U.S. Department of Justice
Office of Justice Programs
Bureau of Justice Statistics

September 2015, NCJ 248955

Bul l etin

Prisoners in 2014
E. Ann Carson, Ph.D., BJS Statistician

A

t yearend 2014, the United States held an
estimated 1,561,500 prisoners in state and
federal correctional facilities, a decrease of
approximately 15,400 prisoners (down 1%) from
December 31, 2013. A third (34%) of the decrease
was due to fewer prisoners under the jurisdiction of
the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP), which declined
for the second consecutive year (figure 1). Prisoners
sentenced to more than 1 year in state or federal
prison declined by almost 1% (down 11,800 prison
inmates) from yearend 2013 (1,520,400) to yearend
2014 (1,508,600). The number of prisoners housed
in private facilities in the United States decreased by
almost 2% in 2014 to 131,300 prison inmates.
The statistics in this report are based on the Bureau
of Justice Statistics’ (BJS) National Prisoner Statistics
(NPS) program, which collects annual data from state
DOCs and the BOP on prisoner counts, prisoner
characteristics, admissions, releases, and prison
capacity. The 2014 NPS collection is number 90 in
a series that began in 1926. Forty-nine states and
the BOP reported NPS data for 2014, while data for
Alaska were obtained from other sources or imputed.
(See Methodology.)

Figure 1
Total, state, and federal U.S. prison population,
2004–2014
Number
1,700,000
Total

1,600,000
1,500,000

State

1,400,000
1,300,000
225,000
200,000

Federal

175,000
150,000

'04 '05 '06 '07 '08 '09 '10 '11 '12 '13 '14

Note: Counts based on all prisoners under the jurisdiction of state and
federal correctional authorities.
Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, National Prisoner Statistics,
2004–2014.

HIGHLIGHTS
„„ The number of prisoners held by state and federal

correctional authorities on December 31, 2014
(1,561,500) decreased by 15,400 (down 1%) from
yearend 2013.
„„ The federal prison population decreased by 5,300

inmates (down 2.5%) from 2013 to 2014, the second
consecutive year of decline.
„„ On December 31, 2014, state and federal

correctional authorities held 1,508,600 individuals
sentenced to more than 1 year in prison, 11,800
fewer inmates than at yearend 2013.
„„ The number of women in prison who were

sentenced to more than 1 year increased by 1,900
offenders (up 2%) in 2014 from 104,300 in 2013 to
106,200 in 2014.
„„ The decline in the BOP population in 2014 was

explained by 5% fewer admissions (down 2,800)
than in 2013.

„„ The imprisonment rate declined from 621 prisoners

per 100,000 U.S. residents age 18 or older in 2013 to
612 per 100,000 in 2014.
„„ In 2014, 6% of all black males ages 30 to 39 were

in prison, compared to 2% of Hispanic and 1% of
white males in the same age group.
„„ Violent offenders made up 54% of the state male

prison population at yearend 2013, the most recent
year for which data were available.
„„ The BOP housed 40,000 prisoners in private

secure and nonsecure facilities at yearend
2014, which represents 19% of the total federal
prison population.
„„ Half of males (50%) and more than half of females

(59%) in federal prison were serving time for drug
offenses on September 30, 2014.
Celebrating
35 years

prison jurisdiction followed by Texas and California (table 2,
figure 2). The federal system held 13% of all prison inmates
at yearend 2014. States held 10,100 fewer prisoners at yearend
2014 than in 2013.

The U.S. prison population decreased by 1% in 2014
The total number of persons held under the jurisdiction of
state and federal correctional authorities on December 31,
2014, decreased 1% (15,400 prisoners) from the count at
yearend 2013 (table 1). The estimated 1,561,500 prisoners at
yearend 2014 represent the smallest total prison population
since 2005, and reverse the 0.4% increase that occurred
from 2012 to 2013. Several states updated their 2013 counts,
which resulted in an even larger increase than originally
reported. The total prison population on December 31, 2013,
was 1,577,000, an increase of 6,600 prisoners from 2012
(1,570,400).

Figure 2
Percent change in state and federal U.S. prison population,
2004–2014
Annual percent change
5
Federal
4

The decrease observed in 2014 was the second largest decline
in the number of prisoners in more than 35 years. The decline
of 28,600 prisoners from 2011 to 2012 coincided with the
enactment of California’s Public Safety Realignment policy,
which diverted newly sentenced nonviolent, nonserious,
nonsex offenders from state prison to serve time in local jails
and under community supervision.
More than a third of the total decline in the number of
prison inmates (34% or 5,300 prisoners) occurred in the
federal prison population. This was the second straight year
of decline in the federal system, which is the nation’s largest

3
2
1

State

0
-1
-2
-3

2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

Note: Percentages based on all prisoners under the jurisdiction of state and federal
correctional authorities.
Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, National Prisoner Statistics, 2004–2014.

Table 1
Prisoners under the jurisdiction of state or federal correctional authorities, December 31, 2004–2014
Year
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013b
2014c
Percent change
Average annual, 2004–2013
2013–2014

Total
1,497,100
1,525,910
1,568,674
1,596,835
1,608,282
1,615,487
1,613,803
1,598,968
1,570,397
1,576,950
1,561,525
0.5%
-1.0

Federala
180,328
187,618
193,046
199,618
201,280
208,118
209,771
216,362
217,815
215,866
210,567
1.8%
-2.5

State
1,316,772
1,338,292
1,375,628
1,397,217
1,407,002
1,407,369
1,404,032
1,382,606
1,352,582
1,361,084
1,350,958
0.3%
-0.7

Male
1,392,278
1,418,392
1,456,366
1,482,524
1,493,670
1,502,002
1,500,936
1,487,561
1,461,625
1,465,592
1,448,564
0.5%
-1.2

Female
104,822
107,518
112,308
114,311
114,612
113,485
112,867
111,407
108,772
111,358
112,961
0.6%
1.4

Note: Jurisdiction refers to the legal authority of state or federal correctional officials over a prisoner, regardless of where the prisoner is held.
aIncludes inmates held in nonsecure privately operated community corrections facilities and juveniles held in contract facilities.
bNevada did not submit 2013 National Prisoner Statistics (NPS) data, and Alaska did not submit sex-specific jurisdiction counts to NPS in 2013, so data for these states were
imputed. See Methodology.
cTotal and state estimates include imputed counts for Alaska, which did not submit 2014 NPS data. See Methodology.
Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, National Prisoner Statistics, 2004–2014.

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2

Table 2
Prisoners under jurisdiction of state or federal correctional authorities, by sex, December 31, 2013 and 2014
Jurisdiction
U.S. totala
Federalb
Statea
Alabamac
Alaskad,e,f
Arizonac
Arkansas
California
Colorado
Connecticutf,g
Delawaref
Florida
Georgia
Hawaiif
Idahoc
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Kansasc,g
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts
Michigan
Minnesota
Mississippi
Missouri
Montana
Nebraska
Nevadah
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New Mexico
New York
North Carolina
North Dakotac
Ohio
Oklahoma
Oregon
Pennsylvaniac
Rhode Islandf
South Carolina
South Dakotac
Tennessee
Texas
Utahc
Vermontf
Virginia
Washington
West Virginia
Wisconsing
Wyoming

Total
1,576,950
215,866
1,361,084
32,381
5,081
41,177
17,235
135,981
20,371
17,563
7,004
103,028
54,004
5,632
8,242
48,653
29,913
8,697
9,763
21,030
39,299
2,173
21,335
10,950
43,759
10,289
21,969
31,537
3,642
5,026
/
3,018
22,452
6,931
53,550
36,922
1,576
51,729
27,547
15,517
51,422
3,361
22,060
3,682
28,521
168,280
7,077
2,078
36,982
17,984
6,824
22,471
2,310

2013
Male
1,465,592
201,697
1,263,895
29,660
4,450
37,402
15,904
129,684
18,556
16,328
6,405
95,757
50,445
4,972
7,176
45,737
27,078
7,983
9,026
18,717
37,071
2,013
20,410
10,143
41,700
9,566
20,352
28,755
3,230
4,656
/
2,781
21,427
6,276
51,193
34,430
1,419
47,579
24,769
14,212
48,760
3,169
20,669
3,240
26,069
154,450
6,415
1,924
34,133
16,535
6,016
21,232
2,050

Female
111,358
14,169
97,189
2,721
631
3,775
1,331
6,297
1,815
1,235
599
7,271
3,559
660
1,066
2,916
2,835
714
737
2,313
2,228
160
925
807
2,059
723
1,617
2,782
412
370
/
237
1,025
655
2,357
2,492
157
4,150
2,778
1,305
2,662
192
1,391
442
2,452
13,830
662
154
2,849
1,449
808
1,239
260

Total
1,561,525
210,567
1,350,958
31,771
5,216
42,259
17,874
136,088
20,646
16,636
6,955
102,870
52,949
5,866
8,117
48,278
29,271
8,838
9,663
21,657
38,030
2,242
21,011
10,713
43,390
10,637
18,793
31,942
3,699
5,441
12,537
2,963
21,590
7,021
52,518
37,096
1,718
51,519
27,650
15,075
50,694
3,359
21,401
3,608
28,769
166,043
7,026
1,979
37,544
18,120
6,896
22,597
2,383

2014
Male
1,448,564
196,568
1,251,996
29,182
4,568
38,295
16,476
129,706
18,738
15,510
6,361
95,567
49,438
5,198
7,080
45,390
26,396
8,086
8,881
19,084
35,955
2,063
20,100
9,985
41,267
9,901
17,448
28,836
3,311
5,001
11,452
2,715
20,571
6,348
50,192
34,455
1,514
47,311
24,799
13,799
47,936
3,201
20,032
3,199
26,160
151,717
6,364
1,823
34,529
16,666
6,065
21,219
2,106

Female
112,961
13,999
98,962
2,589
648
3,964
1,398
6,382
1,908
1,126
594
7,303
3,511
668
1,037
2,888
2,875
752
782
2,573
2,075
179
911
728
2,123
736
1,345
3,106
388
440
1,085
248
1,019
673
2,326
2,641
204
4,208
2,851
1,276
2,758
158
1,369
409
2,609
14,326
662
156
3,015
1,454
831
1,378
277

Total
-1.0%
-2.5%
-0.7%
-1.9
:
2.6
3.7
0.1
1.3
:
-0.7
-0.2
-2.0
4.2
-1.5
-0.8
-2.1
1.6
:
3.0
-3.2
3.2
-1.5
-2.2
-0.8
3.4
-14.5
1.3
1.6
8.3
:
-1.8
-3.8
1.3
-1.9
0.5
9.0
-0.4
0.4
-2.8
-1.4
-0.1
-3.0
-2.0
0.9
-1.3
-0.7
-4.8
1.5
0.8
1.1
:
3.2

Percent change, 2013–2014
Male
Female
-1.2%
1.4%
-2.5%
-1.2%
-0.9%
1.8%
-1.6
-4.9
:
:
2.4
5.0
3.6
5.0
0.0
1.3
1.0
5.1
:
:
-0.7
-0.8
-0.2
0.4
-2.0
-1.3
4.5
1.2
-1.3
-2.7
-0.8
-1.0
-2.5
1.4
1.3
5.3
:
:
2.0
11.2
-3.0
-6.9
2.5
11.9
-1.5
-1.5
-1.6
-9.8
-1.0
3.1
3.5
1.8
-14.3
-16.8
0.3
11.6
2.5
-5.8
7.4
18.9
:
:
-2.4
4.6
-4.0
-0.6
1.1
2.7
-2.0
-1.3
0.1
6.0
6.7
29.9
-0.6
1.4
0.1
2.6
-2.9
-2.2
-1.7
3.6
1.0
-17.7
-3.1
-1.6
-1.3
-7.5
0.3
6.4
-1.8
3.6
-0.8
0.0
-5.2
1.3
1.2
5.8
0.8
0.3
0.8
2.8
:
:
2.7
6.5

Note: Jurisdiction refers to the legal authority of state or federal correctional officials over a prisoner, regardless of where the prisoner is held.
/Not reported. Estimated count added into state and U.S. jurisdictional totals. See Methodology.
: Not calculated.
aIncludes imputed counts for Alaska, which did not submit 2014 National Prisoner Statistics (NPS) Program data in time to be included in this report. See Methodology.
bIncludes inmates held in nonsecure privately operated community corrections facilities and juveniles held in contract facilities.
cState has updated 2013 population counts.
dAlaska did not submit sex-specific jurisdiction counts in NPS in 2013. See Methodology.
eAlaska did not submit 2014 NPS data in time for this report, but jurisdiction totals were obtained from a report to the state legislature. See Methodology for details on imputation of 2014
data.
fPrisons and jails form one integrated system. Data include total jail and prison populations.
gState has changed reporting methodology, so 2014 counts are not comparable to those published for earlier years. See Jurisdiction notes.
hNevada did not submit 2013 NPS data in time for this report. See Methodology for details on imputation of 2013 data that were used in state and U.S. totals.
Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, National Prisoner Statistics, 2013–2014.

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Twenty-four states and the federal BOP showed decreases
in total prison populations between yearend 2013 and 2014
(figure 3). Mississippi held 3,200 fewer prison inmates at
yearend 2014 (down 15% from 2013), which resulted from
new policies that encourage supervision of nonviolent
offenders in the community instead of in prison. The Texas
prison population, the second largest in the United States with
166,000 inmates at yearend 2014, declined by 2,200 prisoners
(down 1%) from yearend 2013 (168,300). Louisiana, Georgia,
and New York also had modest declines that amounted to
between 1,000 and 1,300 fewer prisoners for each jurisdiction
in 2014 than in 2013.

Figure 3
Percent change decline or increase in prisoners under the
jurisdiction of state or federal correctional authorities, by
state, 2013–2014
Mississippi
Vermont
New Jersey
Louisiana
South Carolina
Oregon
Federal
Massachusetts
Indiana
South Dakota
Georgia
Alabama
New York
New Hampshire
Maryland
Idaho
Pennsylvania
Texas
Michigan
Illinois
Utah
Delaware
Ohio
Florida
Rhode Island

Most states that observed growth in their prison populations
had smaller prison systems, including North Dakota, which
increased its yearend 2013 population by 140 (up 9%) to 1,700
on December 31, 2014. Nebraska experienced an 8% increase
in its prison population, from 5,000 prisoners in 2013 to 5,400
in 2014.
While females have represented approximately 7% of the total
prison population over the past decade, the number of females
under state or federal correctional jurisdiction increased by
1,600 inmates (up more than 1%) to 113,000 in 2014, the
largest number of female prisoners since 2009. Sixteen states
and the BOP observed decreases among their female prison
populations, compared to 23 states and the BOP for males.
Much of the growth took place in states with smaller prison
systems so that modest increases in the number of imprisoned
females caused large state-specific percent changes between
2013 and 2014. Missouri held 300 more women at yearend
2014 than in 2013 (up 12%), and Kentucky had an additional
260 female prisoners (up 11%). In comparison, from yearend
2013 to 2014, Texas held 500 additional women, an increase of
almost 4%.

-15

-12

-9

-6

California
Oklahoma
North Carolina
Washington
Tennesee
West Virginia
Missouri
New Mexico
Colorado
Virginia
Montana
Iowa
Arizona
Kentucky
Wyoming
Maine
Minnesota
Arkansas
Hawaii
Nebraska
North Dakota
-3
0
Percent change

3

6

9

Note: Jurisdiction refers to the legal authority of state or federal correctional officials
over a prisoner, regardless of where the prisoner is held. Counts based on all
prisoners under the jurisdiction of state and federal correctional authorities. Alaska,
Connecticut, Kansas, Nevada, and Wisconsin could not be calculated. See table 2 for
detail.
Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, National Prisoner Statistics, 2013–2014.

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97% of prisoners under the jurisdiction of state and
federal authorities were sentenced to more than 1 year
in prison

highest count in 2014 since 2008, when states and the BOP
imprisoned 106,400 females sentenced to at least 1 year under
correctional authority.

