Probation and Parole Statistics

Summary findings | BJS publications | Selected statistics
Also by BJS staff | Related sites

Summary findings

Probationers include adult offenders whom courts place on community supervision instead of incarceration.

Parolees include those adults conditionally released to community supervision whether by parole board decision or by mandatory conditional release after serving a prison term. They are subject to being returned to jail or prison for rule violations or other offenses.

• At yearend 2003, over 4.8 million adult men and women were under Federal, State, or local probation or parole jurisdiction; approximately 4,074,000 on probation and 774,600 on parole.
  
  
• The 1.5% growth in the probation and parole population during 2003 -- an increase of 73,574 during the year -- was about half the average annual growth of 2.9% since 1995.
  
  
• At the end of 2003 --
  
  -- Among offenders on probation, half (49 percent) had been convicted for committing a felony, 49% for a misdemeanor, and 2% for other infractions. Seventy-one percent of probationers were being actively supervised at the end of 2003; 9% were inactive cases and 11% had absconded.
  
  -- Nearly all of the offenders on parole (95%) had been sentenced to incarceration of more than 1 year.
  
  -- Women made up about 23% of the nation's probationers and 13% of the parolees.
  
  -- Approximately 56% of the adults on probation were white, and 30% were black, and 12% were Hispanic. Forty percent of parolees were white, 41% black, and 18% were Hispanic.
  
  
• State inmates released from prison as a result of a parole board decision dropped from 50% of all adults entering parole in 1995 to 39% in 2002, while mandatory releases based on a statutory requirement increased from 45% to 52%.
  
  
• 45% of State parole discharges in 2002 successfully completed their term of supervision, relatively unchanged since 1995. 41% were returned to jail or prison, and 9% absconded.
  
  
• By the end of 2000, 16 States had abolished parole board authority for releasing all offenders, and another 4 States had abolished parole board authority for releasing certain violent offenders.
  
  

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BJS Publications

This list is in order of the most recent publication first. Additional titles are listed on other topical pages and a comprehensive list is contained on the BJS publications page. To see a full abstract of a publication with links to electronic versions of the publication, click on the title below.

Probation and Parole in the United States, 2003, 7/04. Reports the number of persons on probation and parole, by State, at yearend 2003 and compares the totals with yearend 1995 and 2000. NCJ 205336

Probation and Parole in the United States, 2002, 8/03 NCJ 201135

Probation and Parole in the United States, 2001 , 8/02. NCJ 195663
Probation and Parole in the United States, 2000 -- Press release, 8/01. NCJ 188208

Probation and Parole in 1999 -- Press release, 7/00. NCJ 183508

Full report: Probation and Parole in the United States, 1998, 8/99. NCJ 178234

Probation and Parole Populations, 1997, 8/98. NCJ 172216

Probation and Parole Populations, 1996, 8/97. NCJ 166364

Probation and Parole Populations, 1995, 6/96. NCJ 161722

Probation and Parole Populations, 1994, 9/95. NCJ 156432

Education and Correctional Populations, 01/03. Compares educational attainment of State and Federal prison inmates, jail inmates, and probationers to that of the general population. NCJ 195670

Correctional Populations in the United States, 1997, 11/00. Presents data on the growing number of persons in the United States under some form of correctional supervision for 1997 and reports on the Survey of State and Federal inmates, 1997.
Full report NCJ 177613
Executive Summary NCJ 177614

After 1997, data are only available in electronic formats. See Correctional Populations in the United States - Statistical tables 9/02.

Correctional Populations in the United States, 1996, 4/99. Includes the survey of Inmates in local jails.
Full report NCJ 170013
Executive Summary NCJ 171684

Correctional Populations in the United States, 1995, 5/97. Summarizes the 1995 Census of State and Federal Adult Correction Facilities.
Full report NCJ 163916
Executive Summary NCJ 163917

Correctional Populations in the United States, 1994, 7/96. Includes data on military corrections.
Full report NCJ 160091
Executive Summary NCJ 161559
Correctional Populations in the United States, 1993, 10/95. Includes State-by-State data about local jails.
Full report NCJ 156241
Executive Summary NCJ 156675

Trends in State Parole, 1990-2000, 10/01. Examines the changing nature of offenders entering and leaving parole and the effects on the trends and composition of the prison population. NCJ 184735

Offenders Returning to Federal Prison, 1986-97, 9/00. Describes offenders returning to Federal prison within 3 years of release and their time served upon return. NCJ 182991

Mental Health and Treatment of Inmates and Probationers, 7/99 Presents survey data on offenders who were in prison or jail or on probation and who reported prior treatment for a mental or emotional problem. NCJ 174463

DWI Offenders under Correctional Supervision, 6/99 Provides data on offenders in jail, in prison, or on probation for driving while intoxicated. NCJ 172212

Prior Abuse Reported by Inmates and Probationers, 4/99. Describes prior physical and sexual abuse reported by persons in prison, in jail, or on probation. NCJ 172879

American Indians and Crime , 2/99. Reports the rates and characteristics of violent crimes experienced by American Indians and to summarize data on American Indians in the criminal justice system. NCJ 173386

Substance Abuse and Treatment of Adults on Probation, 1995, 3/98. Presents data from the 1995 Survey of Adults on Probation concerning probationers' use of alcohol and illegal drugs and substance abuse treatment they received. NCJ 166611

Characteristics of Adults on Probation, 1995, 12/97. Provides data from a nationally representative sample of official records of nearly 6,000 adults under probation supervision in 166 State and local probation offices nationwide. NCJ 164267

Probation and Parole Violators in State Prison, 8/95. Focuses on prisoners whose probation or parole was revoked, using data from the 1991 Survey of State Prison inmates, and provides details on offenses, types of violations, time served on probation/parole, time expected to serve, guns, alcohol and drug use, and personal characteristics. NCJ 149076

National Corrections Reporting Program, 1992 , 10/94. Describes the demographic characteristics, offenses, sentence lengths, and time served by persons admitted to and released from the Nation's prison and parole systems in 1992. NCJ 145862

Tables for subsequent years are available in spreadsheets as listed below.

Performance Measures for the Criminal Justice System, 10/93 . This compendium of Discussion Papers represents the work of the BJS-Princeton University Study Group on Criminal Justice Performance Measures. NCJ 143505

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Selected statistics

Correctional Populations in the United States - Statistical tables
in spreadsheet and portable document format files. Subjects include:

• Jail inmates
• Probation
• Prisoners
• Parole
• Capital Punishment
• U.S. military corrections

1998 data are currently available, 9/02

• Adults on probation, Federal and State-by-State, 1977-98, 9/00
• Adults on parole, Federal and State-by-State, 1975-98, 9/00
• Correctional populations, 1980-2000

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Also by BJS staff

Hughes, Timothy, James-Wilson, Doris, and Beck, Allen J. "Trends in State Parole, The More Things Change, the More They Stay the Same" Perspectives (Journal of the American Probation and Parole Association), 26, No. 3 (Summer 2002): 28-33.

Beck, Allen J. "State and Federal prisoners returning to the community: Findings from the Bureau of Justice Statistics," (PDF file, 30K) Presented at the First Reentry Courts Initiative Cluster Meeting, Washington, D.C., April 13, 2000

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Related sites

From BJS

• Criminal offenders
• Reentry Trends in the United States

Bureau of Justice Statistics
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Page last revised on July 25, 2004