Bureau of Justice Statistics

Bulletin

April 2006, NCJ 212260

U.S. Department of Justice

Office of Justice Programs

Highlights

Justice Expenditure and Employment 

in the United States, 2003 

Kristen A. Hughes

BJS Statistician

In 2003 the United States spent a 

record $185 billion for police protection, 

corrections, and judicial and legal activities. Expenditures for operating the 

Nation=s justice system increased from 

almost $36 billion in 1982 to over $185 

billion in 2003, an increase of 418%.

Local governments funded half of all justice system expenses. Another 33% of 

direct justice funding came from the 

States. 

Total justice expenditures comprised 

approximately 7.2% of all State and 

local public expenditures in 2003. Compared to justice expenditures, State and 

local governments continued to spend 

almost 4 times as much on education, 

twice as much on public welfare, and 

roughly an equal amount on hospitals 

and healthcare (figure 3).

In March 2003 the Nation’s justice system employed nearly 2.4 million persons, with a total March payroll of 

approximately $9 billion. More than half 

of all justice employees worked at the 

local level (58%), a third were State 

employees (31%), and the remaining 

11% worked at the Federal level.

Data presented in this report are derived 

from the Justice Expenditure and 

Employment Extracts, compiled from 

the U.S. Census Bureau=s Annual Government Finance Survey and Annual 

Survey of Public Employment. 

Expenditure for justice functions varies by level of government

In fiscal year 2003 States spent the most — $39.2 billion — for corrections. 

Local governments spent the most for police functions — $57.5 billion.

$0 $10 $20 $30 $40 $50 $60

Local

Total expenditure, in billions

Federal

Corrections

Judicial

and legal

Police

protection

State

The total number of justice employees grew 86% between 1982 and 2003 

with the Federal Government having the largest percentage increase —168%.

0

500,000

1,000,000

1,500,000

2,000,000

2,500,000

Total justice

Local

Federal

Employees

Percent

growth,

1982-2003

86%

65%

115%

168%

State

1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2001 2003

Justice employees by level of government
2 Justice Expenditure and Employment in the United States, 2003 

The extracts present public expenditure and employment data pertaining 

to justice activities in the United States, 

including police protection, judicial and 

legal services, and correctional activities. (For definition of terms, see page 

9).

Trends in spending by level 

of government

Between 1982 and 2003, per capita 

expenditure, including Federal, State, 

and local governments across justice 

functions, increased from $158 to 

$638, over 300% (see Appendix table, 

page 9). During the same time period: 

• Correction expenditures increased 

423%, from $40 to $209 per U.S. 

resident (figure 1).

• Judicial and legal expenditures 

increased 321%, from $34 to $143.

• Police protection expenditures 

increased 241%, from $84 to $286.

Since 1982 total direct expenditures 

increased more than five-fold from 

nearly $36 billion to over $185 billion, a 

418% increase (figure 2). The average 

annual increase between 1982 and 

2003 was nearly 8% (table 1).

The total justice expenditure reflected 

the Federal Government=s expanded 

role as it had a larger average annual 

increase in justice spending from 1982 

to 2003 (10%) than State and local 

governments (8% and 7% respectively).

Federal intergovernmental spending 

on justice activities rose from $189 million in 1982 to more than $5.1 billion in 

2003. This increase was due primarily 

to the creation of several large law

enforcement related grant programs in 

the 1980's and 1990's.1

Between 1982 and 2003, the Federal 

Government increased expenditures 

on police protection by 708%, judicial 

and legal services by 573%, and 

corrections by 925%. State and local 

governments had smaller percent 

increases in all functions (table 2).

1For detailed information on Federal Government grants and payments to State and local 

governments see U.S. Census Bureau publication Federal Aid to States for Fiscal Year 2003 at 

<http://www.census.gov/prod/abs/fas.html>.