From yearend 2013 to 2014, the number of persons in
state or federal prison who were sentenced to more than
1 year declined by 11,800 (down slightly less than 1%) to
1,509,000 prisoners (table 3). Prisoners sentenced to more
than 1 year made up 97% of the total prison population,
while unsentenced inmates and those with terms of 1 year
or less accounted for the remaining 3% (53,000 prisoners).
The decreasing number of sentenced prisoners accounted for
76% of the change in the total jurisdictional population. State
prisons housed 8,000 fewer sentenced inmates on December
31, 2014, for a total of 1,317,300 prisoners. The BOP had
191,400 sentenced prisoners at yearend 2014, 2% fewer than in
2013 (195,100).

Twenty-two states and the BOP saw a decline in the number of
prison inmates who had been sentenced to more than 1 year
under correctional authority (table 4). The BOP (down 3,700
prisoners), Mississippi (down 2,900 prisoners), Texas (down
1,700), and Louisiana (down 1,300) had the largest decreases
in the number of these prisoners in 2014. Among states
with an increase in prison populations, Arizona imprisoned
40,200 sentenced inmates at yearend 2014, an increase
of 1,100 prisoners from 2013. No other jurisdictions had
increases of more than 1,000 sentenced prisoners during 2014.

The number of females in state or federal prison who were
sentenced to more than 1 year increased by 1,900 prisoners
(up nearly 2%) from 2013 (104,300 female prisoners) to
2014 (106,200). Sentenced female prisoners reached their

As with the total jurisdiction population, 17 states and the BOP
showed declines among sentenced female prisoners. Among
states with an increase in sentenced female prisoners, Texas
(up 700 females), Missouri (up 300), and Kentucky and North
Carolina (up 200 each) made up 75% of the total change in the
number of sentenced females from yearend 2013 to 2014.

Table 3
Sentenced prisoners under the jurisdiction of state or federal correctional authorities, December 31, 2004–2014
Year
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013b
2014c
Percent change
Average annual, 2004–2013
2013–2014

Total
1,433,728
1,462,866
1,504,598
1,532,851
1,547,742
1,553,574
1,552,669
1,538,847
1,512,430
1,520,403
1,508,636
0.6%
-0.8

Federala
159,137
166,173
173,533
179,204
182,333
187,886
190,641
197,050
196,574
195,098
191,374
2.0%
-1.9

State
1,274,591
1,296,693
1,331,065
1,353,647
1,365,409
1,365,688
1,362,028
1,341,797
1,315,856
1,325,305
1,317,262
0.4%
-0.6

Male
1,337,730
1,364,178
1,401,261
1,427,088
1,441,384
1,448,239
1,447,766
1,435,141
1,411,076
1,416,102
1,402,404
0.6%
-1.0

Female
95,998
98,688
103,337
105,763
106,358
105,335
104,903
103,706
101,354
104,301
106,232
0.8%
1.9

Note: Jurisdiction refers to the legal authority of state or federal correctional officials over a prisoner, regardless of where the prisoner is held. Counts are based on prisoners
with sentences of more than 1 year under the jurisdiction of state or federal correctional officials.
aIncludes inmates held in nonsecure privately operated community corrections facilities and juveniles held in contract facilities.
bNevada did not submit 2013 National Prisoner Statistics (NPS) data, and Alaska did not submit sex-specific jurisdiction counts to NPS in 2013, so data for these states were
imputed. See Methodology for imputation strategy.
cTotal and state estimates include imputed counts for Alaska, which did not submit 2014 NPS data. See Methodology for imputation strategy.
Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, National Prisoner Statistics, 2004–2014.

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5

Table 4
Sentenced prisoners under jurisdiction of state or federal correctional authorities, by sex, December 31, 2013 and 2014
Jurisdiction
U.S. totala
Federalb
Statea
Alabamac
Alaskad,e,f
Arizonac
Arkansas
California
Colorado
Connecticutf,g
Delawaref
Florida
Georgia
Hawaiif
Idahoc
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Kansasc,g
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts
Michigan
Minnesota
Mississippi
Missouri
Montana
Nebraska
Nevadah
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New Mexico
New York
North Carolina
North Dakotac
Ohio
Oklahoma
Oregon
Pennsylvaniac
Rhode Islandf
South Carolina
South Dakotac
Tennessee
Texas
Utahc
Vermontf
Virginia
Washington
West Virginia
Wisconsing
Wyoming

Total
1,520,403
195,098
1,325,305
31,354
2,682
39,062
17,159
135,981
20,371
12,162
4,112
103,028
53,478
3,618
8,242
48,653
29,905
8,654
9,506
20,330
39,298
1,972
20,988
9,643
43,704
10,289
20,742
31,537
3,642
4,929
/
2,848
22,452
6,687
53,428
35,181
1,507
51,729
27,173
15,180
51,211
2,039
21,443
3,672
28,521
160,295
7,072
1,575
36,982
17,947
6,812
21,285
2,310

2013
Male
1,416,102
182,378
1,233,724
28,787
2,426
35,675
15,840
129,684
18,556
11,494
3,879
95,757
49,953
3,271
7,176
45,737
27,070
7,951
8,815
18,147
37,070
1,836
20,101
9,200
41,645
9,566
19,337
28,755
3,230
4,569
/
2,636
21,427
6,047
51,091
32,942
1,358
47,579
24,431
13,895
48,556
1,960
20,147
3,231
26,069
148,294
6,410
1,479
34,133
16,505
6,011
20,116
2,050

Female
104,301
12,720
91,581
2,567
256
3,387
1,319
6,297
1,815
668
233
7,271
3,525
347
1,066
2,916
2,835
703
691
2,183
2,228
136
887
443
2,059
723
1,405
2,782
412
360
/
212
1,025
640
2,337
2,239
149
4,150
2,742
1,285
2,655
79
1,296
441
2,452
12,001
662
96
2,849
1,442
801
1,169
260

Total
1,508,636
191,374
1,317,262
30,766
2,754
40,175
17,819
136,088
20,646
11,735
4,141
102,870
52,485
3,663
8,039
48,278
29,261
8,798
9,365
20,969
38,022
2,030
20,733
9,486
43,359
10,637
17,876
31,938
3,699
5,347
12,415
2,915
21,590
6,860
52,399
35,769
1,603
51,519
27,261
15,060
50,423
1,880
20,830
3,605
28,769
158,589
7,024
1,508
37,544
18,052
6,881
21,404
2,383

2014
Male
1,402,404
178,814
1,223,590
28,324
2,491
36,625
16,426
129,706
18,738
11,098
3,927
95,567
49,010
3,354
7,013
45,390
26,386
8,058
8,644
18,549
35,947
1,888
19,843
9,060
41,236
9,901
16,679
28,832
3,311
4,919
11,330
2,671
20,571
6,201
50,091
33,325
1,416
47,311
24,460
13,784
47,730
1,812
19,545
3,197
26,160
145,899
6,362
1,403
34,529
16,613
6,053
20,099
2,106

Female
106,232
12,560
93,672
2,442
263
3,550
1,393
6,382
1,908
637
214
7,303
3,475
309
1,026
2,888
2,875
740
721
2,420
2,075
142
890
426
2,123
736
1,197
3,106
388
428
1,085
244
1,019
659
2,308
2,444
187
4,208
2,801
1,276
2,693
68
1,285
408
2,609
12,690
662
105
3,015
1,439
828
1,305
277

Total
-0.8%
-1.9%
-0.6%
-1.9
:
2.8
3.8
0.1
1.3
:
0.7
-0.2
-1.9
1.2
-2.5
-0.8
-2.2
1.7
:
3.1
-3.2
2.9
-1.2
-1.6
-0.8
3.4
-13.8
1.3
1.6
8.5
:
2.4
-3.8
2.6
-1.9
1.7
6.4
-0.4
0.3
-0.8
-1.5
-7.8
-2.9
-1.8
0.9
-1.1
-0.7
-4.3
1.5
0.6
1.0
:
3.2

Percent change, 2013–2014
Male
Female
-1.0%
1.9%
-2.0%
-1.3%
-0.8%
2.3%
-1.6
-4.9
:
:
2.7
4.8
3.7
5.6
0.0
1.3
1.0
5.1
:
:
1.2
-8.2
-0.2
0.4
-1.9
-1.4
2.5
-11.0
-2.3
-3.8
-0.8
-1.0
-2.5
1.4
1.3
5.3
:
:
2.2
10.9
-3.0
-6.9
2.8
4.4
-1.3
0.3
-1.5
-3.8
-1.0
3.1
3.5
1.8
-13.7
-14.8
0.3
11.6
2.5
-5.8
7.7
18.9
:
:
1.3
15.1
-4.0
-0.6
2.5
3.0
-2.0
-1.2
1.2
9.2
4.3
25.5
-0.6
1.4
0.1
2.2
-0.8
-0.7
-1.7
1.4
-7.6
-13.9
-3.0
-0.8
-1.1
-7.5
0.3
6.4
-1.6
5.7
-0.7
0.0
-5.1
9.4
1.2
5.8
0.7
-0.2
0.7
3.4
:
:
2.7
6.5

Note: Jurisdiction refers to the legal authority of state or federal correctional officials over a prisoner, regardless of where the prisoner is held.
/Not reported. Estimated count added into state and U.S. jurisdictional totals. See Methodology.
: Not calculated.
aIncludes imputed counts for Alaska, which did not submit 2014 National Prisoner Statistics (NPS) data. See Methodology.
bIncludes inmates held in nonsecure privately operated community corrections facilities and juveniles held in contract facilities.
cState updated 2013 population counts.
dAlaska did not submit sex-specific jurisdiction counts in NPS in 2013. See Methodology.
eAlaska did not submit 2014 NPS data, but jurisdiction totals were obtained from a report to the state legislature. See Methodology.
fPrisons and jails form one integrated system. Data include total jail and prison populations.
gState has changed reporting methodology, so 2014 counts are not comparable to those published for earlier years. See Jurisdiction notes.
hNevada did not submit 2013 NPS data. See Methodology for details on imputation of 2013 data that were included in state and U.S. totals.
Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, National Prisoner Statistics, 2013–2014.

P R I S O N E R S I N 2 01 4 | S E P T E M B E R 2015 	

6

The imprisonment rate in the United States continued to
decline in 2014
At yearend 2014, the United States imprisoned 471 persons
per 100,000 residents of all ages and 612 persons per 100,000
residents age 18 or older (table 5). Both statistics represent
the lowest rate of imprisonment in more than a decade, and
continue decreases that began in 2007 and 2008. More than
1% of adult U.S. males were in state or federal prison on
December 31, 2014. The male imprisonment rate in 2014
(1,169 per 100,000 adult males) was lower than in 2013
(1,189 per 100,000). While the imprisonment rate for females
was lower (65 per 100,000 female residents of all ages and
84 per 100,000 adult females), the rates for women increased
from 2013.
Louisiana had the highest imprisonment rate for persons of all
ages (816 per 100,000 state residents) and adults (1,072 inmates
per 100,000 state residents age 18 or older) (table 6).

Oklahoma (928 per 100,000), Alabama (820 per 100,000),
Texas (792 per 100,000), and Mississippi (788 per 100,000)
had the next highest rates of imprisonment among persons
age 18 or older. Maine imprisoned the fewest state residents
per capita at yearend 2014 (153 per 100,000 residents of all
ages or 189 per 100,000 adults), followed by Massachusetts
(188 per 100,000 residents of all ages or 237 per 100,000
adult residents).
Although Louisiana imprisoned males at a higher rate than
any other state on December 31, 2014 (1,577 per 100,000 male
state residents of all ages), its imprisonment rate for females
(87 per 100,000 female residents of all ages) was low compared
to all other states. Oklahoma (142 per 100,000), Idaho
(125 per 100,000), and Kentucky (108 per 100,000) had the
highest female imprisonment rates at yearend 2014.

Table 5
Imprisonment rate of sentenced prisoners under the jurisdiction of state or federal correctional authorities, December 31,
2004–2014
Year
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013d
2014e
Percent change
Average annual, 2004–2013
2013–2014

Totala
487
492
501
506
506
504
500
492
480
477
471
-0.2%
-1.3

Per 100,000 U.S. residents of all ages
Federala,b
Statea
Malea
54
433
923
56
436
932
58
443
948
59
447
955
60
447
956
61
443
952
61
439
948
63
429
932
62
417
909
61
416
903
60
412
890
1.3%
-2.6

-0.4%
-1.1

-0.2%
-1.5

Femalea
64
65
68
69
69
67
66
65
63
65
65
0.1%
1.3

Per 100,000 adult U.S. residents
Totalc
Malec
Femalec
649
1,248
84
655
1,257
86
666
1,275
89
670
1,282
90
669
1,279
90
665
1,271
88
656
1,260
86
644
1,236
84
626
1,201
82
621
1,189
83
612
1,169
84
-0.4%
-1.5

-0.5%
-1.7

-0.2%
1.1

Note: Jurisdiction refers to the legal authority of state or federal correctional officials over a prisoner, regardless of where the prisoner is held. Counts are based on prisoners
with sentences of more than 1 year under the jurisdiction of state or federal correctional officials.
aImprisonment rate per 100,000 U.S. residents of all ages.
bIncludes inmates held in nonsecure privately operated community corrections facilities and juveniles held in contract facilities.
cImprisonment rate per 100,000 U.S. residents age 18 or older.
dNevada did not submit 2013 National Prisoner Statistics (NPS) data, and Alaska did not submit sex-specific jurisdiction counts to NPS in 2013, so data for these states were
imputed. See Methodology.
eTotal and state estimates include imputed counts for Alaska, which did not submit 2014 NPS data. See Methodology.
Sources: Bureau of Justice Statistics, National Prisoner Statistics, 2004–2014; U.S. Census Bureau, postcensal resident population estimates for January 1 of the following
calendar year.

P R I S O N E R S I N 2 01 4 | S E P T E M B E R 2015 	

7

Table 6
Imprisonment rates for sentenced prisoners under jurisdiction of state or federal correctional authorities per 100,000
U.S. residents, by sex, December 31, 2013 and 2014
Jurisdiction
U.S. totalc
Federald
Statec
Alabamae
Alaskaf,g,h
Arizonae
Arkansas
California
Colorado
Connecticuth,i
Delawareh
Florida
Georgia
Hawaiih
Idahoe
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Kansase,i
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts
Michigan
Minnesota
Mississippi
Missouri
Montana
Nebraska
Nevadaj
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New Mexico
New York
North Carolina
North Dakotae
Ohio
Oklahoma
Oregon
Pennsylvaniae
Rhode Islandh
South Carolina
South Dakotae
Tennessee
Texas
Utahe
Vermonth
Virginia
Washington
West Virginia
Wisconsini
Wyoming

Totala
477
61
416
647
364
584
579
352
383
338
442
522
532
256
507
377
454
279
328
461
847
148
352
192
441
189
693
521
357
263
459
215
252
320
271
355
206
446
703
384
400
193
446
432
437
600
242
251
446
256
368
370
396

Malea
903
117
787
1,226
626
1,074
1,088
676
695
655
861
992
1,018
457
882
723
835
517
610
836
1,633
282
696
380
856
354
1,329
968
631
489
835
403
492
585
534
683
362
839
1,276
711
777
384
863
756
820
1,117
436
479
836
471
657
704
688

2013

Femalea
65
8
57
103
73
101
87
32
69
36
49
72
69
50
131
44
85
45
47
98
94
20
29
15
41
26
91
90
81
38
77
32
22
61
23
44
42
70
140
64
41
15
53
104
73
89
46
30
68
41
85
40
91

Total adultb
621
80
541
840
488
771
761
462
500
432
566
656
708
327
690
492
598
364
437
599
1,114
184
455
242
570
247
918
677
458
350
599
270
325
423
345
462
266
579
932
491
508
243
576
574
567
816
350
312
575
331
463
479
518

Totala
471
60
412
633
374
593
599
349
383
326
440
513
517
257
489
375
442
282
322
474
816
153
346
188
437
194
597
526
360
283
434
219
241
329
265
358
214
444
700
378
394
178
429
421
437
584
237
241
449
254
372
371
408

Malea
890
113
777
1,203
644
1,089
1,125
670
691
632
863
976
991
466
852
718
810
520
596
852
1,577
290
683
373
846
364
1,146
967
641
523
789
407
470
601
522
685
369
832
1,269
698
762
354
828
741
816
1,081
427
454
840
468
662
702
706

2014

Femalea
65
8
58
97
75
104
92
33
71
35
44
71
67
44
125
44
86
47
49
108
87
21
29
15
42
27
78
100
76
45
76
36
22
63
23
48
51
71
142
63
41
12
51
96
77
93
45
33
71
41
88
45
97

Total adultb
612
78
534
820
501
780
786
456
499
415
563
644
686
328
663
487
581
368
428
615
1,072
189
447
237
563
254
788
682
461
376
566
274
311
433
337
465
278
574
928
481
499
223
552
558
566
792
342
298
579
329
468
479
534

Note: Jurisdiction refers to the legal authority of state or federal correctional officials over a prisoner, regardless of where the prisoner is held.
a Imprisonment rate per 100,000 U.S. residents of all ages.
bImprisonment rate per 100,000 U.S. residents age 18 or older.
cIncludes imputed counts for Alaska, which did not submit 2014 National Prisoner Statistics (NPS) data. See Methodology.
dIncludes inmates held in nonsecure privately operated community corrections facilities and juveniles held in contract facilities.
eState has updated 2013 population counts.
fAlaska did not submit sex-specific jurisdiction counts in NPS in 2013. See Methodology.
gAlaska did not submit 2014 NPS data, but jurisdiction totals were obtained from a report to the state legislature. See Methodology.
hPrisons and jails form one integrated system. Data include total jail and prison populations.
iState has changed reporting methodology, so 2014 rates are not comparable to those published for earlier years. See Jurisdiction notes.
jNevada did not submit 2013 NPS data in time for this report. See Methodology for details on imputation of 2013 data that were used in state and U.S. totals.
Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, National Prisoner Statistics, 2013–2014; U.S. Census Bureau, postcensal resident population estimates for January 1 of the following calendar year.

