1 Includes both jail and prison inmates (State has combined jailand prison system).
2 Numbers are custodial, not jurisdictional counts.
3 Jurisdiction counts exclude prisoners held in jail because crowding.4 Data for 1996 and 1997 are not applicable.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics, Prisoners in 1998, Series NCJ 175687; and earlier reports.

http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/correct.htm*Correctional Populations in the United States

Survey methodology, definitions of terms, and jurisdictional explanatory notes

Note: The following information has been excerpted from U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics,Correctional Populations in the United States, 1995, NCJ-163916 (Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, 1997);Prisoners in 1997, Bulletin NCJ-170014 (Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, August 1998), pp. 13-15; andProbation and Parole Populations 1997, Press Release NCJ-172216 (Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, August1998), p. 6. Non-substantive editorial adaptations have been made.

Survey methodology for prisoner data

The Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS), with the U.S. Bureau of the Census as its collection agent, obtains yearend andmidyear counts of prisoners from departments of correction in each of the 50 States, the District of Columbia, and theFederal Bureau of Prisons through the National Prisoner Statistics (NPS) program. In an effort to collect comparable datafrom all jurisdictions, NPS distinguishes prisoners in custody from those under jurisdiction. To have custody of a prisoner, aState must hold that person in one of its facilities. To have jurisdiction means that a State has legal authority over theprisoner. Prisoners under a State's jurisdiction may be in the custody of a local jail, another State's prison, or othercorrectional facility. Some States are unable to provide both custody and jurisdiction counts. Excluded from NPS counts arepersons confined in locally administered confinement facilities who are under the jurisdiction of local authorities. NPScounts include all inmates in State-operated facilities in Alaska, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Rhode Island, andVermont, which have combined jail-prison systems.

In each jurisdiction, the questionnaire was completed by a central agency reporting for institutions within the correctionalsystem. This procedure was also used by the Federal Bureau of Prisons in supplying data on Federal institutions. Becausethe information was derived from a complete enumeration rather than a survey, the statistical data are not affected bysampling error. Response errors were held to a minimum by means of a systematic telephone followup and, wherenecessary, other control procedures. Thus, the yearend counts are generally considered reliable. Because of the absence ofstandardized administrative and record keeping practices from State to State, the data for admissions and releases are notalways entirely comparable across jurisdictions.

Many States revise the yearend number reported for the previous year. Those revisions are made in the total, not the detail. For example, thenumber of blacks, whites, and members of other races for 1995 were not changed by a State in 1996 to equal its revised 1995 total.

*National Prisoner Statistics category definitions

Jurisdiction population, Dec. 31-- Includes all inmates under jurisdiction of State correctional authorities on Dec. 31 regardless of location.Does not include other jurisdictions' inmates (for example, inmates from other States, pretrial detainees) merely housed in prisons.

Custody population, Dec. 31-- Includes all inmates in the State's custody, that is, housed in State correctional facilities on Dec. 31. Does notinclude State inmates housed outside State prison facilities; does include other jurisdictions' inmates (for example, inmates from other States,the courts, local jails) housed in the State's facilities.

Overcrowding, Dec. 31--Includes all State prison inmates housed in local jails on Dec. 31 and as a direct result of State prison overcrowding.Does not include State prison inmates held in local jails for other reasons (for example, work release, court appearance, etc.).

Admissions

New court commitments--Includes all inmates who were admitted with new sentences, that is, these inmates were not readmitted for anysentences for which they had already served some prison time. This category includes probation violators entering prison for the first time onthe probated offenses. Does not include parole violators with new sentences.

Parole violators with new sentences--Includes all parolees returned with new sentences.

Other conditional release violators with new sentences--Includes all individuals on conditional release (other than parole) who are returnedwith new sentences, for example, returns from supervised mandatory release, from shock probation, etc.

Parole violators only, no new sentences--Includes all parolees returned only for formal revocations of parole that were not accompanied bynew sentences. If the parole was not formally revoked, that is, the parolee was held only temporarily pending a hearing, no admission occurredfor NPS purposes.

Other conditional release violators only, no new sentences--Same as above, substituting conditional release violator for parole violator.

Transfers from other jurisdictions--Includes all inmates transferred to a State's jurisdiction to continue sentences already in force. Does notinclude admissions if State does not acquire jurisdiction. Does not include movements from prison to prison within State.