Total per capita expenditure for each justice functions increased between 1982 

and 2003, with corrections having the largest per capita increase — 423% 

Figure 1 

1982 1987 1992 1997 2003

$0

$50

$100

$150

$200

$250

$300

Police

Corrections

Judicial and legal

Expenditure per capita

Note: See Appendix table on page 9 for more information.

Percent

growth,

1982-2003

241%

423%

321%

Table 1. Total, direct, and intergovernmental justice expenditure and percent change, by level of government fiscal years 

1982-2003 

Total* 

(Federal, Federal State Local

Year

State, and 

local direct) Total Direct

Intergovernmental Total DirectIntergovernmental Total DirectIntergovernmental

Expenditure (in millions)

1982 $35,842 $4,458 $4,269 $189 $11,602 $10,651 $951 $20,968 $20,922 $46

1987 58,871 7,496 7,231 265 20,157 18,465 1,692 33,265 33,175 90

1992 93,777 17,423 13,529 3,894 33,755 30,271 3,484 50,115 49,977 138

1997 129,793 27,065 20,524 6,541 46,444 42,353 4,091 67,083 66,916 167

2000 155,722 27,820 23,086 4,734 58,165 53,991 4,175 78,995 78,644 351

2001 167,113 30,443 25,285 5,158 63,372 58,820 4,552 83,377 83,007 370

2002 179,580 34,346 28,548 5,798 65,508 60,912 4,596 90,485 90,120 366

2003 185,490 35,323 30,197 5,126 66,114 61,743 4,371 93,877 93,550 327

Percent change

1982-2003 417.5% 692.4% 607.4% 2,612.2% 469.9% 479.7% 359.6% 347.7% 347.1% 610.9%

Average annual percent 

change, 1982-2003 7.7% 9.9% 9.3% 16.2% 8.2% 8.3% 7.2% 7.1% 7.0% 9.3%

Note: Detail may not add to total because of rounding.

*Duplicative transactions between levels of government (intergovernmental transfers) are excluded from the total for all governments, the State total, 

and the local total. These intergovernmental expenditures consist of payments from one government to another and are presented as a direct expenditure of a recipient government. See page 9 for further details. 
Justice Expenditure and Employment in the United States, 2003 3

The total direct justice expenditure for all levels of 

government grew from $36 billion in 1982 to $185 

billion in 2003, a 418% increase 

Figure 2 

$0

$50

$100

$150

$200

Expenditure in billions

418%

347%

480%

607%

Total justice

Local

State

Federal

Percent

growth,

1982-2003

1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2003

Note: Does not include indirect expenditures.

Table 2. Total direct and intergovernmental expenditure of Federal, State, and local governments 

for each justice function, and percent change, fiscal years 1982-2003 

Federal State Local

Total

Police 

protection

Judicial 

and 

legal

Corrections TotalPolice 

protection

Judicial 

and 

legal

Corrections TotalPolice 

protection

Judicial 

and legal

Corrections

Expenditure

 (in millions)

1982 $4,458 $2,527 $1,390 $541 $11,602 $2,833 $2,748 $6,020 $20,968 $14,172 $3,784 $3,011

1987 7,496 4,231 2,271 994 20,157 4,067 4,339 11,691 33,265 21,089 6,230 5,947

1992 17,423 7,400 7,377 2,646 33,755 5,593 7,723 20,439 50,115 29,659 10,052 10,404

1997 27,065 12,518 10,651 3,896 46,444 7,501 9,803 29,141 67,083 40,976 13,101 13,007

2000 27,820 13,999 9,353 4,467 58,165 9,787 13,249 35,129 78,995 48,219 14,842 15,934

2001 30,443 15,014 10,230 5,199 63,372 10,497 14,444 38,432 83,377 50,718 15,938 16,721

2002 34,346 17,626 11,013 5,707 65,508 11,081 15,365 39,062 90,485 55,086 17,042 18,358

2003 35,323 20,422 9,356 5,545 66,114 11,144 15,782 39,187 93,877 57,503 17,718 18,656

Percent change

1982-2003 692.4% 708.2% 573.1% 925.0% 469.9% 293.4% 474.3% 550.9% 347.7% 305.8% 368.2% 519.6%

Average annual 

percent change, 

1982-2003 9.9% 10.0% 9.1% 11.2% 8.2% 6.4% 8.3% 8.9% 7.1% 6.6% 7.3% 8.6%

Note: Detail may not add to total because of rounding.