P R I S O N E R S I N 2 01 4 | S E P T E M B E R 2015 	

8

A decline in admissions during 2014 led to the smaller
federal prison population
The decrease in the federal prison population from yearend
2013 to yearend 2014 was driven by declining admissions
rather than an increase in releases. The BOP admitted 2,800
fewer prisoners in 2014, a 5% decrease from admissions during
2013. During the same period, the number of releases from the
BOP was nearly stable, with 300 fewer released prisoners in
2014 compared to 2013 (table 7). In comparison, state prisons
admitted 500 fewer persons in 2014 than in 2013, but released
12,600 more prisoners (up 2%). In total, state and federal
prisons admitted 626,600 persons during 2014, including
449,000 entries for newly convicted offenders. They released
636,300 inmates overall (figure 4, figure 5).
Admissions increased in 18 states, including a 34% rise in
Hawaii, 26% in Oklahoma, 16% in Kentucky, and 14% in
North Carolina. With the exception of Hawaii, these states
also saw smaller increases in the number of persons released
during 2014. After the BOP, Indiana had the largest decline
in admissions during 2014, admitting 1,800 fewer inmates
than in 2013 (down 10%). Mississippi admitted 19% fewer
prisoners in 2014, a decline of 1,500 prison admissions from
the previous year.

Figure 4
Admissions to and releases from state prison, 2004–2014

In 2014, new court commitments accounted for 91% of the
BOP’s total admissions, compared to 70% for state prisons.
Parole violation admissions, which include all conditional
release violators, made up the majority of the remaining
admissions. Of states with the largest prison populations, Texas
admitted 66% (50,000) of its inmates in 2014 on new court
commitments, compared to 86% (33,500) for California and
97% (31,000) in Florida. Vermont, Washington, Idaho, and
Arkansas admitted more than 50% of prisoners during 2014 on
violations of post-custody supervision programs.
Twenty-one states increased the number of prison releases
from 2013 to 2014, led by Texas (up 4%), Arkansas (up 35%),
and California (up 6%). These three leading states accounted
for 61% of the total increase in state prison releases. Seventy
percent of all prison inmates released from state prisons in
2014 had post-custody community supervision conditions to
fulfill. Maine, Massachusetts, Florida, Rhode Island, and New
Jersey placed no post-custody supervision conditions on the
majority of prisoners they released during 2014.*
*The majority of releases from the federal prison population are reported as
unconditional. Under the Sentencing Reform Act of 1984, the federal parole
system was eliminated, but federal courts were allowed to impose a term of
supervised release after imprisonment as part of an inmate's sentence. Because
this supervised release term is not implemented under the jurisdiction of the
federal prison system, the BOP reports prison releases as unconditional even
though inmates may serve post-custody community supervision.

Figure 5
Admissions to and releases from federal prison, 2004–2014

Number of state admissions and releases

Number of federal admissions and releases

800,000

100,000

700,000
600,000
500,000

87,500
Releases
Admissions

75,000
62,500

400,000

50,000

300,000

37,500

200,000

25,000

100,000

12,500

0

2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

0

Admissions
Releases

2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

Note: Counts based on prisoners with a sentence of more than 1 year. Excludes

Note: Counts based on prisoners with a sentence of more than 1 year. Excludes

Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, National Prisoner Statistics, 2004–2014.

Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, National Prisoner Statistics, 2004–2014.

transfers, escapes, and those absent without leave (AWOL), and includes other
conditional release violators, returns from appeal or bond, and other admissions.
See Methodology. See appendix table 1 for counts.

P R I S O N E R S I N 2 01 4 | S E P T E M B E R 2015 	

transfers, escapes, and those absent without leave (AWOL), and includes other
conditional release violators, returns from appeal or bond, and other admissions.
See Methodology. See appendix table 2 for counts.

9

Table 7
Admissions and releases of sentenced prisoners, 2013 and 2014
2013
Jurisdiction
Total
U.S. totalc
629,962
Federalh
53,664
State
576,298
Alabama
11,265
Alaskac,i,j,k
3,906
Arizona
13,538
Arkansasl
8,987
Californiae
38,295
Colorado
10,137
Connecticuti,k
5,492
Delawarei
3,142
Florida
33,613
Georgia
19,478
Hawaiii
1,380
Idahol
3,719
Illinois
30,959
Indiana
18,881
Iowa
5,159
Kansas
5,220
Kentucky
15,834
Louisiana
16,770
Maine
929
Marylandm
9,223
Massachusetts
2,567
Michigan
14,417
Minnesota
7,687
Mississippi
8,105
Missouri
18,983
Montana
2,382
Nebraska
2,922
Nevadan
/
New Hampshire
1,659
New Jersey
9,802
New Mexico
3,567
New York
22,740
North Carolina
14,077
North Dakota
1,222
Ohio
21,998
Oklahoma
8,019
Oregon
5,532
Pennsylvania
20,455
Rhode Islandi
810
South Carolina
6,431
South Dakotak
1,842
Tennessee
13,803
Texas
76,488
Utah
3,094
Vermonti
1,858
Virginia
11,636
Washington
21,426

Admissionsa
2014 Percent change, 2014 New court 2014 Parole
Total 2013–2014
commitmentsc violationsc,d
626,644
-0.5%
448,993
164,225
50,865
-5.2%
46,145
4,719
575,779
-0.1%
402,848
159,506
10,912
-3.1
8,827
1,137
3,846
-1.5
/
/
14,439
6.7
11,989
2,449
9,435
5.0
4,218
5,217
38,765
1.2
33,497
5,268
10,144
0.1
5,275
4,867
5,487
:
4,532
879
3,349
6.6
2,711
610
32,014
-4.8
30,984
114
18,455
-5.3
16,614
1,838
1,845
33.7
1,116
729
4,597
:
1,570
3,012
29,678
-4.1
20,769
8,835
17,086
-9.5
14,442
2,347
5,153
-0.1
3,711
1,423
5,683
8.9
4,278
1,338
18,385
16.1
10,613
7,657
16,376
-2.3
11,639
4,737
774
-16.7
586
188
9,223
:
5,579
3,640
2,526
-1.6
2,268
224
13,834
-4.0
7,702
3,472
7,866
2.3
5,095
2,771
6,570
-18.9
5,075
1,367
19,000
0.1
10,080
8,914
2,448
2.8
1,888
560
2,705
-7.4
2,130
495
5,876
:
4,488
925
1,611
-2.9
658
770
9,257
-5.6
6,827
2,430
3,798
6.5
2,500
1,298
21,572
-5.1
13,054
8,427
16,016
13.8
13,671
2,345
1,142
-6.5
953
189
22,189
0.9
18,301
3,868
10,095
25.9
6,943
3,152
5,330
-3.7
3,701
1,461
20,084
-1.8
10,252
9,074
821
1.4
699
122
6,283
-2.3
5,049
1,224
2,266
:
1,073
539
14,987
8.6
8,911
6,055
75,571
-1.2
49,825
24,482
2,922
-5.6
1,596
1,326
1,715
-7.7
601
1,114
12,237
5.2
12,150
87
20,797
-2.9
7,642
13,153

Releasesb
2013
2014 Percent change, 2014
Total
Total 2013–2014
Unconditionale,f
623,990 636,346
2.0%
177,967
54,785 54,529
-0.5%
53,245
569,205 581,817
2.2%
124,722
11,488 11,585
0.8
4,002
3,774
3,774
:
2,004
12,931 13,513
4.5
2,229
6,541
8,812
34.7
597
36,353 38,559
6.1
/
10,220
9,869
-3.4
1,585
5,177
5,968
:
2,936
4,251
4,222
-0.7
282
32,855 32,754
-0.3
20,699
18,226 17,124
-6.0
7,157
1,615
1,242
-23.1
306
3,761
4,501
19.7
513
31,370 30,055
-4.2
4,406
17,959 17,866
-0.5
2,351
5,202
5,005
-3.8
1,121
5,133
5,554
8.2
1,707
16,871 17,731
5.1
3,282
17,646 17,882
1.3
1,267
971
1,031
6.2
620
9,504
9,466
:
1,306
2,855
2,654
-7.0
1,885
14,307 14,177
-0.9
873
7,808
7,642
-2.1
916
8,201
9,442
15.1
1,173
18,790 18,767
-0.1
1,525
2,347
2,387
1.7
272
2,583
2,284
-11.6
793
/
5,838
:
2,107
1,633
1,562
-4.3
68
10,766 10,275
-4.6
6,095
3,345
3,515
5.1
918
23,382 22,927
-1.9
2,435
13,829 15,264
10.4
4,406
1,173
1,046
-10.8
139
21,235 22,399
5.5
10,062
7,374
8,654
17.4
4,195
5,048
5,432
7.6
13
19,632 20,555
4.7
3,268
885
867
-2.0
638
6,716
6,897
2.7
2,524
1,820
2,413
:
303
16,348 15,556
-4.8
4,974
74,093 77,277
4.3
10,661
2,988
2,979
-0.3
988
1,752
1,740
-0.7
274
11,880 12,094
1.8
1,094
20,861 20,898
0.2
2,233

2014
Conditionale,g
405,924
431
405,493
7,428
1,744
10,300
8,156
/
8,152
3,017
3,866
11,673
9,847
635
3,962
25,517
15,445
3,835
3,826
14,337
16,472
409
8,075
727
11,155
6,702
8,162
17,115
2,099
1,475
3,330
1,489
3,931
2,573
20,206
10,771
901
12,209
4,349
5,240
17,138
224
4,295
1,648
10,500
61,933
1,967
1,459
10,898
18,609

Continued on the next page

P R I S O N E R S I N 2 01 4 | S E P T E M B E R 2015 	

10

TABLE 7 (continued)
Admissions and releases of sentenced prisoners, by jurisdiction, 2013 and 2014
Jurisdiction
West Virginia
Wisconsink
Wyoming

2013
Total
3,573
7,343
1,004

Admissionsa
2014 Percent change, 2014 New court 2014 Parole
Total 2013–2014
commitmentsc violationsc,d
3,544
-0.8%
1,885
1,217
6,134
:
4,129
1,975
937
-6.7
752
185

2013
Total
3,780
5,475
895

Releasesb
2014 Percent change, 2014
Total 2013–2014
Unconditionale,f
3,468
-8.3%
1,004
5,433
:
252
862
-3.7
264

2014
Conditionale,g
2,001
5,105
586

Note: Counts based on prisoners with a sentence of more than 1 year.
/Not reported.
:Not calculated.
aExcludes transfers, escapes, and those absent without leave (AWOL), and includes other conditional release violators, returns from appeal or bond, and other admissions.
See Methodology.
bExcludes transfers, escapes, and those AWOL, and includes deaths, releases to appeal or bond, and other releases. See Methodology.
cU.S. and state totals by type of admission exclude counts for Alaska. See Jurisdiction notes.
dIncludes all conditional release violators returned to prison for either violations of conditions of release or for new crimes.
eU.S. and state totals by type of release exclude counts for California because the state was unable to report detailed information on releases. See Jurisdiction notes.
fIncludes expirations of sentence, commutations, and other unconditional releases.
gIncludes releases to probation, supervised mandatory releases, and other unspecified conditional releases.
hThe Sentencing Reform Act of 1984 eliminated the federal parole system but allowed courts to impose a term of supervised release after imprisonment as part of an inmate’s
sentence. Some persons with unconditional releases from the Bureau of Prisons may be released to community supervision.
iPrisons and jails form one integrated system. Data include total jail and prison populations.
jAlaska did not submit 2014 National Prisoner Statistics (NPS) admission or release data. Release-type data for 2014 were obtained from data submitted by Alaska to the
National Corrections Reporting Program.
kCounts for 2014 admissions and releases are not comparable to earlier years due to a change in reporting methodology.
lCounts for 2014 admissions are not comparable to earlier years due to a change in reporting methodology.
mState did not submit admissions or release data in 2014 to NPS. See Methodology.
nState did not submit 2013 NPS data. See Methodology for details on imputation of 2013 data.
Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, National Prisoner Statistics, 2013–2014.

Nineteen jurisdictions were operating their prison
facilities at more than 100% maximum capacity in 2014
The yearend 2014 custody populations of the BOP and
18 states exceeded the maximum measure of their prison
facilities’ capacity. The BOP and 28 states had more prisoners
in custody than their minimum number of beds (table 8). BJS
reports three different measures of capacity: the operational
capacity, which is based on the ability of the staff, programs,
and services to accommodate a certain size population; the
rated capacity, which measures the number of beds assigned by
a rating official to each facility; and the design capacity, which
is the number of beds that the facility was originally designed
to hold. Although many jurisdictions cannot report all three

P R I S O N E R S I N 2 01 4 | S E P T E M B E R 2015 	

types of capacity, most provide at least two types. Based on
these data, BJS calculates the percent capacity of facilities based
on the custody population for the largest (maximum) and
smallest (minimum) capacity measures.
Prison facilities in Illinois held 48,300 inmates at yearend 2014,
150% of the rated capacity of 32,100 (maximum), and 171%
of the design capacity of 28,200 (minimum). BOP facilities
were officially rated to house 132,700 inmates, but 170,000
prisoners were in custody at yearend 2014, which was 128% of
the maximum capacity reported. Other jurisdictions with more
inmates housed than the maximum number of beds for which
their facilities were designed, rated, or intended include Ohio
(132%), Massachusetts (130%), and Nebraska (128%).

