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Drugs and Crime Facts
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Correctional populations and facilities

Correctional populations | Correctional facilities

Correctional populations

• Probationers
• Jail inmates
• State prison inmates
• Federal prisoners
• Juveniles

Probationers

Probationers are criminal offenders who have been sentenced to a period of correctional supervision in the community. On December 31, 2003, a total of 4,073,987 adult men and women were serving a probation sentence in the United States. Twenty-five percent of probationers had a drug law violation.

Source: BJS, Probation and Parole in the United States, 2003, NCJ 205336, July 2004.

An estimated 16% of mentally ill probationers and 21% of other probationers reported their current offense was a drug offense.

Source: BJS, Mental Health and Treatment of Inmates and Probationers, NCJ 174463, July 1999.

Jail inmates

In 1996 an estimated 109,200 jail inmates were held for a drug offense, an increase from 87,400 in 1989 and 20,400 in 1983.

The rapid increase in the percentage of jail inmates held for a drug offense during the 1980's slowed in the 1990's. The percentage charged with a drug offense rose from 9% in 1983 to 23% in 1989 but remained at 22% in 1996.

Among jail inmates who said they had been tested for HIV/AIDS, those held for drug offenses were the most likely to be HIV positive (3.3%). Drug offenders were twice as likely as violent offenders (1.5%) to report that they tested positive for HIV.

Source: BJS, HIV in Prisons and Jails, 1995, NCJ 164260, August 1997.

State prison inmates

From 1995 to 2001 the number of drug offenders in State prison increased by 30,600 inmates (15%).

Click on the chart to view the data.
Source: BJS, Correctional Populations in the United States, annually and Prisoners in 2002

An estimated 246,100 inmates in State prison were held for drug offenses. Between 1995 and 2001 the largest growth of State inmates were violent offenders. During the period, the number of violent offenders grew 130,800, while the number of drug offenders grew 30,600. As a percentage of the total growth, violent offenders accounted for 63% of the total growth, drug offenders 15%, property offenders 2%, and public-order offenders 20%.

Source: BJS, Prisoners in 2002, NCJ 200248, July 2003.

About 13% of mentally ill inmates and 22% of other inmates in State prison were incarcerated for a drug offense.

Source: BJS, Mental Health and Treatment of Inmates and Probationers, NCJ 174463, July 1999.

In 1997 parents in State prison were more likely to be serving a sentence for drug offenses (24%) than nonparents (17%). Mothers were more likely than fathers to be sentenced for drug offenses (35% compared to 23% of fathers).

In Federal prison, drug offenses (67%) were the most common type of crime for which parents were serving time in 1997.

Source: BJS, Incarcerated Parents and Their Children, NCJ 182335, August 2000. 

Those inmates being held on a drug offense in State prisons reported the highest HIV positive rate (2.9%).

An estimated 32% of State inmates who reported ever using a needle to inject drugs said they had a medical problem (excluding injury) since admission to prison, compared to 25% of those who did not use a needle.

Inmates who reported ever using a needle to inject drugs reported a higher prevalence of physical impairments or mental conditions. Among State prisoners, about 36% of those who used a needle and 30% of those who did not use a needle to inject drugs reported having some physical impairments or mental condition.

Source: BJS, Medical Problems of Inmates, 1997, NCJ 181644, January 2001.

Population by gender

Violent offenders accounted for the largest source of the total growth of female inmates (49%), compared to 64% among male inmates.

Population by race

The increasing number of drug offenses accounted for 23% of the total growth among black inmates and 18% of the growth among white inmates.

Federal prisoners

Prisoners sentenced for drug offenses constitute the largest group of Federal inmates (55%) in 2001, down from 60% in 1995. On September 30, 2001, Federal prisons held 78,501 sentenced drug offenders, compared to 52,782 at year end 1995.

Source: BJS, Prisoners in 2002, NCJ 200248, July 2003.

In 1997, 16% of incarcerated Federal drug offenders reported being an importer, grower, or manufacturer of illicit drugs; 25% reported that they distributed drugs to street-level dealers.

Source: BJS, Federal Drug Offenders, 1999 with Trends 1984-99, NCJ 187285, August 2001.

In Federal prison, where the majority of inmates are incarcerated for a drug offense, 40% of those identified as mentally ill and 64% of other Federal inmates were in prison for a drug-related crime.

Source: BJS, Mental Health and Treatment of Inmates and Probationers, NCJ 174463, July 1999.

Correctional facilities

Juveniles

In 2001, the Census of Juveniles in Residential Placement, a data collection conducted by the Office of Juveniles Justice and Delinquency (OJJDP), reported that a total of 9,086 juveniles were confined in a facility had committed a drug offense. Of this number, 5,685 juveniles were confined in a public facility and 3,390 in a private facility. The number decreased from 9,882 in 1999.

Source: OJJDP, Census of Juveniles in Residential Placement Databook, FS 200008, 2001.

As of September 30, 1994, 124 juvenile delinquents were confined in a State juvenile correctional facility under contract to the Federal Bureau of Prisons. (The Federal Bureau of Prisons does not have its own facilities for juveniles.) Most (64%) were adjudicated delinquent of a violent offense, and 14% were delinquent of a drug offense.

• 14 months for all those released
• 21 months for drug offenders
• 17 months for violent offenders.
  
  Source: BJS, Juvenile Delinquents in the Federal Criminal Justice System, NCJ 163066, January 1997.

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Page last revised on September 28, 2004