Sources for Federal Expenditure Data: 1982-96 Annual Finance Survey, U.S. Census Bureau. For 1997-99, detailed functional 

tables, Budget Authority by Function, Category and Program. For 2000-03, historical tables, "Outlays by function and subfunction," Office of Management and Budget, Executive Office of the President.

Accounting for inflation

The Consumer Price Index (CPI), reported by the Bureau 

of Labor Statistics, is a commonly used measure of inflation.* According to the CPI, the average price level for all 

urban consumers increased 184% between the base years 

1982-84 and 2003; the annual average increase was 

2.3%.

To maintain consistency in reporting, the expenditure data 

discussed in this Bulletin are not adjusted for inflation. 

However, expenditure on all justice functions and among 

all levels of government increased at a rate greater than 

inflation. For example, if increases in total justice expenditure were limited to the rate of inflation (184%) after 1982, 

expenditures in 2003 would have been approximately 

$65.7 billion ($35.7B x 184%), as opposed to the actual 

$185.5 billion.

Justice expenditure relative to the Gross Domestic 

Product (GDP)

A common way to express the size and growth of government functions is the ratio of expenditure to the GDP or 

"percent GDP."** In 2003, the ratio of justice expenditure to 

GDP was $185 billion/$10,182 billion (1.8%). In 1982 the 

percent GDP was 1.1%. 

*For more information about the Bureau of Labor Statistics website: 

<http://www.bls.gov>. 

**For more information about the GDP, see the Bureau of Economic

Analysis website: <http://www.bea.gov>.

Trends by function

The average annual increase was highest for corrections, 

ranging from a 9% increase by the local governments to 

an 11% increase by the Federal Government.

Among State and local governments police protection 

experienced the lowest average annual increase; the 

average annual increase was about 6.5%. The Federal 

Government expenditure for police protection has 

increased 10% annually.
4 Justice Expenditure and Employment in the United States, 2003 

Distribution of direct expenditure by 

level of government and activity

Within each category of justice activity, 

the distribution of expenditure by level 

of government reflects the different 

responsibilities of each level (table 3): 

• Overall, police spending represented 

45% of the Nation's total justice expenditure, and corrections accounted for 

the second largest portion, 33%.

• Police protection is primarily a local 

responsibility; accordingly, local governments spent 69% of the total police 

protection expenditure in the country in 

2003.

• Corrections is primarily a State 

responsibility; as such State governments accounted for 61% of the 

Nation's corrections expenditure.

• Judicial and legal services in the 

United States were funded primarily by 

local (42%) and State (36%) governments.

The Federal Government spent the 

most on intergovernmental 

grants-in-aid, shared revenues, and 

amounts paid to other governments for 

services performed. Almost 92% of the 

Federal intergovernmental expenditure

was for police protection, much of 

which was distributed through law 

enforcement related grants. 

Table 3. Expenditure by level of government and justice activity, fiscal year 2003 

