Todd D. Minton, Mary Cowhig, BJS Statisticians

December 5, 2017    NCJ 250981

Describes jails, confinement facilities, detention centers, and other correctional facilities operated by tribal authorities or the Bureau of Indian Affairs. This report presents trends in Indian country jails, including inmate counts, characteristics, and offense types; midyear, peak, and average daily populations; admissions and expected average length of stay at admission; rated capacity, facility crowding, and jail staffing; and deaths in custody. Findings are based on BJS's 2016 Survey of Jails in Indian Country.

Highlights:

• At midyear 2016, an estimated 2,540 inmates were held in 80 Indian country jails, up 1.2% from the 2,510 inmates held at midyear 2015 in 76 facilities.
• At midyear 2016, jails in Indian country were rated to hold an estimated 4,090 inmates, up from 3,800 in 2015.
• From June 2000 to June 2016, the overall rated capacity (up 97%) grew at twice the rate as the midyear inmate population (up 43%).
• Occupied bed space declined from 86% of rated capacity at midyear 2000 to 62% at midyear 2016.
• The number of inmates admitted into Indian country jails (9,640) during June 2016 was nearly four times the average daily population (2,480).

Part of the Jails in Indian Country Series

Summary (PDF 174K)
Full Report (PDF 467K)
Comma-delimited format (CSV) (Zip format 30K)

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