11

Table 8
Prison facility capacity, custody population, and percent capacity, December 31, 2014
Jurisdiction
Federalb
State
Alabamac
Alaskad
Arizona
Arkansas
Californiac
Colorado
Connecticut
Delawarec
Floridae
Georgiae
Hawaii
Idahoc,e
Illinois
Indiana
Iowaf
Kansas
Kentucky
Louisianae
Maine
Marylandg
Massachusetts
Michiganc,h
Minnesota
Mississippie
Missouric
Montana
Nebraskac
Nevada
New Hampshirec
New Jersey
New Mexico
New York
North Carolina
North Dakota
Ohio
Oklahoma
Oregon
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
South Carolina
South Dakotac
Tennessee
Texasc
Utah
Vermont
Virginiai
Washingtoni
West Virginia
Wisconsinc
Wyoming

Rated
132,731
…
…
37,681
15,450
…
…
/
5,649
…
59,566
…
7,010
32,095
…
7,276
9,180
12,164
18,121
2,339
…
…
44,919
…
…
…
1,679
…
/
…
18,584
6,840
51,480
…
1,479
34,986
16,529
…
47,945
3,989
…
…
16,844
159,583
…
1,681
…
…
4,647
…
2,288

Type of capacity measure
Operational
Design
…
…
26,145
5,352
42,961
15,429
127,594
14,502
/
5,210
109,191
53,418
3,527
6,858
32,095
30,517
7,276
9,233
11,590
15,686
2,133
23,465
…
43,939
9,454
26,008
31,673
…
4,094
/
2,723
19,958
7,708
51,868
43,815
1,479
…
18,638
…
47,945
3,774
23,269
3,622
16,403
153,331
7,191
1,681
30,514
16,744
5,923
22,918
2,288

13,318
…
37,681
15,529
87,187
14,502
/
4,161
…
…
2,491
6,858
28,212
…
7,276
9,164
11,925
16,764
2,339
…
8,029
…
…
…
…
…
3,275
/
2,190
23,108
7,708
50,960
37,503
1,479
…
16,529
14,997
47,945
3,973
…
…
…
159,583
7,431
1,322
24,219
…
5,097
17,181
2,407

Custody population
169,840
25,664
5,188
35,181
15,250
119,071
16,687
16,167
6,730
100,873
52,719
3,965
7,497
48,278
28,073
8,209
9,539
12,114
18,710
2,199
21,236
10,447
43,359
9,576
13,069
31,903
1,687
5,228
12,693
2,723
18,633
3,876
52,362
37,348
1,325
46,151
19,126
14,492
48,538
3,133
20,948
3,497
15,699
139,879
5,307
1,548
28,480
17,180
5,867
22,572
2,114

Custody population as a percent of—
Lowest capacitya Highest capacitya
128.0%
128.0%
192.7
96.9
93.4
98.8
136.6
115.1
/
161.7
92.4
98.7
159.2
109.3
171.1
92.0
112.8
104.1
104.5
119.3
103.1
90.5
130.1
98.7
101.3
50.2
100.7
100.5
159.6
/
124.3
100.3
56.7
102.8
99.6
89.6
131.9
115.7
96.6
101.2
83.0
90.0
96.5
95.7
91.2
73.8
117.1
117.6
102.6
126.3
131.4
92.4

98.2
96.9
81.9
98.2
93.3
115.1
/
119.1
92.4
88.5
112.4
106.9
150.4
92.0
112.8
103.3
99.6
103.3
94.0
90.5
130.1
96.5
101.3
50.2
100.7
100.5
127.7
/
100.0
80.6
50.3
101.0
85.2
89.6
131.9
102.6
96.6
101.2
78.5
90.0
96.5
93.2
87.7
71.4
92.1
93.3
102.6
99.1
98.5
87.8

...Not available. Specific type of capacity is not measured by state.
/Not reported.
aPopulation counts are based on the number of inmates held in custody of facilities operated by the jurisdiction. Excludes inmates held in local jails, other states, or private facilities
unless noted.
bDue to differences in the dates when data were extracted, the federal custody count reported for the calculation of capacity excludes 3,990 inmates compared to the yearend custody
data reported in the National Prisoner Statistics (NPS).
cState defines capacity in a way that differs from BJS’s definition. See Jurisdiction notes.
dAlaska did not report 2014 capacity or custody population data to NPS. Estimates derived from a report to the state legislature. See Methodology.
ePrivate facilities included in capacity and custody counts.
fBoth capacity and custody counts exclude inmates in community-based work release facilities.
gState did not report 2014 capacity counts to NPS. Data are from 2013.
hCapacity counts include institution and camp net operating capacities and the population of community programs on December 31 because these programs do not have a fixed
capacity.
iState has changed reporting methodology, so 2014 capacity counts are not comparable to those published for earlier years. See Jurisdiction notes.
Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, National Prisoner Statistics, 2014.

P R I S O N E R S I N 2 01 4 | S E P T E M B E R 2015 	

12

The number of prisoners held in private facilities declined
in 2014
Of states with prison facilities operating at more than 100%
maximum capacity, both Ohio and the BOP decreased the
number of inmates held in private facilities. Illinois, Nebraska,
and Massachusetts do not house any prisoners in private
facilities. In 2014, 131,300 inmates were held in private
prison facilities under the jurisdiction of 30 states and the
BOP, a decrease of 2,100 prisoners from yearend 2013 (table
9). The federal prison system held 1,100 fewer prisoners in
private prisons (down 3%), for a total of 40,000 or 19% of the
BOP population. Idaho had the largest decline (down 77%)
in private prisoners during 2014, as operations at a prison
facility formerly run by a private entity were taken over by the
state DOC.
Seven states housed at least 20% of their inmate population
in private facilities at yearend 2014, including New Mexico
(44% of the total state prison population), Montana (39%),
Oklahoma (26%), and Hawaii (24%). Since 1999, when BJS
began tracking the number of prisoners in private facilities
at yearend on an annual basis through the National Prisoner
Statistics (NPS), the size of this population has grown 90%,
from 69,000 prisoners at yearend 1999 to 131,300 in 2014.
The use of private prisons was at a maximum in 2012, when
137,200 (almost 9%) of the total U.S. prison population were
housed in private facilities (figure 6).
Between 5% and 7% of state prison inmates were held in
private facilities each year, while the BOP increasingly
relied on facilities not managed by a state, federal, or local
government to house inmates in recent years, including both
secure and nonsecure facilities, and home confinement. In
1999, almost 3% of federal prison inmates were held in secure
private facilities. This grew to more than 13% in 2012 and
2013, before declining in 2014 to slightly less than 13%. In
2014, 13,000 (32%) of the BOP’s 40,000 privately supervised
inmates were in nonsecure community corrections facilities or
on home confinement, up from 6,100 in 2000, the first year the
BOP reported this population to BJS (not shown).

P R I S O N E R S I N 2 01 4 | S E P T E M B E R 2015 	

Figure 6
Percent of total prisoners under state or federal jurisdiction
in the custody of private prison facilities, December 31,
1999–2014
Percent
20
Federal
15

10

5

0

Total
State

'99 '00 '01 '02 '03 '04 '05 '06 '07 '08 '09 '10 '11 '12 '13 '14

Note: Counts of private prisoners in the federal prison system include inmates held
in nonsecure privately operated facilities, and prisoners on home confinement.
Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, National Prisoner Statistics, 1999–2014.

In 2014, states held 4,100 fewer prisoners in local jails than
in 2013
At yearend 2014, almost 82,000 prisoners were held in
the custody of local jails for 35 states and the BOP. This
represented a 5% decline (down 3,900) from the 85,700
prisoners held in jail facilities in 2013. Fourteen states and the
BOP increased the number of prisoners housed in local jails
during 2014, while Oklahoma, Louisiana, and Texas held at
least 1,000 fewer prison inmates in jail facilities than in 2013.
Louisiana housed the most prisoners in local facilities, with
19,300 (51%) of the state’s yearend 2014 prison population
residing in jails.

13

Table 9
Prisoners held in the custody of private prisons and local jails, December 31, 2013 and 2014
Jurisdiction
U.S. totala
Federalb
Statea
Alabama
Alaskac,d
Arizona
Arkansas
California
Colorado
Connecticutc
Delawarec
Florida
Georgia
Hawaiic
Idaho
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts
Michigan
Minnesota
Mississippi
Missouri
Montana
Nebraska
Nevadae
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New Mexico
New York
North Carolina
North Dakota
Ohio
Oklahoma
Oregon
Pennsylvania
Rhode Islandc
South Carolina
South Dakota
Tennessee
Texas
Utah
Vermontc
Virginia
Washington
West Virginia
Wisconsin
Wyoming

2013
133,363
41,159
92,204
554
27
6,405
0
2,026
3,898
725
0
11,801
7,900
1,421
2,745
0
4,438
0
95
0
3,158
0
29
0
0
0
4,394
0
1,459
0
/
0
2,735
2,984
0
30
319
5,487
7,051
0
546
0
15
16
5,103
14,538
0
499
1,554
0
0
0
252

Inmates held in private prisonsa
Percent change Percent of total
2014
2013–2014
jurisdiction, 2014
131,261
-1.6%
8.4%
40,017
-2.8%
19.0%
91,244
-1.0%
6.8%
481
-13.2
1.5
28
3.7
:
6,955
8.6
16.5
0
~
~
2,376
17.3
1.7
3,782
-3.0
18.3
647
-10.8
3.9
0
~
~
12,395
5.0
12.0
7,901
0.0
14.9
1,425
0.3
24.3
639
-76.7
7.9
0
~
~
4,420
-0.4
15.1
0
~
~
105
10.5
1.1
0
~
~
3,142
-0.5
8.3
0
~
~
30
3.4
0.1
0
~
~
0
~
~
0
~
~
4,114
-6.4
21.9
0
~
~
1,432
-1.9
38.7
0
~
~
0
:
~
0
~
~
2,761
1.0
12.8
3,072
2.9
43.8
0
~
~
30
0.0
0.1
371
16.3
21.6
5,370
-2.1
10.4
7,367
4.5
26.3
0
~
~
636
16.5
1.3
0
~
~
15
0.0
0.1
10
-37.5
0.3
5,116
0.3
17.8
14,368
-1.2
8.7
0
~
~
431
-13.6
21.8
1,570
1.0
4.2
0
~
~
0
~
~
0
~
~
255
1.2%
10.7%

2013
85,662
788
84,874
2,090
0
0
2,916
0
187
0
0
1,175
4,887
0
662
0
1,418
0
3
8,213
20,505
65
130
329
55
963
6,378
0
497
47
/
41
119
0
10
0
9
0
2,406
5
857
0
364
53
7,790
12,527
1,626
0
6,974
163
1,116
11
16

Inmates held in local jails
Percent change Percent of total
2014
2013–2014
jurisdiction, 2014
81,738
-4.6%
5.2%
939
19.2%
0.4%
80,799
-4.8%
6.0%
1,702
-18.6
5.4
0
~
~
0
~
~
2,600
-10.8
14.5
0
~
~
176
-5.9
0.9
0
~
~
0
~
~
1,104
-6.0
1.1
4,946
1.2
9.3
0
~
~
620
-6.3
7.6
0
~
~
1,198
-15.5
4.1
0
~
~
90
2,900.0
0.9
8,966
9.2
41.4
19,320
-5.8
50.8
26
-60.0
1.2
95
-26.9
0.5
279
-15.2
2.6
31
-43.6
0.1
997
3.5
9.4
5,568
-12.7
29.6
0
~
~
515
3.6
13.9
212
351.1
3.9
97
:
0.8
69
68.3
2.3
110
-7.6
0.5
0
~
~
8
-20.0
0.0
0
~
~
12
33.3
0.7
0
~
~
1,079
-55.2
3.8
0
-100.0
0.0
894
4.3
1.8
0
~
~
298
-18.1
1.4
76
43.4
2.1
7,987
2.5
27.8
11,395
-9.0
6.9
1,668
2.6
23.7
0
~
~
7,449
6.8
19.8
167
2.5
0.9
1,029
-7.8
14.9
7
-36.4
0.0
9
-43.8
0.4

:Not calculated.
~Not applicable.
/Not reported.
aIncludes prisoners held in the jurisdiction’s own private facilities, as well as private facilities in another state.
bIncludes federal prisoners held in nonsecure privately operated facilities (9,480), as well as prisoners on home confinement (3,473).
cPrisons and jails form one integrated system. Data include total jail and prison populations.
dState did not submit 2014 National Prisoner Statistics (NPS) data. See Methodology.
eState did not submit 2013 NPS data. See Methodology.
Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, National Prisoner Statistics, 2013–2014.

P R I S O N E R S I N 2 01 4 | S E P T E M B E R 2015 	

14

2.7% of black males and 1.1% of Hispanic males were
sentenced to more than 1 year in state or federal prison at
yearend 2014
An estimated 516,900 black males were in state or federal
prison at yearend 2014, accounting for 37% of the male prison
population (table 10, appendix table 3). White males made up
32% of the male prison population (453,500 prison inmates),
followed by Hispanics (308,700 inmates or 22%). White
females (53,100 prisoners) in state or federal prison at yearend
2014 outnumbered both black (22,600) and Hispanic (17,800)
females.
As a percentage of residents of all ages at yearend 2014, 2.7% of
black males (or 2,724 per 100,000 black male residents) and
1.1% of Hispanic males (1,090 per 100,000 Hispanic males)
were serving sentences of at least 1 year in prison, compared
to less than 0.5% of white males (465 per 100,000 white male
residents). On December 31, 2014, black males had higher
imprisonment rates than prisoners of other races or Hispanic
origin within every age group. Imprisonment rates for black
males were 3.8 to 10.5 times greater at each age group than

white males and 1.4 to 3.1 times greater than rates for Hispanic
males. The largest disparity between white and black male
prisoners occurred among inmates ages 18 to 19. Black
males (1,072 prisoners per 100,000 black male residents ages
18 to 19) were more than 10 times more likely to be in state or
federal prison than whites (102 per 100,000).
Imprisonment rates by race and Hispanic origin were highest
for males ages 30 to 34 (6,412 per 100,000 black males,
2,457 per 100,000 Hispanic males, and 1,111 per 100,000
white males). More than 1% of white male residents ages
30 to 39 were in state or federal prison at yearend 2014. Black
males exceeded 6% of their total U.S. population in prison for
persons ages 30 to 39.
Female prisoners ages 30 to 34 had the highest imprisonment
rates among black (264 per 100,000 black females of the
same age), white (163 per 100,000), and Hispanic inmates
(174 per 100,000). Black females were between 1.6 and
4.1 times more likely to be imprisoned than white females of
any age group.

Table 10
Imprisonment rate of sentenced state and federal prisoners per 100,000 U.S. residents, by demographic characteristics,
December 31, 2014
Age group
Totala All malea
Totalc
471
890
18–19
169
317
20–24
746
1,365
25–29
1,055
1,912
30–34
1,161
2,129
35–39
1,067
1,982
40–44
904
1,689
45–49
758
1,417
50–54
567
1,081
55–59
358
698
60–64
212
422
65 or older
72
158
Number of sentenced prisonersd 1,508,636 1,402,404

Whiteb
465
102
584
958
1,111
1,029
942
815
633
400
252
109
453,500

Male
Blackb
2,724
1,072
3,868
5,434
6,412
6,122
5,105
4,352
3,331
2,178
1,265
418
516,900

Hispanic
1,091
349
1,521
2,245
2,457
2,272
1,933
1,602
1,320
978
680
299
308,700

Otherb
968
542
1,755
2,022
2,193
1,878
1,619
1,444
1,112
832
483
208
123,300

All femalea
65
14
96
170
185
155
132
111
72
37
20
5
106,232

Whiteb
53
8
72
150
163
138
119
90
57
27
15
4
53,100

Female
Blackb
109
32
152
244
264
229
213
203
128
72
37
8
22,600

Hispanic
64
17
94
165
174
137
107
94
67
42
25
7
17,800

Otherb
93
12
109
208
225
189
174
161
124
63
37
12
12,800

Note: Counts based on prisoners with sentences of more than 1 year under the jurisdiction of state or federal correctional authorities. Imprisonment rate is the number of
prisoners under state or federal jurisdiction with a sentence of more than 1 year per 100,000 U.S. residents of corresponding sex, age, and race or Hispanic origin. Resident
population estimates are from the U.S. Census Bureau for January 1, 2015. Alaska did not submit 2014 data to the National Prisoner Statistics (NPS), so totals include imputed
counts for this state. See Methodology.
aIncludes American Indians and Alaska Natives; Asians, Native Hawaiians, and other Pacific Islanders; and persons of two or more races.
bExcludes persons of Hispanic or Latino origin.
cIncludes persons age 17 or younger.
dRace totals are rounded to the nearest 100 to accommodate differences in data collection techniques between jurisdictions.
Sources: Bureau of Justice Statistics, National Prisoner Statistics, 2014; Federal Justice Statistics Program, 2014; National Corrections Reporting Program, 2013; Survey of
Inmates in State and Federal Correctional Facilities, 2004; and U.S. Census Bureau, postcensal resident population estimates for January 1, 2015.