Amounts (millions of dollars) spent fiscal year 2003

Activity 

All 

governments 

Federal 

government

State 

government

Local 

government

Total justice system - - $35,323 $66,114 $93,877

Direct Expenditure $185,490 30,197 61,743 93,550

Intergovernmental -- 5,126 4,371 327

Police protection -- $20,422 $11,144 $57,503

Direct Expenditure $83,089 15,728 9,860 57,501

Intergovernmental -- 4,694 1,284 2

Judicial and legal - - $9,356 $15,782 $17,718

Direct Expenditure $41,545 9,085 14,945 17,516

Intergovernmental -- 271 837 203

Corrections -- $5,545 $39,188 $18,656

Direct Expenditure $60,855 5,384 36,938 18,533

Intergovernmental -- 161 2,250 123

Note: Detail may not add to total because of rounding. Local government data are estimates subject to sampling variability. The total figure for each justice activity, and for the total justice system, 

exclude duplicative intergovernmental amounts. Artificial inflation would result if an intergovernmental expenditure of a government were tabulated and then counted again when the recipient 

government(s) spent the amount. The intergovernmental expenditure lines are not totaled for the 

same reason.

--Not applicable

Percent of State and local direct expenditures

for selected functions, 1977-2003 

Figure 3 

1977 1982 1987 1992 1997 2003

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

Health and hospitals

Education

Interest on debt

Public welfare

Criminal and civil

justice system

Natural resources,

parks, and recreation

Note: The government functions included will not sum to 100% of government

spending, because some functions were excluded for display purposes.

Figures may not match those from the Expenditure and Employment Extracts

because of definitional difference.

Source: Historical Finances, U.S. Census Bureau

Justice share of State and local expenditures

In 2003, 7.2% of total State and local expenditures 

was for justice activities – 3% for police protection, 

2.6% for corrections, and 1.5% for judicial and legal 

services (figure 3).

By comparison, 29% of State and local government 

spending went to education, 14% to public welfare, 

7% to health care and hospitals, and 4% to interest 

on debt.

From 1977 to 2003 total State and local expenditure 

for all functions increased 567%:

• police protection — 545%

• corrections — 1,173%

• judicial and legal — 1,974%

Other government functions also increased during 

the same period:

• education — 505%

• hospitals and health care — 572%

• interest on debt — 577%

• public welfare — 766%
Justice Expenditure and Employment in the United States, 2003 5

Expenditure of State governments

In 2003 total justice system expenditure of State governments increased 

from $34 billion in 1993 to over $66 

billion in 2003 — a 93% increase.

Total per capita justice expenditure of 

all State governments was $227 (table 

4). Alaska spent the most on justice 

functions at $621 per U.S. resident, 

followed by Delaware ($478) and Connecticut ($372). Mississippi and 

Nevada spent the least per capita for 

all justice functions at $150 and $147, 

respectively. 

