginia
Jail population 1,015 1,088 1,314 1,408 1,675 2,558 3,182
Percent pre-trial 44% 39% 44% 42% 42% 43% 54%
Wisconsin
Jail population 1,956 3,032 4,569 9,683 10,489 13,666 11,858
Percent pre-trial 30% 30% 34% 33% 29% 41% 51%
Wyoming
Jail population 235 378 476 482 862 1,392 1,518
Percent pre-trial 64% 48% 49% 48% 46% 58% 64%

Sources and methodology

Jail population
The number of people, in that state, who are being held in local jails for local authorities (excluding people held in jails for state or federal authorities). See our methodology.
Percent pre-trial
The percent of people, in that state, physically held in local jails who are pre-trial/unconvicted. This percentage includes individuals who are being held for federal and state authorities. For more on why we were unable to adjust these state level percentage figures to remove people held for other authorizes, see the adjustment section of our methodology.


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