Absent without leave (AWOL) returns, with or without sentences--Includes all returns from AWOL, that is, failures to return from authorizedtemporary absences such as work furlough, study release, mercy furlough, or other authorized temporary absence.

Escapee returns, with or without new sentences--Includes all returns from escape, that is, unlawful departures from a State correctionalfacility or from the custody of State correctional personnel.

Returns from appeal/bond--Includes all inmates reinstated to correctional jurisdiction from long-term jurisdictional absences on appeal orbond. Does not include returns from short-term movements (less than 30 days) to court (that is, where the State retains jurisdiction).

Other admissions--Includes all other admissions not covered by the above categories.

Releases

Unconditional--An unconditional release occurs only if the released inmate cannot be imprisoned for any sentence for which he/she was inprison.

Expirations of sentence--Includes all inmates whose maximum court sentences minus credits have been served.

Commutations--Includes all inmates whose maximum sentences have been changed (lowered) to time served to allow immediateunconditional release.

Other unconditional releases--Includes all other unconditional releases not covered by the above categories.

Conditional--A conditional release occurs if the released inmate, upon violating the conditions of release, can be imprisoned again for any ofthe sentences for which he/she was in prison.

Probations--Includes all inmates who have been placed under probation supervision and conditionally released; includes all shock probation(split sentence) releases.

Supervised mandatory releases--Includes all inmates who must, by law, be conditionally released. This type of release may also be calledmandatory conditional release.

Paroles--Includes all inmates conditionally released to parole.

Other conditional releases--Includes all other conditional releases not covered by the above categories.

Death:

Executions--Self-explanatory.

Acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS)--The immediate cause of death in AIDS mortalities may be Pneumocystis Carinii Pneumonia,Kaposi's Sarcoma, or other diseases related to HIV infection.

Illness/natural causes--Self-explanatory. AIDS-related deaths not included in this category.

Suicides--Self-explanatory.

Accidental injury to self--Includes all inmates who accidentally cause their own deaths (for example, a fall from a ladder, mishandling electricalequipment).

Death caused by another person--Includes all inmates whose deaths were caused accidentally or intentionally by another inmate or prisonpersonnel.

Other deaths--Includes all other deaths not covered by the above categories.

Other releases:

Absent without leave (AWOL)--Includes all failures to return from an authorized temporary absence such as work furlough, study release, mercyfurlough, or other authorized temporary absence.

Escapes from confinement--Includes all unlawful departures from a State correctional facility or from the custody of State correctional personnel.

Transfers to other jurisdictions--Includes all inmates who were transferred from one State's jurisdiction to another to continue sentences alreadyin force. Does not include the release if State does not relinquish jurisdiction. Does not include movements from prison to prison within State.

Releases to appeal/bond--Includes all inmates released from correctional jurisdiction to long-term jurisdictional absences on appeal or bond.Does not include short-term movements (less than 30 days) to court (that is, where the State correctional system retains jurisdiction).

Other releases--Includes all other releases not covered by the above categories.

Race

Classification by race often depends on the reporting program and the State. A few States reported two categories: white and nonwhite. A fewothers categorized Hispanic offenders as belonging to "Other race." The number of persons with certain racial backgrounds were sometimesestimated.

White--A person having origins in any of the original peoples of Europe, North Africa, or the Middle East.

Black--A person having origins in any of the black racial groups of Africa.

American Indian or Alaska Native--A person having origins in any of the original peoples of North America, who maintains culturalidentification through tribal affiliation or community recognition.

Asian or Pacific Islander--A person having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, the Indian Subcontinent, orthe Pacific Islands. This area includes, for example, China, India, Japan, Korea, the Philippine Islands, and Samoa.

Other--Any other race not covered by the above categories.

Not known--Any inmate whose racial origin is unknown.

Ethnic origin

A person of Hispanic origin may be of any race; however, a few States treat the ethnic category as a racial one. Reporting officials usually relyon self-definition, but some States classify according to surname.

Hispanic--A person of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Central or South American, or other Spanish culture or origin, regardless of race.

Not Hispanic--A person not covered by the above category.

Not known--Any inmate whose ethnic origin is unknown. *