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15

Compared to violent and property offenders, inmates
serving time for drug offenses in state prisons showed
little racial disparity
More than half of all state prisoners on December 31, 2013
(the most recent date for which offense data are available)
were serving sentences of at least 1 year for violent offenses
on their current term of imprisonment (704,800 prisoners or
53%), including 165,600 persons for murder or nonnegligent
manslaughter and 166,200 for rape or sexual assault
(table 11, appendix table 4). A smaller percentage of females
were sentenced for violent offenses (37%) than males (54%),
although the proportion of those sentenced for murder was
similar for males (13%) and females (11%) in state prisons.
Almost 16% of state prisoners were convicted drug offenders
(208,000 inmates), including 24% of all females in state
prison (22,000 inmates) and 15% of all males in state prison
(186,000 inmates).

The percentage of white (15%), black (16%), and Hispanic
(15%) state prisoners sentenced for drug offenses were similar,
but a smaller percentage of whites were in prison for violent
offenses (48%) than blacks (57%) and Hispanics (59%). The
number of whites (78,500 prisoners) serving time for rape
or another sexual offense at yearend 2013 was more than
the total of both blacks (39,700 prisoners) and Hispanics
(37,300 prisoners) in state prison for these crimes. Twenty-five
percent of all white prisoners under state jurisdiction were
serving time for property offenses, compared to 16% of
black prisoners and 14% of Hispanic prisoners. Almost half
(48% or 24,400 prisoners) of blacks imprisoned in state
facilities for public order offenses were sentenced for weapons
crimes, which include carrying, exhibiting, firing, possessing,
or selling a weapon. State prisons held an additional
13,900 Hispanic and 11,200 white prisoners sentenced for
weapons crimes.

Table 11
Estimated percent of sentenced prisoners under state jurisdiction, by offense, sex, race, and Hispanic origin, December 31, 2013
Most serious offense
Total
Violent
Murderc
Manslaughter
Rape/sexual assault
Robbery
Aggravated/simple assault
Other
Property
Burglary
Larceny-theft
Motor vehicle theft
Fraud
Other
Drug
Drug possession
Otherd
Public order
Weapons
Driving under the influence
Othere
Other/unspecifiedf
Total number of sentenced inmatesg

All inmatesa
100%
53.2%
12.5
1.4
12.5
13.7
10.0
3.1
19.3%
10.5
3.8
0.8
2.1
2.1
15.7%
3.6
12.1
11.0%
3.8
1.9
5.3
0.8%
1,325,305

Male
100%
54.4%
12.6
1.3
13.3
14.0
10.1
3.1
18.6%
10.7
3.4
0.8
1.6
2.0
15.1%
3.4
11.7
11.2%
4.0
1.9
5.3
0.8%
1,233,724

Female
100%
37.1%
11.2
2.5
2.4
8.8
8.5
3.7
28.4%
7.6
9.0
0.8
8.0
3.0
24.0%
6.2
17.8
9.2%
1.7
2.4
5.1
1.3%
91,581

Whiteb
100%
47.8%
9.6
1.5
16.7
8.0
8.8
3.2
25.1%
12.4
5.7
1.1
3.1
2.9
14.5%
3.8
10.7
11.9%
2.4
2.9
6.7
0.7%
468,600

Blackb
100%
56.8%
13.7
0.8
8.0
19.9
10.9
3.5
16.4%
9.7
3.5
0.5
1.5
1.3
16.1%
3.8
12.3
10.3%
4.9
0.7
4.7
0.4%
497,000

Hispanic
100%
59.2%
14.2
1.1
13.6
13.5
13.0
3.7
13.5%
8.3
2.1
1.0
0.9
1.2
14.5%
4.2
10.4
12.2%
5.1
2.4
4.7
0.5%
274,200

Note: Estimates are based on state prisoners with a sentence of more than 1 year under the jurisdiction of state correctional officials. Detail may not sum to total due to
rounding and missing offense data. See Methodology.
aIncludes American Indians and Alaska Natives; Asians, Native Hawaiians, and other Pacific Islanders; and persons of two or more races.
bExcludes persons of Hispanic or Latino origin and persons of two or more races.
cIncludes nonnegligent manslaughter.
dIncludes trafficking and other drug offenses.
eIncludes court offenses; commercialized vice, morals, and decency offenses; and liquor law violations and other public-order offenses.
fIncludes juvenile offenses and other unspecified offense categories.
gRace totals are rounded to the nearest 100 to accommodate differences in data collection techniques between jurisdictions.
Sources: Bureau of Justice Statistics, National Prisoner Statistics, 2013; National Corrections Reporting Program, 2013; and Survey of Inmates in State Correctional Facilities,
2004.

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16

59% of females in federal prison were serving time for
drug crimes
Fifty percent (95,800) of sentenced inmates in federal prison
on September 30, 2014 (the most recent date for which
federal offense data are available) were serving time for drug
offenses (table 12, appendix table 5). In comparison to the
53% in state prisons, violent offenders represented 7% of
the federal prison population (14,000 prisoners). Among
female federal prisoners, 4% were convicted of violent

crimes in 2014. Public order offenders made up 36% of the
BOP population, and 9% of federal prisoners (17,000) were
serving time for immigration offenses. Among Hispanics in
federal prisons, 26% were sentenced for immigration offenses
(16,100 inmates), and 57% were sentenced for drug crimes
(36,000 inmates). Fifty-three percent of black federal prisoners
were convicted drug offenders in 2014, and 25% served
sentences for weapons offenses.

Table 12
Estimated percent of sentenced prisoners under federal correctional authority, by most serious offense, sex, race, and Hispanic
origin, September 30, 2014
Most serious offense
Violent
Homicidec
Robbery
Other violent
Property
Burglary
Fraud
Other property
Drugd
Public order
Immigration
Weapons
Other
Other/unspecifiede
Total number of sentenced inmatesf

All inmatesa
7.3%
1.5
3.8
2.1
6.0%
0.2
4.7
1.1
50.1%
35.9%
8.9
15.8
11.1
0.7%
192,663

Male
7.5%
1.5
3.9
2.2
5.2%
0.2
3.9
1.0
49.5%
37.1%
9.3
16.6
11.2
0.7%
180,140

Female
4.4%
1.3
1.7
1.4
18.3%
0.2
15.5
2.7
58.8%
17.9%
3.7
4.3
9.8
0.6%
12,523

Whiteb
7.1%
0.7
5.0
1.5
10.0%
0.2
7.8
2.0
40.3%
41.2%
1.2
14.8
25.3
1.4%
51,600

Blackb
9.9%
2.4
5.6
2.0
5.9%
0.4
4.4
1.1
52.5%
31.2%
0.4
24.8
6.1
0.5%
71,300

Hispanic
2.0%
0.3
0.9
0.8
2.7%
0.0
2.3
0.4
56.9%
38.0%
25.5
7.1
5.4
0.4%
63,700

Note: Counts are based on sentenced prisoners under federal jurisdiction, regardless of sentence length. Detail may not sum to total due to rounding and missing offense data.
See Methodology.
aIncludes American Indians and Alaska Natives; Asians, Native Hawaiians, and other Pacific Islanders; and persons of two or more races.
bExcludes persons of Hispanic or Latino origin and persons of two or more races.
cIncludes murder, negligent, and nonnegligent manslaughter.
dIncludes trafficking, possession, and other drug offenses.
eIncludes offenses not classified.
fIncludes sentenced inmates under federal jurisdiction, regardless of sentence length.
Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, Federal Justice Statistics Program, 2014.

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17

More than 40% of personnel held under military
jurisdiction had committed violent offenses
The U.S. military held 1,100 persons sentenced to at least
1 year or 1,400 persons of all sentence lengths under the
jurisdiction of military correctional authorities at yearend
2014 (table 13). The sentenced population increased by slightly
more than 1% from 2013. More than half (54% or 580) of the

prisoners had served in the U.S. Army before imprisonment.
U.S. Air Force personnel made up an additional 18% of the
sentenced military confined population (200 persons). The
Army had custody of 67% of all military personnel sentenced
to more than 1 year on December 31, 2014, with an additional
32% held in the custody of the U.S. Navy.

Table 13
Prisoners under military jurisdiction, by branch of service, December 31, 2013 and 2014

Total number of prisoners
Military branch of service
Air Force
Army
Marine Corps
Navy
Coast Guard
In custody of—
Air Force
Army
Marine Corps
Navy

2013
1,421

Total populationa
Percent change,
2014
2013–2014
1,409
-0.8%

2013
1,056

Sentenced populationb
Percent change,
2014
2013–2014
1,070
1.3%

287
685
241
195
13

246
692
230
218
23

-14.3%
1.0
-4.6
11.8
76.9

215
552
139
145
5

194
576
134
152
14

-9.8%
4.3
-3.6
4.8
:

37
817
65
502

34
825
78
472

-8.1%
1.0
20.0
-6.0

4
690
2
360

5
714
13
338

:
3.5%
:
-6.1

: Not calculated.
aIncludes all prisoners under military jurisdiction, regardless of conviction status or sentence length.
bIncludes prisoners sentenced to more than 1 year under military jurisdiction.
Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, based on data from the Office of the Under Secretary for Defense for Personnel and Readiness, U.S. Department of Defense, 2013–2014.

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18

Of military personnel with known offense data sentenced
to any term of imprisonment under military jurisdiction,
43% had committed violent offenses, including 24% for
violent sexual offenses and 8% each for murder and assault
(table 14). An additional 37% had committed nonviolent
sexual offenses, including sexual misconduct. The Navy had

the highest percentage of violent offenders (including violent
sexual offenders), making up 47% of all its convicted and
imprisoned personnel, compared to 45% for the Army, 39% for
the Air Force, and 31% for U.S. Marine personnel. More than
75% of convicted naval personnel were serving time for sexual
offenses, including 34% for rape or sexual assault.

Table 14
Percent of prisoners under military correctional authority with sentences of any length, by most serious offense and military
branch of service, December 31, 2014
Most serious offense
Total
Sexual
Violent
Nonviolentb
Other violent
Murderc
Manslaughter
Robbery
Aggravated/simple assault
Other violent
Property
Burglary
Larceny-theft
Motor vehicle theft
Fraud
Other property
Drugd
Public order
Military offenses
Other/unspecified
Total number of prisoners

Totala
100%
61.7%
24.4
37.2
18.2%
7.8
0.6
0.3
8.0
1.4
5.0%
0.6
3.1
0.0
0.2
1.2
6.5%
0.2%
2.8%
5.6%
1,268

Air Force
100%
68.6%
27.1
41.5
12.3%
3.8
0.4
0.0
7.6
0.4
2.5%
0.4
1.7
0.0
0.0
0.4
13.6%
0.0%
0.4%
2.5%
236

Army
100%
56.7%
22.0
34.6
23.4%
10.2
0.6
0.6
9.9
2.1
4.9%
0.9
2.8
0.0
0.4
0.7
4.2%
0.3%
2.4%
8.1%
667

Marine Corps
100%
55.5%
18.9
36.6
12.2%
6.7
0.6
0.0
4.3
0.6
14.0%
0.0
8.5
0.0
0.0
5.5
11.0%
0.0%
3.7%
3.7%
164

Navy
100%
75.8%
33.5
42.3
13.2%
6.0
1.1
0.0
4.9
1.1
0.5%
0.0
0.5
0.0
0.0
0.0
1.6%
0.0%
6.0%
2.7%
182

Note: Counts based on prisoners sentenced to any length of time under military correctional authority. Does not include pretrial detainees. Coast Guard offense distribution
not shown due to too few cases.
aIncludes prisoners who served in the Coast Guard (not shown separately).
bIncludes sexual harrassment, indecent exposure and other acts, prostitution, stalking, and other nonviolent sexual misconduct.
cIncludes nonnegligent manslaughter.
dIncludes possession, use, trafficking, and other drug crimes.
Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, based on data from the Office of the Under Secretary for Defense for Personnel and Readiness, U.S. Department of Defense, 2014.

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19

National Prisoner Statistics (NPS) Program jurisdiction notes
Alabama—Prisons have not been rated recently for official
capacity, but the majority of Alabama prisons are operating
in a state of overcrowding. Currently, 26,145 beds are in
operation. This number represents the physical capacity for
inmates but is not based on staffing, programs, and services.
Operational capacity differs from the Bureau of Justice
Statistics (BJS) definition.
Alaska—Alaska did not submit 2014 NPS data. BJS based
2014 jurisdiction and custody counts on a state report,
2015 Recidivism Reduction Plan: Cost-Effective Solutions
to Slow Prison Population Growth and Reduce Recidivism
(http://www.legis.state.ak.us/basis/get_documents.
asp?session=29&docid=1372), which indicated that the
prison population on January 23, 2015, was 5,216 prisoners,
which was 2.65% higher than the reported 2013 NPS total
jurisdiction population.
Alaska submitted total custody and jurisdiction counts and
total admissions and releases for 2013 NPS data. None of the
2013 counts were broken down by sex, so the sex distribution
from the 2012 NPS data submitted by Alaska was used in 2013.
BJS assumed that the distribution of inmates under custody
and jurisdiction across sentence lengths (e.g., more than 1 year,
1 year or less, or unsentenced) was the same in 2014 as in
2013. BJS assumed that the percentage of inmates in privately
operated facilities, local facilities, federal facilities, and out-ofstate facilities was the same in 2014 as in 2013. BJS applied
the racial distribution of offenders from the 2013 National
Corrections Reporting Program (NCRP) custody records
submitted by Alaska to 2014 counts to obtain the 2014 offender
racial distribution. BJS assumed that the increase in the 2014
jurisdiction counts was due to an increase in admissions and
that there was no change in the number of releases from 2013
to 2014.
No information was available on the distribution by admission
type, so BJS categorized all admissions as Other admissions.
BJS assumed that the distribution by release type in 2014 was
the same distribution that Alaska reported in the 2013 NCRP
release records. BJS based 2014 operational capacity on the
same 2015 state report, which indicated that the Department
of Corrections (DOC) has 5,352 beds. BJS assumed that the
percentage of beds for males and females in 2014 was the
same as previously reported in the 2012 NPS survey. BJS also
assumed that the percentages of offenders age 17 or younger
and those who were not U.S. citizens were the same in 2014 as
in 2013.
Arizona—Jurisdiction counts are based on custody data and
inmates in contracted beds, but do not include inmates held in
other jurisdictions because Arizona receives an equal number
of inmates to house from other jurisdictions. In 2014, Arizona
classified persons returned to prison from deportation as
transfer admissions. In 2013, these persons had been included
in the Other admissions category. Other admissions include the
return of an inmate erroneously released. Other unconditional
P R I S O N E R S I N 2 01 4 | S E P T E M B E R 2015 	

releases include inmates released by the court. Other
conditional releases include releases onto other community
supervision programs. Other releases include persons released
to deportation.
Arkansas—Other conditional releases include those made to
boot camps.
California—Due to a high-level data conversion project by
the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation
(CDCR), the movement data used to report detailed counts
of admissions and releases were not available for this report’s
publication. CDCR was able to differentiate between new court
commitment and parole violation admissions, but was not able
to provide any other detailed breakdown of other admission
types or any release types. Custody counts include California
out-of-state correctional facility contracted beds (COCF),
community correctional facility (CCF) private contract beds,
and private work furlough inmates. Jurisdiction counts for
inmates with maximum sentences of more than 1 year include
felons who are temporarily absent, such as in court, in jail,
or in a hospital. The majority of temporarily absent inmates
are absent for fewer than 30 days. Jurisdiction counts for
unsentenced inmates include civil addicts who are enrolled for
treatment and are not serving a criminal conviction sentence,
but are under the jurisdiction of CDCR. California is unable
to differentiate between inmates held in federal facilities and
those held in other states’ facilities. The sum of offenders by
race reported by California in 2014 does not match the total
jurisdiction count because of differences in the data systems
from which the data were extracted. Changes in design
capacity are based on information from an annual facilities
planning and management report.
Colorado—Jurisdiction and custody counts include a small,
undetermined number of inmates with a maximum sentence
of 1 year or less, as well as 225 males and 8 females who are
part of the Youthful Offender System. Admission and release
data for inmates who are absent without leave (AWOL) or who
have escaped are estimated. Other admissions include returns
from the Colorado State Hospital. Other releases include
discharges from both the probation and youthful offender
systems. Design and operational capacities do not include the
privately run facilities in Colorado.
Connecticut—Prisons and jails form one integrated system.
All NPS data include jail and prison populations. Connecticut
changed the way it reports inmates under jurisdiction in
2014, excluding parolees who were counted in previous NPS
data and including Connecticut inmates in the custody of
another state. Jurisdiction, admission, and release counts
from earlier years are not comparable to 2014 data. New court
commitment admissions include inmates admitted on accused
status, but who received a sentence later in 2014. Counts of
other types of admissions and releases include persons with
legitimate types of prison entries and exits that do not match
BJS categories. Legislation in July 1995 abolished the capacity
20

