May 2006 - Statistics From the U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics

Justice Expenditure and Employment in the United States, 2003

In 2003 the United States spent a record $185 billion for police protection, corrections, and judicial and legal activities. Expenditures for operating the Nation's justice system increased from almost $36 billion in 1982 to over $185 billion in 2003, an increase of 418%.

Trends in spending by level of government Between 1982 and 2003, per capita expenditure, including Federal, State, and local governments across justice functions, increased from $158 to $638, over 300%. During the same time period:

Corrections expenditures increased 423%, from $40 to $209 per U.S. resident.

Judicial and legal expenditures increased 321%, from $34 to $143.

Police protection expenditures increased 241%, from $84 to $286. Since 1982 total direct expenditures increased more than five-fold from nearly $36 billion to over $185 billion, a 418% increase. The average annual increase between 1982 and 2003 was nearly 8%.

Overall, police spending represented 45% of the Nation's total justice expenditure, and corrections accounted for the second largest portion, 33%.

Police protection is primarily a local responsibility; accordingly, local governments spent 69% of the total police protection expenditure in the country in 2003.

Corrections is primarily a State responsibility; as such State governments accounted for 61% of the Nation's corrections expenditure.

From 1977 to 2003 total State and local expenditure for all functions increased 567%:

Police protection -- 545%

Corrections -- 1,173%

Judicial and legal -- 1,974%

Other government functions also increased during the same period:

Education -- 505%

Hospitals and health care -- 572%

Interest on debt -- 577%

Public welfare 766%

(Justice Expenditure and Employment Extracts, compiled from the U.S. Census Bureau's Annual Government Finance Survey and Annual Survey of Public Employment)

Expenditures of State government

In 2003 total justice system expenditure of State governments increased from $34 billion in 1992 to over $66 billion in 2003 -- a 94% increase.

Total per capita justice expenditure of all State governments was $227.

Alaska spent the most on justice functions at $621 per U.S. resident, followed by Delaware ($478) and Connecticut ($372). Mississippi and Nevada spent the least per capita for all justice functions at $150 and $147, respectively.

The total number of State and Federal inmates grew from 403,000 in 1982 to over 1.4 million in 2003.

The number of local jail inmates more than tripled from approximately 207,000 in 1982 to over 691,000 in 2003.

Adults on probation increased from over 1.4 million to about 4.1 million persons.

Overall, corrections employment more than doubled from nearly 300,000 to over 748,000 during this same period.

(Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics, 2003 (table 6.1.2004)

Prison Stats On June 30, 2003

2,078,570 prisoners were held in Federal or State prisons or in local jails -- the total increased 2.9% from midyear 2002, less than the average annual growth of 3.7% since yearend 1995.

There were an estimated 715 prison inmates per 100,000 U.S. residents -- up from 703 at yearend 1995.

The number of women under the jurisdiction of State or Federal prison authorities increased 5.0% from June 30, 2002 to June 30, 2003, reaching 100,102. The number of men rose 2.7%, totaling 1,360,818 at midyear 2003.

At midyear 2003 there were 4,834 black male prisoners per 100,000 black males in the United States in prison or jail, compared to 1,778 Hispanic male inmates per 100,000 Hispanic males and 681 white male inmates per 100,000 white males.

At midyear 2003 there were 4,834 black male prisoners per 100,000 black males in the United States in prison or jail, compared to 1,778 Hispanic male inmates per 100,000 Hispanic males and 681 white male inmates per 100,000 white males.

Between 1995 and 2001, the increasing number of violent offenders accounted for 63% of the total growth of the State prison population; 15% of the total growth was attributable to the increasing number of drug offenders.

At midyear 2000, 1,113,035 inmates (94% of all inmates) were held in facilities that reported having a testing policy for hepatitis C.

33% of tests in facilities that tested only targeted groups were positive compared to 27% of those in facilities that conducted broad tests (random basis or all inmates).

The 1,033 facilities that provide hepatitis B vaccinations, 680 (66%) had a policy to vaccinate inmates in high-risk groups.

Between July 1, 2001, and December 31, 2001, the number of inmates under State jurisdiction increased by 15,713.

On December 31, 2001 State prisons were operating between 1% and 16% above capacity, while Federal prisons were operating at 33% above capacity.

At yearend 2000, 49% of State prisoners were serving time for violent offenses, up from 47% in 1995.

Prison Statistics, 1990 - 2000

Certain Information from the Bureau of Justice Statistics Bulletin

Overall, the United States incarcerated 2,071,686 persons at year end 2000." That's 478 inmates per 100,000 US residents.

California (163,001 inmates), Texas (157,997), and the Federal system 145,416) together held 1 in every 3 prisoners in the Nation.

By the end of 2000, State Prisons were operating between full capacity and 15% above capacity.

Between 1990 and 2000 the number of State correctional facilities increased by 351. States also added over 528,000 beds, an 81% increase.

Since 1990 the number of male inmates has increased by 77%, and the number of female inmates has increased by 108%.

In the year 2000 the Federal inmate population rose by 9.4%. Since 1990, the Federal System has increased by 148%.

Among the more than 1.3 million sentenced inmates (not including those in jail custody) at yearend, an estimated 428,300 were black males between the ages of 20 and 39. This means that 9.7% of all black males between the ages of 25 and 29 were in prisons.

