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Key felony conviction facts at a glance

Criminal Sentencing Statistics

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

Summary findings

• In 2000, State and Federal courts convicted a combined total of nearly 984,000 adults of felonies -- State courts convicted an estimated 924,700 adults and Federal courts convicted 59,123 adults (accounting for 6% of the national total.)
  
  
• In 2000, 68% of all felons convicted in State courts were sentenced to a period of confinement - 40% to State prisons and 28% to local jails. Jail sentences are for short-term confinement (usually for a year or less) in a county or city facility, while prison sentences are for long-term confinement (usually for over a year) in a State facility.
  
  
• State courts sentenced 32% of convicted felons to straight probation with no jail or prison time to serve.
  
  
• Felons sentenced to a State prison in 2000 had an average sentence of 4 1/2 years but were likely to serve 55% of that sentence - or just 2 1/2 years - before release, assuming that 2000 release policies continue in effect.
  
  
• The average sentence to local jail was just over 6 months. The average probation sentence was about 3 years.
  
  
• Besides being sentenced to incarceration or probation, 39% or more of convicted felons also were ordered to pay a fine, pay victim restitution, receive treatment, perform community service, or comply with some other additional penalty. A fine was imposed on at least 25% of convicted felons.

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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.

Cross-National Studies in Crime and Justice, 09/04. Summarizes the results from a study that documents crime and criminal punishment trends from 1981 to 1999 in eight countries: Australia, Canada, England, the Netherlands, Scotland, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United States. NCJ 200988

Felony Defendants in Large Urban Counties, 2000, 12/03. Presents a complete description of the processing of felony defendants based on data collected from a representative sample of felony cases filed in the Nation's 75 largest counties during May 2000. NCJ 202021

Felony Defendants in Large Urban Counties, 1998, 11/01. NCJ 187232
Felony Defendants in Large Urban Counties, 1996, 10/99. NCJ 176981
Felony Defendants in Large Urban Counties, 1994, 1/98. NCJ 164616
Felony Defendants in Large Urban Counties, 1992, 7/95. NCJ 148826

Felony Sentences in State Courts, 2000, 06/03. Presents statistics for adults who were convicted of a felony and sentenced in State courts. The data were collected in a nationally representative survey of 344 counties in 2000. NCJ 198821

Felony Sentences in State Courts, 1998, 10/01. NCJ 190103

Felony Sentences in State Courts, 1996, 5/99. NCJ 173939

Felony Sentences in State Courts, 1994, 1/97. NCJ 163391

Felony Sentences in State Courts, 1992, 1/95. NCJ 151167

State Court Sentencing of Convicted Felons Presents detailed findings from nationally representative sample survey of felons convicted in State courts, with tables on the number of felony offenders in State courts, the sentences they received, demographic characteristics of convicted felons, the number of felons sentenced to probation, the number of felons convicted by trial and guilty plea, and the amount of time required to process felony conviction cases.

In electronic formats only:

State Court Sentencing of Convicted Felons, 2000 - Statistical tables, 06/03. NCJ 198822

State Court Sentencing of Convicted Felons, 1998 - Statistical tables, 12/01. NCJ 190637

In print and electronic formats:

State Court Sentencing of Convicted Felons, 1996, 2/00. NCJ 175708

State Court Sentencing of Convicted Felons, 1994, 4/98. NCJ 164614

State Court Sentencing of Convicted Felons, 1992, 5/96. NCJ 152696

Federal Criminal Appeals, 1999, with Trends 1985-99, 4/01. Describes the increase in the appellate caseload as a result of challenges to the sentence imposed. NCJ 185055

Defense Counsel in Criminal Cases, 11/00. Examines issues of legal representation for defendants in Federal district court and large local jurisdictions, and inmates in local jails and Federal and State prison. NCJ 179023

Felony Sentences in the United States, 1996, 7/99. Presents the latest available figures for both State and Federal sentencing, reporting that in 1996 the Nation's courts convicted a combined total of over one million adults of a felony offense. NCJ 175045

Felony Sentences in the United States, 1994, 8/97. NCJ 165149
Felony Sentences in the United States, 1992, 5/96. NCJ 153257
Felony Sentences in the United States, 1990, 10/94. NCJ 149077

Truth in Sentencing in State Prisons, 1/99. Describes the development and use of truth-in-sentencing (TIS) laws and presents data on the growing number of States that have adopted TIS and the increasing amount of time offenders are serving in State prison. NCJ 170032

Crime and Justice in the United States and in England and Wales, 1981-96, 10/98. Presents data that compares crime in the United States and England with respect to crime rates (as measured both by victimization surveys and police statistics), conviction rates, incarceration rates, and length of sentences. NCJ 169284

Violent Offenders in State Prison: Sentences and Time Served--State Inmates, 1992-94, 7/95. Reports jurisdiction- level data on sentence length and time served for violent prison inmates who were admitted or released in 1992, 1993, and 1994. NCJ 154632

Prison Sentences and Time Served for Violence , 4/1/95. Presents the time served by violent offenders released from State prisons in 1992; estimates the hypothetical impact on time served of changing the percentage of sentence served; and discusses how the States differ in percentage of sentence served. NCJ 153858

Challenging the Conditions of Prisons and Jails: A Report on Section 1983 Litigation, 2/95. Discusses the extent and outcomes of Federal civil suits by prisoners against correctional authorities. NCJ 151652

Sentencing in the Federal Courts: Does Race Matter? The Transition to Sentencing Guidelines, 1986-90 , 12/93. This discussion paper analyzes the factors that affect sentencing determinations under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines.
Summary NCJ 145332
Full report NCJ 145328

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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Also by BJS staff

Langan, Patrick A. "Between Prison and Probation: Intermediate Sanctions," Science, 264, pp. 791-793, May 6, 1994.

Langan, Patrick A. "No racism in the justice system,"The Public Interest, Fall, 1994.

Farrington, David P., Patrick A. Langan and Per-Olof H. Wikstrom, "Changes in crime and punishment in England, Sweden and America in the 1980's," Studies on Crime & Crime Prevention, Vol. 3, pp. 104-130, 1994.

Farrington, David P. and Patrick A. Langan, "Changes in crime and punishment in England and America in the 1980s,"Justice Quarterly.

Langan, Patrick A. and David P. Farrington, "Two-track or one-track justice? Some evidence from an English longitudinal survey," Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, 74, 2, pp. 519-546.

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Related sites

From BJS

• Federal justice statistics
• Prosecution statistics
• Corrections statistics
• Criminal offender statistics

Other relevant sites

• Office of Justice Programs Courts page
• National Center for State Courts
• "Changing America: Indicators of Social and Economic Well-Being by Race and Hispanic Origin", a Council of Economic Advisors chartbook from the Government Printing Office

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Page last revised on September 28, 2004