law, making a facility’s capacity a fluid number based on the
needs of the department. The needs are dictated by security
issues, populations, court decrees, legal mandates, staffing, and
physical plant areas of facilities that serve other purposes or
have been decommissioned. The actual capacity of a facility is
subject to change.
Delaware—Prisons and jails form one integrated system. All
NPS data include jail and prison populations. Capacity counts
include the halfway houses under the DOC.
Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP)—Data reflect inmates
under BOP jurisdiction on December 27, 2014. Jurisdiction
counts include inmates housed in secure private facilities
where the BOP had a direct contract with a private operator,
and inmates housed in secure facilities where there was a
subcontract with a private provider at a local government
facility. Jurisdiction counts also include inmates housed in jail
or short-term detention and others held in state-operated or
other nonfederal secure facilities.
Counts include 9,480 inmates (8,181 males and 1,299 females)
held in nonsecure privately operated community corrections
centers or halfway houses and 3,473 offenders on home
confinement (3,006 males and 467 females). A total of 63 male
and 4 female juveniles were held in contract facilities; these
inmates were included in the jurisdiction totals but excluded
from the counts of private, locally operated, or federally
operated facilities. Some of these juveniles are under the
jurisdiction of U.S. probation but are being housed in the
custody of the BOP in contract facilities. Due to information
system configuration, Asians and Native Hawaiians or other
Pacific Islanders are combined, and inmates of Hispanic
origin are included in the race categories. On December 27,
2014, the BOP held 68,128 male and 4,363 female inmates
of Hispanic origin. Other admissions include hospitalization
and treatment. Parole violation counts combine those with
and without a new sentence. Expirations of sentence include
good-conduct releases that usually have a separate and distinct
term of supervision, and releases from the residential drug
abuse treatment program. Other releases include court-ordered
terminations, compassionate release, and releases based on the
amount of time served. The BOP population on December 31,
2014, was 169,840 inmates (excluding contracted and private
facilities), and the rated capacity on that date was 132,731. The
crowding rate was 28%.
Florida—In 2014, three inmates received other unconditional
releases through vacated sentences. Other conditional releases
include provisional release supervision, conditional medical
release, program supervision, mandatory conditional, and
parole reinstatement. Other releases include exits due to
fraudulent court orders. Because the count of noncitizen
inmates is based on citizenship status, as opposed to the
method employed prior to 2013 which made the determination
based on country of birth, 2014 statistics are comparable only
to 2013.

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Georgia—Females are not housed in privately operated
correctional facilities in Georgia. Subtotals of race, sex,
sentence length for jurisdiction, and custody counts were
adjusted by the Georgia DOC using interpolation to match the
overall totals. Counts of admissions and releases were adjusted
using interpolation to balance the jurisdictional populations
on January 1, 2014, and December 31, 2014.
Hawaii—Prisons and jails form one integrated system. All
NPS data include jail and prison populations. In custody
and jurisdiction counts, sentenced felon probationers and
probation violators are included with the counts of prisoners
with a total maximum sentence of 1 year or less. Jurisdiction
counts include dual-jurisdiction (state of Hawaii or federal)
inmates currently housed in federal facilities and in contracted
federal detention center beds. Hawaii does not have a rated
capacity for its integrated prison and jail system. Information
on foreign nationals held in correctional facilities was based on
self-reports by inmates.
Idaho—Due to improvements in data extraction methods,
Idaho shows substantial changes in the counts of new court
commitment, parole violation, and other conditional release
violation admissions from previous years. Idaho defines rated
capacity as 100% of maximum capacity. In 2014, the Idaho
DOC took over operation of a prison that had previously been
operated by a private corporation.
Illinois—All population counts are based on jurisdiction.
Jurisdiction and custody population and admission and release
counts for inmates with maximum sentences of more than
1 year include an undetermined number of inmates with a
1-year sentence. Counts of escape admissions and releases
include one escape from a minimum security facility, with the
remaining escapes occurring at adult transition centers. Other
admission and release types include an undetermined number
of transfers to other jurisdictions, and the net difference
between long-term admissions and release movements
not reported in other categories but required to balance
yearend populations.
Indiana—Other types of admissions include inmates on active
supervision or who were admitted for prior charges. Indiana
reported changes to its 2013 admissions counts during 2014.
See the CSAT-Prisoners web tool (http://www.bjs.gov/index.
cfm?ty=nps) for updated information.
Iowa—In 2009, the Iowa DOC began including offenders on
work release, the operating while intoxicated population, and
Iowa inmates housed in out-of-state prisons in its jurisdiction
counts. Iowa data included in BJS reports prior to 2009 were
custody counts only. The admission and release data quality
and methodology were updated in 2013; therefore, changes
from previous years’ counts may reflect these updates. Counts
of AWOL admissions and releases are of the work release and
operating while intoxicated populations. Escape admissions
and releases are of the prison population only. Transfer
admissions include those entering from other jurisdictions
with an Iowa prison sentence. Other conditional releases
include sex offenders released to special sentences.
21

Kansas—Custody and jurisdiction counts reported for 2014
are not comparable to previous years’ counts. Prior to 2014,
actual time of incarceration, instead of sentence length, was
used to differentiate persons sentenced to 1 year or less from
those sentenced to serve more than 1 year. The number of
conditional releases will fluctuate from year to year. Kansas
DOC considers releases to be any time an individual leaves a
facility to return to the community, enter another program, or
make a court appearance.
Kentucky—Other types of admissions include special
admissions. Other types of conditional prison releases include
exits to home incarceration.
Louisiana—Jurisdiction and capacity counts are correct
as of December 30, 2014. Other types of unconditional
releases include court orders and releases for good time
with no supervision. Other conditional release types include
reinstatement to probation. Other types of release include
supervised and compassionate releases.
Maine—Counts of inmates age 17 or younger reflect only
those held in adult correctional facilities.
Maryland—Due to an information systems upgrade, Maryland
was able to provide only custody, jurisdiction, private prison,
and local facility counts to BJS in 2014. BJS assumed that
the percentage of offenders in federal facilities and in other
states' facilities was the same in 2014 as in 2013. Likewise, BJS
assumed that the offender distribution by race, prison capacity,
percentage of offenders age 17 or younger, and the percentage
of non-U.S. citizens were the same in 2014 as in 2013. Because
the system used to report Maryland data in 2013 did not
capture Hispanic origin, BJS could not impute the number of
Hispanics under state jurisdiction. Based on the decrease in
the jurisdiction population from 2013 to 2014, BJS assumed
that the total number of admissions was the same in 2014 as in
2013 and adjusted the number of releases for 2014 to balance
the population size change. The distribution of admission and
release types were assumed to be the same in 2014 as in 2013.
Because the system used to report Maryland data in 2013 did
not distinguish between AWOL and escape releases, BJS could
only impute the total of AWOL and escape releases for 2014.
Massachusetts—By law, offenders in Massachusetts may be
sentenced to terms of up to 2.5 years in locally operated jails
and correctional institutions. This population is excluded
from the state count but is included in published population
counts and rates for local jails and correctional institutions.
Jurisdiction counts exclude approximately 2,630 inmates
(2,511 males and 119 females) in the county system (local jails
and houses of correction) who are serving a sentence of more
than 1 year, but these inmates are included in imprisonment
rate calculations at the request of the Massachusetts DOC.
Jurisdiction and custody counts may include a small but
undetermined number of inmates who were remanded to
court; transferred to the custody of another state, federal, or

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locally operated system; or subsequently released. In 2014,
there was a continued increase in inmates transferred to local
jails prior to their release from prison as part of a step-down
initiative for reentry. Other types of admissions include returns
from court release. Other unconditional releases include court
releases.
Michigan—Due to an information systems upgrade, the
Michigan DOC had to modify its statistical techniques to
obtain much of the data reported in this survey. The numbers
reported are solidly in line with previous trends which have
remained stable over several years, but some detailed measures,
including type of admission and race, were estimated based on
previous trends. Michigan’s database system treats Hispanic
as an ethnicity rather than a race. Because this is currently
an optional field, the numbers for Hispanics are significantly
underreported, and the state included them in the white
race category. Releases to appeal or bond, and admissions of
inmates returning from appeal or bond, are not disaggregated
by length of time out to court. These counts represent the
net difference between all movements to and from court.
Operational capacity is institutional net capacity.
Minnesota—Jurisdiction counts include inmates temporarily
housed in local jails, on work release, or on community work
crew programs. The count of inmates under the jurisdiction
of the Minnesota DOC in the custody of federal and other
states' facilities increased from 2013 to 2014 due to database
upgrades. Admissions and releases due to AWOL or escape,
returns from or releases to appeal or bond, and releases
because of transfer are not included in Minnesota’s database
file. Minnesota measures only operational capacity.
Mississippi—Mississippi’s prison population decreased in
2014 because the state parole board released more nonviolent
offenders and placed some on house arrest. These actions
demonstrate that the Mississippi DOC is moving more toward
community-based supervision rather than imprisonment.
Jurisdiction counts of local facilities include both local county
jails and county regional facilities. Violators of parole and
conditional release are not distinguished by their sentence
status in the Mississippi file. Other types of admission and
release data include corrections to data because of a lag in
processing. Total operational capacity on December 31, 2014,
was 26,008.
Missouri—Offenders reported to have a total maximum
sentence of 1 year or less have a sentence of exactly 1 year.
Other types of unconditional releases include resentenced
completions, court-ordered discharges, and compensation.
Other types of conditional releases include parole board
holdover returns. The Missouri DOC does not have the design
capacity of its older prisons, nor does it update design capacity
for prison extensions or improvements. Missouri does not use
a rated capacity. The state defines operational capacity as the
number of beds available, including those temporarily offline.
Noncitizen data are based on self-reported place of birth.

22

Nebraska—By statute, inmates are housed where they are
sentenced by the judge and are not housed in local jails or by
another state to ease prison crowding. Other admissions and
other conditional releases reflect movements in the population
of the reentry furlough program. Nebraska defines operational
capacity as its stress capacity, which is 125% of design capacity
for designated facilities. The total design and operational
capacities for institutions that house females include one
female multicustody facility. The department operates two
coed facilities that represent a design capacity of 290 and are
counted in the male design and operational capacities.
Nevada—Other admission types in 2014 included safekeepers
and inmates located out of state serving concurrent sentences
for Nevada and another state. Nevada did not submit NPS
data in 2013. See Methodology in Prisoners in 2013 (BJS web,
September 2014, NCJ 247282) for a description of the 2013
data imputation procedure.
New Hampshire—Other admission types include admissions
from probation. Other conditional releases include releases
to home confinement. New Hampshire’s operating capacity is
defined as the inmate population on any given day.
New Jersey—Population counts for inmates with a maximum
sentence of more than 1 year include inmates with sentences
of a year. The New Jersey DOC has no jurisdiction over
inmates with sentences of less than 1 year or over unsentenced
inmates. Reporting of other conditional releases includes those
to an intensive supervision program, while other types of
unconditional releases include vacated and amended sentences
ordered by the courts. New Jersey data for escapes do not
differentiate between inmates disappeared from confined
walls and those who disappear while out of institutions. Other
releases include inmates brought too soon from the county jails
into the state prison system then released back to the county
jails, and other transfers.
New Mexico—New Mexico does not include its inmates
housed in other states under the interstate compact agreement
in its total jurisdiction count. According to BJS definitions,
these inmates should be included in the total state jurisdiction
and were in this report. The count of noncitizens includes
inmates in both state-run and private facilities.
New York—Other admissions include the return to prison of
persons erroneously discharged.
North Carolina—As of December 1, 2011, North Carolina
prisons no longer house misdemeanor offenders with
sentences of less than 180 days. Captured escapees are not
considered a prison admission type in North Carolina, and
escape is not considered a type of prison release. Supervised
mandatory releases are post-release offenders. Post-release
supervision is defined as a reintegration program for serious
offenders who have served extensive prison terms. This form
of supervision was created by the Structured Sentencing Act of
1993. Rated capacity is not available.

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North Dakota—In 2013, North Dakota erroneously added
females housed in private facilities into their custody count.
Data presented in this report have been updated.
Ohio—Population counts for inmates with a maximum
sentence of more than 1 year include an undetermined number
of inmates with a sentence of 1 year or less. Admissions of
parole violators without a new sentence include only formally
revoked violators. Other unconditional releases include
vacated sentences. Escapes include nonconfinement escapes.
Returns and conditional releases involving transitional-control
inmates are reported only after movement from confinement
to a terminal release status occurs. The count of noncitizens
excludes inmates housed in privately operated facilities.
Oklahoma—In March 2014, an initiative was made to relieve
county jail backups and to house the offenders in DOC
facilities, which has resulted in increases to the number
of admissions and releases and to the prison population.
Jurisdiction counts include offenders in a DOC jail program,
those in court, escapees in the custody of local jails, and those
sentenced to the DOC but not yet in custody. Prior to 2013,
those not yet in custody were not included in the counts. Most
inmates with sentences of less than 1 year were part of the
Oklahoma Delayed Sentencing Program for Young Adults.
Offenders in the custody of other states are mostly escapees.
Only DOC facilities are included in the capacity counts.
Noncitizen status is determined by country of birth.
Oregon—Most offenders with a maximum sentence of
less than 1 year remain under the custody of local counties
rather than the Oregon DOC. Oregon does not recognize
rated capacity.
Pennsylvania—Other types of unconditional releases include
vacated sentences and convictions. Other releases include
releases to the state hospital.
Rhode Island—Prisons and jails form one integrated system.
All NPS data include jail and prison populations. Jurisdiction
counts include inmates who have dual jurisdiction, or those
serving Rhode Island sentences out of state while also serving
that state’s sentence. The Rhode Island data system records
Hispanic origin as a race rather than an ethnicity and does
not capture Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islanders or
persons identifying as two or more races, including those
who may identify themselves as Hispanic second to another
race. Prison admissions classified as escape returns include
admissions under home confinement, serving out of state, and
minimum-security facilities. Rhode Island DOC’s data system
cannot differentiate between parole violation admissions with
and without new sentences. Other types of unconditional
releases consist of court-ordered discharges, while other types
of conditional releases include discharge to the Institute for
Mental Health.

