James J. Stephan, Bureau of Justice Statistics

October 1, 2008    NCJ 222182

Presents selected findings from the Census of State and Federal Correctional Facilities, 2005. The report includes data on characteristics of facilities by type, size, security level, rated and design capacities, court orders, and use of private contractors. It provides data on custody populations by type of facility, gender, and facility security level. The report includes data on facility staff by gender, occupational categories, and inmate-to-staff ratios by type of facility. Program data include work activities of inmates inside prison and on work release; educational training such as basic literacy and college courses; and counseling programs such as drug and alcohol dependency and employment interviewing skills. The report compares selected findings to the 2000 census. This is a web-only publication.

Highlights:

• The number of prisoners held in custody in state and federal correctional facilities increased 10% from 1,305,253 in 2000 to 1,430,208 in 2005.
• Between the 2000 and the 2005 censuses, the number of correctional employees rose 3%, resulting in a higher inmate-to-staff ratio in the latter year.
• While the stock of minimum security facilities grew by 155 and maximum security facilities rose by 40 between 2000 and 2005, the number of medium security facilities declined by 42.

Part of the Census of State and Federal Correctional Facilities Series

Full report (PDF 302K)
ASCII file (32K)
Spreadsheet (Zip format 22K)

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