James J. Stephan

August 7, 1997    NCJ 166582

Provides information on facilities, inmates, programs and staff of State and Federal correctional facilities throughout the Nation. Earlier censuses were conducted in 1974, 1979, 1984, and 1990. Information was collected from 1,390 public and 110 private facilities, including general confinement institutions, prison boot camps, reception/diagnosis/classification centers, prison hospitals, and facilities for alcohol and drug treatment, work release/prerelease, and youthful offenders.

In the 5 years between censuses, prison construction nearly kept pace with prison population growth. Between 1990 and 1995 State and Federal governments added 213 prisons and more than 280,000 prison beds -- representing a 41% increase in prison capacity. In 1995 State prisons were on average operating at 4% above rated capacity and Federal prisons at 25% above capacity. At mid-1995 about 1 in 4 State correctional facilities were under court order or consent decree to limit population or to address specific conditions.

In 1995, correctional authorities recorded more than 14,000 assaults on prison staff, up 32% from 1990, and nearly 26,000 assaults on inmates, up 20% from 1990. Relative to the number of inmates, however, the annual number of assaults on other inmates dropped from 31 per 1,000 inmates in 1990 to 27 per 1,000 in 1995, and the number of assaults on staff remained unchanged at 15 per 1,000 inmates.

Part of the Census of State and Federal Correctional Facilities Series

Press Release
Executive Summary (PDF 101K)
Executive Summary (ASCII file 11K)
Full Report (PDF 284K)
Full Report (ASCII file 125K)
Codebooks and Datasets

Help for using BJS products

To cite this product, use the following link:
http://www.bjs.gov/index.cfm?ty=pbdetail&iid=535

View All Publications and Products