23

South Carolina—The December 31, 2014, custody count
of unsentenced individuals includes Interstate Compact
Commission inmates. As of July 1, 2003, the South Carolina
Department of Corrections (SCDC) began releasing inmates
due for release and housed in SCDC institutions on the first
day of each month. Since January 1, 2015, was a holiday,
inmates eligible for release on January 1 were released on
December 31, 2014. Therefore, the inmate count was at its
lowest point for the month on December 31, 2014. All inmates
in private facilities in South Carolina were housed in private
medical facilities. The local facilities holding inmates on
December 31, 2014, included designated facilities and persons
AWOL to county or local facilities. South Carolina does not
have a specific race code to designate persons identifying as
two or more races. These individuals are included in other
specific race groups or labeled as other race. Other types of
unconditional releases consist of remands. Conditional release
counts include inmates released under community supervision
after serving 85% of their sentence under truth in sentencing.
Other release types include persons who are resentenced.
There are two paroling authorities within the adult correctional
system in South Carolina. The Intensive Supervision
Administrative Release Authority of SCDC assumed Youthful
Offender Act (YOA) Parole Board duties on February 1, 2013;
prior to that, the Youthful Offender Branch of SCDC handled
YOA paroles. SCDC paroled 1,098 offenders sentenced under
the YOA, and the South Carolina Department of Probation,
Parole, and Pardon Services paroled 628 non-YOA sentenced
offenders. South Carolina uses the operational capacity concept
in its management reports and other requested surveys.
South Dakota—Custody and jurisdiction counts of inmates
serving a maximum sentence of 1 year or less include those
under the sentence of probation who, as a condition of
probation, must serve up to 180 days in state prison. In 2014,
South Dakota updated its 2013 jurisdiction counts to include
offenders serving concurrent sentences elsewhere. South
Dakota does not separate discretionary and presumptive parole
releases. Parole detainees are now included in the counts of
other admission and other release types. Prior to 2014, these
persons had not been included. The operational capacity
reported is planned capacity. South Dakota does not have
rated or design capacities. The reporting system for the South
Dakota DOC does not have a category for inmates of two or
more races. These inmates are included in the counts of other
race prisoners.
Texas—Offenders in custody were all offenders serving time
in a facility owned and operated by the Texas Department of
Criminal Justice at the time of data collection. Jurisdiction
counts include offenders in custody and those held in
privately operated prisons, intermediate-sanction facilities,
substance abuse felony punishment facilities, and halfway
houses; offenders temporarily released to a county for less
than 30 days; and offenders awaiting paperwork for transfer
to state-funded custody. Capacities exclude county jail beds
because they do not have a minimum or maximum number
of beds available for paper-ready and bench-warrant inmates.
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Admissions and releases include offenders received into an
intermediate-sanction facility, which is a sanction in lieu
of revocation. These offenders were counted in the parole
violator category, although these were not revocations. Other
conditional releases include discretionary mandatory releases.
Other admission and other release types include transfers
between divisions and adjustments. Executions are included in
other releases.
Utah—Other types of unconditional release include discharges
of cases or inmate holds.
Vermont—Prisons and jails form one integrated system.
All NPS data include jail and prison populations. Vermont
does not have the ability to record persons identifying
as two or more races. Other types of conditional releases
include furlough reintegration. Other releases include
vacated sentences.
Virginia—Jurisdiction counts were for December 31, 2014.
As of September 1, 1998, the state is responsible for inmates
with a sentence of 1 year or more, or a sentence of 12 months
plus 1 day. Prior to September 1, 1998, the state had been
responsible for a 1-year sentence, while local authorities
were responsible for sentences of 12 months or less. Prior
to 2013, the count of inmates housed in local facilities was
taken from Compensation Board reports. Starting in 2013,
these counts were obtained from DOC data. Pacific Islanders
are included in the Asian race category. Admissions and
releases are preliminary fiscal year 2014 figures. Other types of
conditional releases include conditional pardons or clemency,
conditional release of a sexually violent predator, and geriatric
parole. Other releases include authorized temporary and
court-ordered releases. In prior years, the Virginia DOC
reported capacity under its definition of authorized capacity,
which included aspects of both the BJS definition of rated
capacity and took into account the number of inmates that
could be accommodated based on staff, programs, services,
and design. In 2014, the agency reviewed how it was reporting
capacity and determined that for this survey, it would report
capacity under the definitions of operational and design to be
consistent with capacity figures reported in other documents.
The figures do not include 35 beds assigned to institutional
hospitals that cannot be designated as only male or only female
and does not include Detention and Diversion Centers.
Washington—The counting rule for offenders under
Washington DOC custody changed in 2014 with the addition
of several different facility codes that had previously been
excluded, including those in violator facilities and work
release programs. Jurisdiction counting methods did not
change. Offenders sentenced to 1 year or less and unsentenced
offenders generally reside in county jails, but revisions to law
allow certain inmates with sentences of less than 1 year to
be housed in prison. These inmates are included in the total
jurisdiction counts. Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders are
included in the Asian race category. Admissions and releases
increased due to the implementation of swift and certain
sanctions for violation behavior, where an offender is arrested
24

on the spot for violations and is sanctioned to 1 to 3 days
of confinement. Other unconditional releases include
vacated sentences.
West Virginia—Other types of admissions and releases
included those to and from the Anthony Center for Young
Adults and Diagnostics. Other types of unconditional releases
included court-ordered releases.
Wisconsin—Custody measures include inmates without
Wisconsin sentences who were physically housed in a
Wisconsin prison. Jurisdiction measures include inmates
with Wisconsin sentences, regardless of where they are
physically located. Counts for 2014 were calculated using
the same methodology as in 2013, but because the data were
extracted in January 2015 (compared to April 2014 for the
2013 data), the values are not comparable because there were
more inmates with unknown sentence lengths earlier in the
year. Sentence length for custody and jurisdiction counts
was determined by calculating the time between an inmate’s
admission date and the inmate’s maximum discharge date. If
the maximum discharge date was not recorded, the inmate’s
mandatory release date was used. This may not accurately
reflect whether the inmate was initially sentenced to 1 year

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or less or more than 1 year. Unsentenced inmates were those
who had not yet had data entered reflecting their mandatory
release date and maximum discharge date. Some of these
unsentenced inmates may have been sentenced, but the DOC
was unable to determine the sentence length at the time they
responded to NPS. This mainly affected probation offenders
in the Milwaukee facility on temporary hold. Sentence
length for admissions was calculated as the time between an
inmate’s admission date and the inmate’s maximum discharge
date, or mandatory release date if the maximum discharge
date was not available. Other admissions include temporary
holds, alternatives to revocation, persons admitted under the
corrections compact, and erroneous releases. Sentence length
for prison releases was calculated as the time between an
inmate’s admission date and the actual release date, so this may
not accurately reflect whether the inmate was sentenced to
more than 1 year. As with the custody and jurisdiction counts,
the early extraction of the 2014 data compared to the 2013 data
resulted in fewer inmates admitted and released with known
sentence lengths; therefore, the numbers are not comparable
between years. Other releases include temporary holds and
release after erroneous admissions. Native Hawaiian and
Pacific Islander inmates are included in the Asian category.

25

Terms and definitions
Adult imprisonment rate—The number of prisoners under
state or federal jurisdiction sentenced to more than 1 year per
100,000 U.S. residents age 18 or older.
Average annual change—Average (mean) annual change
across a specific period.
Capacity, design—The number of inmates that planners or
architects intended for a facility.
Capacity, highest—The maximum number of beds reported
across the three capacity measures: design capacity, operational
capacity, and rated capacity.
Capacity, lowest—The minimum number of beds across the
three capacity measures: design capacity, operational capacity,
and rated capacity.
Capacity, operational—The number of inmates that can be
accommodated based on a facility’s staff, existing programs,
and services.
Capacity, rated—The number of beds or inmates assigned by a
rating official to institutions within a jurisdiction.
Conditional releases—Includes discretionary parole,
mandatory parole, post-custody probation, and other
unspecified conditional releases.
Conditional release violators—Re-admission to prison of
persons released to discretionary parole, mandatory parole,
post-custody probation, and other unspecified conditional
releases.
Custody—Prisoners held in the physical custody of state or
federal prisons or local jails, regardless of sentence length or
the authority having jurisdiction.
Imprisonment rate—The number of prisoners under state or
federal jurisdiction sentenced to more than 1 year per 100,000
U.S. residents of all ages.
Inmate—A person incarcerated in a local jail, state prison,
federal prison, or a private facility under contract to federal,
state, or local authorities.

Jail—A confinement facility usually administered by a local
law enforcement agency that is intended for adults, but
sometimes holds juveniles, for confinement before and after
adjudication. Such facilities include jails and city or county
correctional centers; special jail facilities, such as medical
treatment or release centers; halfway houses; work farms; and
temporary holding or lockup facilities that are part of the
jail’s combined function. Inmates sentenced to jail facilities
usually have a sentence of 1 year or less. Alaska, Connecticut,
Delaware, Hawaii, Rhode Island, and Vermont operate
integrated systems, which combine prisons and jails.
Jurisdiction—The legal authority of state or federal
correctional officials over a prisoner, regardless of where the
prisoner is held.
New court commitments—Admissions into prison of
offenders convicted and sentenced by a court, usually to a
term of more than 1 year, including probation violators and
persons with a split sentence to incarceration followed by
court-ordered probation or parole.
Parole violators—All conditional release violators returned
to prison for either violating conditions of release or for
new crimes.
Prison—A long-term confinement facility, run by a state or the
federal government, that typically holds felons and offenders
with sentences of more than 1 year. However, sentence length
may vary by state. Alaska, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii,
Rhode Island, and Vermont operate integrated systems, which
combine prisons and jails.
Prisoner—An individual confined in a correctional facility
under the legal authority (jurisdiction) of state or federal
correctional officials.
Sentenced prisoner—A prisoner sentenced to more than
1 year. This excludes persons sentenced to 1 year or less and
unsentenced inmates.
Supervised mandatory releases—Conditional release with
post-custody supervision generally occurring in jurisdictions
using determinate sentencing statutes.
Unconditional releases—Expirations of sentences,
commutations, and other unspecified unconditional releases.

P R I S O N E R S I N 2 01 4 | S E P T E M B E R 2015 	

26

Methodology
Started in 1926 under a mandate from Congress, the National
Prisoner Statistics (NPS) Program collects annual data on
prisoners at yearend. The Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS)
sponsors the survey, and the U.S. Census Bureau serves as
the data collection agent. BJS depends entirely on voluntary
participation by state departments of corrections (DOC) and
the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) for NPS data.
The NPS distinguishes between inmates in custody and
prisoners under jurisdiction. To have custody of a prisoner, a
state or the BOP must hold that inmate in one of its facilities.
To have jurisdiction over a prisoner, the state or BOP must
have legal authority over that prisoner, regardless of where
the prisoner is incarcerated or supervised. Some states were
unable to provide counts that distinguish between custody and
jurisdiction. (See Jurisdiction notes to determine which states
did not distinguish between custody and jurisdiction counts.)
The NPS jurisdiction counts include persons held in prisons,
penitentiaries, correctional facilities, halfway houses, boot
camps, farms, training or treatment centers, and hospitals.
Counts also include prisoners who were temporarily absent
(less than 30 days), in court, or on work release; housed in
privately operated facilities, local jails, or other state or federal
facilities; and serving concurrent sentences for more than one
correctional authority.
The NPS custody counts include all inmates held within a
respondent’s facilities, including inmates housed for other
correctional facilities. The custody counts exclude inmates held
in local jails and in other jurisdictions. With a few exceptions,
the NPS custody counts exclude inmates held in privately
operated facilities.
Respondents to NPS surveys are permitted to update prior
counts of prisoners held in custody and under jurisdiction.
Some statistics on jurisdiction and sentenced prison
populations for prior years have been updated in this report.
All tables showing data based on jurisdiction counts, including
tables of imprisonment rates, were based on the updated and
most recently available data that respondents provided.
Admissions include new court commitments, parole violator
returns, and other conditional release violator returns;
transfers from other jurisdictions; returns of prisoners who
were absent without leave (AWOL), with or without a new
sentence; escape returns, with or without a new sentence;
returns from appeal or bond, and other admissions. For
reporting purposes, BJS admission counts exclude transfers
from other jurisdictions, AWOL returns, and escape returns.
Releases include unconditional releases (e.g., expirations
of sentence or commutations), conditional releases
(e.g., probations, supervised mandatory releases, or
discretionary paroles), deaths, AWOLs, escapes from
confinement, transfers to other jurisdictions, releases to
appeal or bond, and other releases. For reporting purposes,
BJS release counts exclude AWOLs, escapes, and transfers to
other jurisdictions.
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The NPS has historically included counts of inmates in the
combined jail and prison systems in Alaska, Connecticut,
Delaware, Hawaii, Rhode Island, and Vermont. The District
of Columbia has not operated a prison system since yearend
2001. Felons sentenced under the District of Columbia
criminal code are housed in federal facilities. Jail inmates in
the District of Columbia are included in the Annual Survey
of Jails. Some previously published prisoner counts and the
percentage change in population include jail inmates in the
District of Columbia for 2001, the last year of collection.
Additional information about the NPS, including the data
collection instrument, is available on the BJS website.
Data on prisoners under the jurisdiction of U.S. territorial
correctional authorities is collected separately from the state
and federal NPS data, and U.S. totals in this report do not
include territorial counts. Two territories, American Samoa
and the U.S. Virgin Islands, did not provide 2014 data for NPS,
so older years’ data are shown in appendix table 7.
Nonreporting states
The Alaska state DOC did not respond to the 2014 NPS
survey. BJS based 2014 jurisdiction and custody counts on a
state report—2015 Recidivism Reduction Plan: Cost-Effective
Solutions to Slow Prison Population Growth and Reduce
Recidivism (http://www.legis.state.ak.us/basis/get_documents.
asp?session=29&docid=1372)—that indicated that the January
23, 2015, prison population was 5,216 prisoners. BJS assumed
that the increase in the 2014 jurisdiction counts was due to
an increase in admissions and that there was no change in the
number of releases from 2013 to 2014. For more details, see
Jurisdiction notes.
Military correctional data
BJS obtains an annual aggregate count of service personnel
under military jurisdiction from the Office of the Under
Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness, along
with limited demographic and offense data. The Department
of Defense disaggregates these data by the branch in which
inmates served, the branch having physical custody of the
inmate, and whether the inmate was an officer or enlisted.
Estimating yearend counts of prison population by age,
sex, and race or Hispanic origin
National-level estimates of the number of persons by race
under the jurisdiction of state prisons on December 31, 2014,
were based on an adjustment of NPS counts to comply with
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) definitions of
race and Hispanic origin. OMB defines persons of Hispanic
or Latino origin as a separate category. Race categories are
defined exclusive of Hispanic origin. OMB adopted guidelines
for collecting these data in 1997, requiring the collection of
data on Hispanic origin in addition to data on race.

27

Not all NPS providers’ information systems categorize race
and Hispanic origin in this way. In 1991, the earliest time
point in the analysis, only a few states were able to report
information on Hispanic origin separately from race. BJS
adjusted the NPS data on race and Hispanic origin by the ratio
of the relative distribution of prisoners by race and Hispanic
origin in self-report inmate surveys that use OMB categories
for race to the relative distribution of prisoners by race and
Hispanic origin in the NPS data. For this report, the 2004
Survey of Inmates in State Correctional Facilities was used to
calculate the ratio used for statistics on racial distributions in
2014. The ratio obtained by comparing the within-year relative
distributions by race and Hispanic origin was then multiplied
by the NPS distribution in a year to generate the estimate of
persons by race and Hispanic origin.
Estimates of the total number of sentenced prisoners by age,
sex, race, and Hispanic origin on December 31, 2014, were
generated by creating separate totals for federal and state
prisons. For the federal estimates, each sex and race count
that BOP reported to the NPS was multiplied by the ratio of
the age category count within the sex and race combination in
the Federal Justice Statistics Program (FJSP) to the FJSP total
count within the sex and race combination (e.g., FJSP white
males ages 18 to 19 divided by FJSP white males). The resulting
product yielded the FJSP-adjusted NPS counts for each sex
and race combination by age group (e.g., white male prisoners
ages 18 to 19 in the federal prison system). State prison age
distributions for the NPS use a similar sex and race ratio
adjustment based on individual-level data from the National
Corrections Reporting Program (NCRP). State and federal
estimates were added together to obtain national estimates for
yearend prison populations.
Estimating imprisonment rates by age, sex, and race or
Hispanic origin
BJS calculated age-specific imprisonment rates for each
age and sex and race group by dividing the estimated
number of sentenced prisoners within each age group under
jurisdiction on December 31, 2014, by the estimated number
of U.S. residents in each age group on January 1, 2015. BJS
multiplied the result by 100,000 and rounded to the nearest
whole number. Totals by sex include all prisoners and U.S.
residents, regardless of race or Hispanic origin.
Estimating offense distribution in the state and federal
prison populations by age, sex, and race or Hispanic origin
BJS employed a ratio adjustment method to weight the
individual-level race and Hispanic origin or sex-specific
offense data from the NCRP to the state prison control totals

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for sex and the estimated race or Hispanic origin from the
NPS, which yielded a national offense distribution for state
prisoners. Inmates missing offense data were excluded from
the analysis prior to the weighting. Because data submission
for the NCRP typically lags behind that of the NPS, state
offense distribution estimates are published for the previous
calendar year.
Data presented in table 12 and appendix table 5 are drawn
from FJSP and are limited to inmates sentenced to more
than 1 year in federal custody. The data are further limited to
inmates sentenced on U.S. district court commitments, District
of Columbia superior court commitments, and those returned
to federal custody following violations of probation (both
federal and District of Columbia), parole, supervised release,
or mandatory release. Due to these methodological differences,
the estimates in table 12 and appendix table 5 will differ from
previously published federal offense distributions presented in
the FJSP web tool (http://www.bjs.gov/fjsrc/) or Federal Justice
Statistics bulletins and statistical tables (http://www.bjs.gov/
index.cfm?ty=tp&tid=6). Since FJSP is a custody collection, the
total count of prisoners in table 12 and appendix table 5 will
differ from the jurisdiction count of prisoners reported to NPS.
Prison capacities
State and federal correctional authorities provide three
measures of their facilities’ capacity: design capacity,
operational capacity, and rated capacity. Estimates of the
prison populations as a percentage of capacity are based on a
state or federal custody population. In general, state capacity
and custody counts exclude inmates held in private facilities,
although five states include prisoners held in private facilities
as part of the capacity of their prison systems: Florida, Georgia,
Idaho, Louisiana, and Mississippi. For these states, prison
population as a percentage of capacity includes inmates held in
the states’ private facilities.
Noncitizen inmates
BJS asks state DOCs and the BOP to report the number of
persons in their custody who were not citizens of the United
States on December 31. While the intention is for jurisdictions
to report based on inmates’ current citizenship status, a
number of jurisdictions cannot provide that information, and
instead report country of birth to NPS. These states are noted
in appendix table 6. As this is a custody count, noncitizens held
in private prison facilities or local jails under the jurisdiction of
state or federal correctional authorities are not included.