Table 4. Per capita justice system expenditure of State governments, 2003 

State Population (2003) Total Per capita 

Alaska 648,510 $402,981,000 $621

Delaware 817,827 391,138,000 478

Connecticut 3,485,881 1,295,675,000 372

Massachusetts 6,417,565 2,195,841,000 342

Wyoming 501,915 166,963,000 333

Maryland 5,512,477 1,779,373,000 323

Vermont 619,092 185,909,000 300

New Mexico 1,879,252 550,994,000 293

Virginia 7,383,387 2,151,666,000 291

Rhode Island 1,075,729 304,930,000 283

California 35,456,602 9,999,263,000 282

Hawaii 1,248,200 340,525,000 273

New Jersey 8,640,028 2,331,274,000 270

New York 19,228,031 5,119,031,000 266

Oregon 3,562,681 905,606,000 254

Kentucky 4,116,780 995,024,000 242

Pennsylvania 12,364,930 2,952,157,000 239

Wisconsin 5,471,792 1,288,541,000 235

Louisiana 4,490,380 1,034,713,000 230

Colorado 4,548,071 1,040,540,000 229

All States 290,292,159 66,114,297,000 228

Michigan 10,078,146 2,263,094,000 225

Oklahoma 3,504,917 766,469,000 219

Montana 917,885 198,787,000 217

Kansas 2,724,224 582,578,000 214

Iowa 2,941,362 624,765,000 212

North Carolina 8,422,375 1,740,172,000 207

Utah 2,378,696 489,339,000 206

Ohio 11,431,748 2,279,090,000 199

Florida 16,993,369 3,349,401,000 197

Georgia 8,746,849 1,716,621,000 196

Maine 1,308,245 254,318,000 194

Arizona 5,577,784 1,073,579,000 192

Texas 22,099,136 4,232,878,000 192

Idaho 1,368,111 261,872,000 191

West Virginia 1,810,347 339,981,000 188

Arkansas 2,726,166 505,996,000 186

New Hampshire 1,287,594 235,600,000 183

Washington 6,131,131 1,121,650,000 183

Missouri 5,718,717 1,033,070,000 181

Minnesota 5,061,662 904,850,000 179

South Carolina 4,146,753 740,178,000 178

Nebraska 1,738,013 301,564,000 174

South Dakota 764,599 132,376,000 173

Illinois 12,649,940 2,089,490,000 165

Alabama 4,501,862 712,838,000 158

Tennessee 5,841,585 914,068,000 156

Indiana 6,196,269 959,292,000 155

North Dakota 633,051 97,689,000 154

Mississippi 2,880,793 432,090,000 150

Nevada 2,241,700 328,458,000 147

Note: Population figures are from the U.S. Census Bureau, Annual Population 

Estimates 2000-2005.

Source: Criminal Justice Expenditure and Employment Extracts Program (CJEE), 

table 9. <www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/eande.htm>
6 Justice Expenditure and Employment in the United States, 2003 

Distribution of employment by level 

of government and activity

In March 2003 the Nation=s civil and 

criminal justice system employed over 

2.3 million persons, with a total March 

payroll of $9 billion (table 5). Relative 

to the entire employed population in 

2003, approximately 2% of the 

Nation=s labor force worked in the justice system. (For more detailed information on the national labor force, see 

<http://www.bls.gov/cps/cpsaat1.pdf>.)

Local governments accounted for 

more justice employment than the Federal and State governments combined. 

Of all the Nation=s justice employees, 

58% were engaged in local justice 

activities.

The State and local governments 

employed almost 89% of all justice 

system workers, while the Federal 

Government employed the remaining 

11%.

The distribution of corrections employment reflects State government dominance in that sector — 62% of 

corrections employees worked for 

State governments, followed by 33% at 

the local level and 5% at the Federal 

level (figure 4).

As law enforcement is primarily the 

responsibility of local governments, 

77% of the Nation=s police employees 

worked at the local level. The Federal 

Government employed 14% of police 

protection personnel while State governments employed the remaining 

10%.

Throughout the justice system, an estimated 59% of total justice expenditures were for payroll.2

2This figure was calculated by multiplying the 

March 2003 payroll figure by 12 and dividing by 

total justice expenditure.

In 2003, the Federal Government 

spent less on payrolls relative to total 

expenditure ($15 billion out of 35 billion 

or 43%) than did State and local governments (48% and 65% respectively).

Police protection was the activity with 

the highest percentage of expenditure 

going to payrolls (66%). In particular 

70% of local government justice 

expenditure went to police protection.

The activity with the lowest percentage 

of payroll expenditure for all levels of 

government was corrections at approximately 50%.

Local governments employed over 850,000 persons for police protection in 

March 2003 and over half of all judicial and legal employees across all levels of 

government 

Figure 4 

Police protection

and legal

Corrections

0 300,000 600,000 900,000

Number of employees

Judicial

Federal

State

Local

Table 5. Employment and monthly payroll of the justice system, by activity and level of government, March 2003 