At yearend 2000, 1 in every 143 US residents were incarcerated in State or Federal prisons or a local jail.

The number of women under the jurisdiction of State or Federal prison authorities increased 1.2% in 2000, reaching 91,612 at yearend. The number of men rose 1.3%, totaling 1,290,280 at yearend.

On December 31, 2000, State prisons were operating between full capacity and 15% above capacity, while Federal prisons were operating at 31% above capacity.

At yearend 2000 there were 3,457 sentenced black male inmates per 100,000 black males in the United States, compared to 1,220 sentenced Hispanic male inmates per 100,000 Hispanic males and 449 white male inmates per 100,000 white males.

Black females were 3 times more likely than Hispanic females and 6 times more likely than white females to be in prison in 2000.

Prisoners sentenced for drug offenses constitute the largest group of Federal inmates (61%).

Federal inmates held for immigration offenses has increased by 488% since 1990. That figure is higher now.

Since 1990 the sentenced inmate population in Texas prisons has grown by 164.3%, at an average annual growth rate of 10.2%. The second highest growth rate in the nation (just behind Idaho).

The number of Texas inmates dropped from 163,190 to 157, 997 in the year 2000; a 3.2% decrease. However, there was a 1.5% increase in the number of inmates held by state prisons nationally, and a 6.6% increase in the number of federal inmates.

However, at 730 inmates per 100,000 residents, Texas claims the third highest incarceration rate among all the 50 states. (just behind Louisiana and the District of Columbia).

60% of all inmates in the nation are incarcerated in Texas, California and the Federal System.

At yearend 2000 there were 59 female inmates per 100,000 women in the United States. In Texas there were 100 female inmates per 100,000.

Overall, Texas has increased its female inmate population by 18.7% in the last decade. But between 1999-2000 it decreased by about 3%.

10.7% of Federal prisoners are in private prisons and jails.

By yearend 2000, Texas had the largest number of inmates housed in private prisons, almost 14,000 inmates. This means that nearly 9% of all Texas inmates are housed in private facilities. This is only slightly higher than the national average (6.3%), and much larger than states such as Oklahoma (30%) and the District of Columbia (32%).

Since 1990 the number of correctional facilities in Texas has increased from 43 to 127 which represents a 211.6% increase in the total capacity of Texas Prisons.

Texas built 84 of the 351 new State prisons built since 1990 in the United States.

Nearly 600,000 inmates are released each year; many of them riddled with disease.

According to the most recent Bureau of Justice Statistics, 24,000 inmates nationwide were HIV positive (in 1996).

More recent study by the National Commission on Correctional Health Care (non-profit) put the number with HIV as high as 47,000; 10 times higher than the rate in the general population. That number has gone up.

TB, which is a lung disease, spreads rapidly through the air in enclosed spaces, infects 1 in 4 people in some prisons, compared to less than 1 in 10,000 in the general population.

Hepatitis C: Often lethal liver disease; spread by blood exchange, infects approximately 41% of the inmates just in California prisons alone; compared to less than 2% of the population at large.

Over the last 20 years, the number of prisoners has increased in every state. The nation’s population has grown only by 20%; the number of Americans in local/state/federal lockups has doubled; then doubled again.

U.S. now locks up 2,000,000 people. More than ever before and more than any other country on earth. And the number is still growing.

American spends approximately $100 billion / year on the criminal justice system; up from $12 billion in 1972.

Crime rates have been stable and slightly declining since the 70’s. The massive increase in law enforcement started in the 80’s and wasn’t a result or caused by rising crime; nor did it cause crime to decrease.

It costs $100,000 to build a new prison cell. It costs $200,000 over 25 years to pay interest on the construction debt; and in excess of $22,000 per year/per cell to operate.

The nation has tripled its prison population since 1980; opening the equivalent of 3 or more new 500 bed prisons every week.

Eighty-Four percent of the increase in prison admissions were for non-violent offense. Congress has barred inmates from receiving grants for college and correspondence courses.

Some states ban parolees from certain occupations, including nursing, physical therapy and education. Bruce Western, a sociologist at Princeton University, found that paroled inmates who do manage to land jobs are paid only half as much as people with similar backgrounds who haven’t been imprisoned.

In many states, felony convictions and drug-related offenses render former prisoners ineligible for public assistance or public housing, and Congress recently cut off higher education grants to those with drug records.

The percentage of blacks among resident population and incarcerated population for the state of Missouri: Percentage of state residents for the State of Missouri: 11.2%; blacks as a percentage of incarcerated population: 41.2%. The rate of incarceration in adult correctional and confinement facilities per 100,000 state residents in Missouri: For Whites: 402; Blacks: 2,306. And another figure: The rate of incarceration per 100,000 men between the ages of 18-64 in Missouri: For whites: 1178; Blacks: 7,739.

In the early 70's there were about 200,000 people locked up in the U.S. Today's prison population of over 2 million represents a growth of over 850% in the past 30 years. And that number doesn't include probationers and parolees-when you factor those numbers in, the combined number of people under some form of supervision rises to over 7.2 million.

Information provided by a bulletin distributed by the Bureau of Justice Statistics, a division of the U.S. Department of Justice. If you would like a full copy of this document, it can be found at the BJS World Wide Web Internet site: http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/