28

APPENDIX TABLE 1
Admissions to and releases from state prison, 2004-2014

APPENDIX TABLE 2
Admissions to and releases from federal prison, 2004-2014

Year
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014

Year
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014

Admissions
644,084
674,084
689,536
689,257
684,987
672,533
649,677
610,917
552,504
576,298
575,779

Releases
625,578
653,309
661,954
672,397
683,303
679,029
656,190
635,833
580,679
569,205
581,817

Note: Counts based on prisoners with a sentence of more than 1 year. Excludes
transfers, escapes, and those absent without leave (AWOL), and includes other
conditional release violators, returns from appeal or bond, and other admissions.
See Methodology.
Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, National Prisoner Statistics, 2014–2014.

Admissions
52,982
56,057
57,495
53,618
53,662
56,153
54,121
60,634
55,938
53,664
50,865

Releases
46,624
48,323
47,920
48,764
52,348
50,720
52,487
55,239
56,037
54,785
54,529

Note: Counts based on prisoners with a sentence of more than 1 year. Excludes
transfers, escapes, and those absent without leave (AWOL), and includes other
conditional release violators, returns from appeal or bond, and other admissions.
See Methodology.
Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, National Prisoner Statistics, 2014–2014.

APPENDIX TABLE 3
Percent of sentenced prisoners under jurisdiction of state or federal correctional authorities, by age, sex, race, and Hispanic origin,
December 31, 2014
Age group
Totala
All malea
Totalc
100%
100%
18–19
1.0%
1.0%
20–24
11.3
11.4
25–29
15.5
15.4
30–34
16.6
16.5
35–39
14.2
14.2
40–44
12.2
12.2
45–49
10.5
10.4
50–54
8.5
8.5
55–59
5.1
5.2
60–64
2.7
2.7
65 or older
2.3
2.3
Number of sentenced prisonersd 1,508,636 1,402,404

Whiteb
100%
0.5%
8.3
13.5
15.2
13.1
12.6
11.8
10.5
6.6
3.7
3.9
453,500

Male
Blackb
100%
1.3%
13.0
15.8
16.4
14.4
11.9
10.3
8.2
4.9
2.2
1.3
516,900

Hispanic
100%
1.1%
12.3
17.2
18.5
15.8
12.4
9.1
6.4
3.7
1.9
1.5
308,700

Otherb
100%
1.7%
14.8
16.9
17.4
13.5
11.4
9.1
6.7
4.4
2.1
1.9
123,300

All femalea
100%
0.6%
10.0
17.5
18.6
14.7
12.8
10.9
7.7
3.9
1.8
1.2
106,232

Whiteb
100%
0.4%
8.3
17.3
18.8
14.7
13.4
11.1
8.1
4.0
2.1
1.5
53,100

Female
Blackb
100%
0.9%
11.5
16.8
16.8
13.7
12.8
12.4
8.4
4.4
1.8
0.9
22,600

Hispanic
100%
1.1%
12.4
19.7
20.8
15.7
11.2
9.0
5.6
2.8
1.1
0.6
17,800

Otherb
100%
0.0%
8.6
18.0
18.8
14.8
13.3
10.9
7.8
3.9
1.6
1.6
12,800

Note: Counts based on prisoners with sentences of more than 1 year under the jurisdiction of state or federal correctional officials. Alaska did not submit 2014 data to the
National Prisoner Statistics (NPS), so totals include imputed counts for this state. See Methodology.
aIncludes American Indians and Alaska Natives; Asians, Native Hawaiians, and other Pacific Islanders; and persons of two or more races.
bExcludes persons of Hispanic or Latino origin.
cIncludes persons age 17 or younger.
dRace totals are rounded to the nearest 100 to accommodate differences in data collection techniques between jurisdictions.
Sources: Bureau of Justice Statistics, National Prisoner Statistics, 2014; Federal Justice Statistics Program, 2014; National Corrections Reporting Program, 2013; and Survey of
Inmates in State and Federal Correctional Facilities, 2004.

P R I S O N E R S I N 2 01 4 | S E P T E M B E R 2015 	

29

APPENDIX TABLE 4
Estimated number of sentenced prisoners under state jurisdiction, by offense, sex, race, and Hispanic origin, December 31, 2013
All inmatesa
1,325,305
704,800
165,600
18,000
166,200
181,100
132,400
41,400
255,600
139,500
50,200
10,700
27,300
28,000
208,000
47,400
160,500
146,300
51,000
25,500
69,900
10,600

Most serious offense
Totalc
Violent
Murderd
Manslaughter
Rape/sexual assault
Robbery
Aggravated or simple assault
Other violent
Property
Burglary
Larceny-theft
Motor vehicle theft
Fraud
Other property
Drug
Drug possession
Other druge
Public order
Weapons
Driving under the influence
Other public orderf
Other/unspecifiedg

Male
1,233,724
670,900
155,300
15,700
164,100
173,100
124,600
38,000
229,500
132,500
41,900
10,000
19,900
25,200
186,000
41,700
144,300
137,900
49,400
23,300
65,200
9,400

Female
91,581
34,000
10,300
2,300
2,200
8,100
7,800
3,400
26,000
7,000
8,200
700
7,300
2,800
22,000
5,700
16,300
8,400
1,600
2,200
4,600
1,200

Whiteb
468,600
223,900
45,100
6,800
78,500
37,500
41,100
14,800
117,700
58,100
26,500
4,900
14,400
13,800
67,800
17,700
50,000
56,000
11,200
13,500
31,300
3,300

Blackb
497,000
282,100
68,300
3,800
39,700
98,800
54,300
17,200
81,700
48,000
17,400
2,500
7,600
6,300
79,900
18,800
61,100
51,100
24,400
3,400
23,300
2,100

Hispanic
274,200
162,300
39,000
3,100
37,300
37,100
35,700
10,000
37,100
22,700
5,900
2,600
2,500
3,400
39,900
11,400
28,400
33,400
13,900
6,700
12,900
1,400

Note: Estimates are based on state prisoners with a sentence of more than 1 year under the jurisdiction of state correctional officials. Detail may not sum to total due to
rounding and missing offense data. See Methodology.
aIncludes American Indians and Alaska Natives; Asians, Native Hawaiians, and other Pacific Islanders; and persons of two or more races.
bExcludes persons of Hispanic or Latino origin.
cRace totals are rounded to the nearest 100 to accommodate differences in data collection techniques between jurisdictions.
dIncludes nonnegligent manslaughter.
eIncludes trafficking and other drug offenses.
fIncludes court offenses; commercialized vice, morals, and decency offenses; and liquor law violations and other public-order offenses.
gIncludes juvenile offenses and other unspecified offense categories.
Sources: Bureau of Justice Statistics, National Prisoner Statistics, 2014; National Corrections Reporting Program, 2013; and Survey of Inmates in State Correctional Facilities,
2004.

APPENDIX TABLE 5
Estimated sentenced prisoners under federal correctional authority, by most serious offense, sex, and race, September 30, 2014
Most serious offense
Totalc,d
Violent
Homicidee
Robbery
Other violent
Property
Burglary
Fraud
Other property
Drugf
Public order
Immigration
Weapons
Other
Other/unspecifiedg

All inmatesa
192,663
14,100
2,800
7,300
4,000
11,600
400
9,000
2,200
96,500
69,100
17,200
30,500
21,400
1,400

Male
180,140
13,600
2,600
7,100
3,900
9,300
400
7,100
1,800
89,100
66,800
16,700
30,000
20,200
1,300

Female
12,523
600
200
200
200
2,300
0
1,900
300
7,400
2,200
500
500
1,200
100

Whiteb
51,600
3,700
400
2,600
800
5,100
100
4,000
1,000
20,800
21,300
600
7,600
13,000
700

Blackb
71,300
7,100
1,700
4,000
1,400
4,200
300
3,100
800
37,400
22,200
300
17,700
4,300
300

Hispanic
63,700
1,300
200
600
500
1,700
0
1,500
300
36,300
24,200
16,300
4,500
3,400
200

Note: Counts are based on sentenced prisoners under federal jurisdiction regardless of sentence length. Detail may not sum to total due to rounding and missing data. See
Methodology.
aIncludes American Indians and Alaska Natives; Asians; Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders; and persons of two or more races.
bExcludes persons of Hispanic or Latino origin and persons of two or more races.
cIncludes all sentenced inmates under federal jurisdiction regardless of sentence length.
dRace totals are rounded to the nearest 100 to accommodate differences in data collection techniques between jurisdictions.
eIncludes murder, negligent, and nonnegligent manslaughter.
fIncludes trafficking, possession, and other drug offenses.
gIncludes offenses not classified.
Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, Federal Justice Statistics Program, 2014.

APPENDIX TABLE 6
Reported state and federal noncitizen inmates and inmates age 17 or younger, by jurisdiction, December 31, 2014
Jurisdiction
U.S. totalb
Federalc
Stateb
Alabama
Alaskad,e
Arizona
Arkansas
California
Coloradof
Connecticutd
Delawared
Florida
Georgia
Hawaiid,g
Idaho
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maine
Marylandf,h
Massachusettsg
Michigan
Minnesota
Mississippi
Missourif,g
Montana
Nebraska
Nevada
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New Mexico
New Yorkf
North Carolina
North Dakota
Ohio
Oklahomaf
Oregon
Pennsylvania
Rhode Islandd
South Carolina
South Dakota
Tennesseef
Texas
Utah
Vermontd
Virginia
Washington
West Virginia
Wisconsin
Wyoming

Total
67,837
23,532
44,305
80
/
4,743
118
/
1,525
523
330
7,199
2,450
145
216
1,813
633
152
337
255
149
0
623
699
490
634
37
510
18
220
0
96
1,335
142
4,142
1,370
18
495
0
0
1,051
65
484
80
274
8,682
202
18
601
775
23
500
53

Noncitizen inmatesa
Male
64,565
21,667
42,898
77
/
4,609
114
/
1,473
511
312
6,937
2,335
140
210
1,767
623
150
331
237
143
0
600
672
485
599
29
475
18
219
0
90
1,307
136
4,022
1,342
15
480
0
0
1,025
64
465
77
263
8,423
200
17
582
760
22
490
52

Female
3,272
1,865
1,407
3
/
134
4
/
52
12
18
262
115
5
6
46
10
2
6
18
6
0
23
27
5
35
8
35
0
1
0
6
28
6
120
28
3
15
0
0
26
1
19
3
11
259
2
1
19
15
1
10
1

Total
1,035
0
1,035
0
/
56
11
0
3
84
3
126
96
0
0
18
42
5
1
0
18
0
22
0
90
10
19
12
1
22
9
0
7
0
97
85
0
24
7
0
29
2
24
0
13
69
1
0
9
1
0
18
1

Inmates age 17 or younger
Male
1,005
0
1,005
0
/
55
11
0
3
83
3
122
94
0
0
17
40
4
1
0
18
0
18
0
89
10
19
11
1
22
9
0
7
0
94
82
0
23
7
0
29
2
23
0
13
66
1
0
9
1
0
17
1

Female
30
0
30
0
/
1
0
0
0
1
0
4
2
0
0
1
2
1
0
0
0
0
4
0
1
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
3
3
0
1
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
3
0
0
0
0
0
1
0

Note: The definition of non-U.S. citizen varies across jurisdictions. Use caution when interpeting these statistics. See Methodology.
/Not reported.
aUnless otherwise noted, BJS assumes that noncitizens are identified by individual jurisdictions as persons with citizenship of a country other than the United States as of
December 31, 2014.
bTotal U.S. and state counts of noncitizen inmates for 2014 will be lower than expected due to the exclusion of California data. California was unable to report the number of
noncitizen inmates in 2013 or 2014.
cThe count of noncitizens for the federal Bureau of Prisons excludes noncitizen inmates housed in private contract facilities. The federal Bureau of Prisons holds inmates age 17
or younger in private contract facilities; 67 such inmates were housed in contract facilities in 2014.
dPrisons and jails form one integrated system. Data include total jail and prison populations.
eState did not submit 2014 National Prisoner Statistics (NPS) data. Counts could not be imputed because state did not submit data for these measures to NPS in 2013.
fNon-U.S. citizens are defined as foreign-born.
gCitizenship based on inmate self-report.
hState did not submit 2014 NPS data for these measures. Counts imputed based on percentage of noncitizen inmates and inmates age 17 or younger in 2013.
See Methodology.
Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, National Prisoner Statistics, 2014.

APPENDIX TABLE 7
Prisoners under the jurisdiction or in the custody of U.S. territories and commonwealths and prison facility capacity,
December 31, 2014
Jurisdiction
Total
American Samoab
Guam
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands
Commonwealth of Puerto Rico
U.S. Virgin Islandsc

Jurisdiction population
Sentenced to
Totala
more than 1 yeara
12,257
10,634
/
/
721
316
175
143
10,692
9,797
669
378

Custody population
Total
14,045
212
754
175
12,327
577

Rated

Capacity
Operational

Design

/
443
559
13,832
468

/
…
272
13,832
355

/
443
559
14,632
550

Note: Jurisdiction refers to the legal authority of state or federal correctional officials over a prisoner, regardless of where the prisoner is held. Custody refers to the physical
location where the prisoner is held.
…Not available. Specific type of capacity is not measured by territory.
/Not reported.
aDoes not include counts for American Samoa.
bAmerican Samoa has not submitted National Prisoner Statistics (NPS) data since 2011. The data presented here were located in the 2013 American Samoa Statistical Yearbook
(http://doc.as.gov/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/2013-Statistical-Yearbook-Final-Draft.pdf) and represent the number of persons in custody as of December 2013.
cThe U.S. Virgin Islands did not submit 2014 NPS data and had inconsistent 2013 data. Data used are from 2012.
Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, National Prisoner Statistics, 2014.

P R I S O N E R S I N 2 01 4 | S E P T E M B E R 2015 	

32

The Bureau of Justice Statistics of the U.S. Department of Justice is the
principal federal agency responsible for measuring crime, criminal
victimization, criminal offenders, victims of crime, correlates of crime,
and the operation of criminal and civil justice systems at the federal, state,
tribal, and local levels. BJS collects, analyzes, and disseminates reliable and
valid statistics on crime and justice systems in the United States, supports
improvements to state and local criminal justice information systems,
and participates with national and international organizations to develop
and recommend national standards for justice statistics. William J. Sabol
is director.
This report was written by E. Ann Carson. Todd Minton, Danielle Kaeble,
Zhen Zeng, and Jennifer Bronson verified the report.
Lynne McConnell and Jill Thomas edited the report. Tina Dorsey produced
the report.
September 2015, NCJ 248955

Celebrating
35 years

NCJ248955

Office of Justice Programs
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