Percent distribution

Activity All governments Federal State Local Total Federal State Local

Total justice system

Total employees 2,361,193 253,367 733,570 1,374,256 100% 10.7% 31.1% 58.2%

2003 March payroll* $9,041 $1,279 $2,639 $5,123 100 14.1 29.2 56.1

Police protection

Total employees 1,118,936 156,607 105,933 856,396 100% 14.0% 9.5% 76.5%

2003 March payroll* $4,545 $760 $438 $3,347 100 16.7 9.6 73.6

Judicial and legal

Total employees 494,007 61,984 164,051 267,972 100% 12.5% 33.2% 54.2%

2003 March payroll* $1,969 $353 $682 $934 100 17.9 34.6 47.4

Corrections

Total employees 748,250 34,776 463,586 249,888 100% 4.6% 62.0% 33.4%

2003 March payroll* $2,526 $165 $1,519 $842 100 6.5 60.1 33.3

Note: Detail may not add to total because of rounding. These data are based on a summation of responses from individual State and local government agencies. Local government data are estimates subject to sampling variability, see Methodology for details. Refer to Bureau of Justice 

Statistics Report, Federal Law Enforcement Officers, 2002 for detail of Federal employment <http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/abstract/fleo02.htm>.

*Payroll is in millions. 
Justice Expenditure and Employment in the United States, 2003 7

Table 6. State and local justice system employment and percent 

of all public employment, by State, March 2003 

 Full-time equivalent employment

State

All State and 

local public

State and local 

justice

Justice as a 

percent of total

Nevada 92,655 15,687 16.9%

Florida 806,682 133,772 16.6

Arizona 261,492 40,583 15.5

District of Columbia 44,271 6,870 15.5

Delaware 45,947 73,934 15.1

New Jersey 489,448 6,926 15.1

New York 1,193,262 176,622 14.8

Maryland 287,513 39,577 13.8

Pennsylvania 569,356 78,232 13.7

Louisiana 279,087 37,861 13.6

Illinois 641,248 86,279 13.5

Missouri 311,972 41,803 13.4

Georgia 484,515 64,637 13.3

California 1,805,446 238,806 13.2

Massachusetts 320,372 42,151 13.2

Connecticut 176,369 22,626 12.8

All State and local 15,760,451 2,002,706 12.7%

Ohio 619,869 78,124 12.6%

Hawaii 71,764 8,879 12.4

Texas 1,253,022 155,979 12.4

Michigan 512,026 62,597 12.2

Wisconsin 288,044 35,225 12.2

Tennessee 311,601 37,024 11.9

New Mexico 122,040 14,348 11.8

South Carolina 242,222 28,496 11.8

Virginia 411,100 47,922 11.7

Oregon 181,607 21,049 11.6

Rhode Island 55,944 6,469 11.6

Colorado 256,018 29,205 11.4

Indiana 332,380 38,048 11.4

North Carolina 469,942 53,684 11.4

Arkansas 153,382 17,345 11.3

Washington 321,153 35,619 11.1

Utah 122,209 13,146 10.8

Oklahoma 201,632 21,597 10.7

Idaho 78,548 8,194 10.4

Alaska 51,102 5,191 10.2

Kansas 178,042 18,221 10.2

Wyoming 43,651 4,467 10.2

Montana 52,886 5,337 10.1

New Hampshire 68,192 6,893 10.1

Kentucky 227,902 22,879 10.0

West Virginia 93,383 9,341 10.0

Alabama 269,674 26,036 9.7

Mississippi 186,130 17,592 9.5

Minnesota 283,691 26,155 9.2

Nebraska 113,703 10,372 9.1

South Dakota 43,445 3,865 8.9

Iowa 179,633 14,868 8.3

Maine 75,041 6,205 8.3

North Dakota 41,178 3,110 7.6

Vermont 38,660 2,858 7.4

Note: These data are based on a summation of responses from individual 

State and local government agencies. Local government data are estimates 

subject to sampling variability. See Methodology for details.

Source: Annual Survey of Government Employment, U.S. Census Bureau, 

March (2003).

Expansion of the Nation’s justice system 

1982-2003

The increase in justice expenditures over nearly 20 

years reflects the expansion of the Nation=s justice 

system. For example, in 1982 the justice system 

employed approximately 1.27 million persons; in 

2003 it reached over 2.3 million. 

Police protection

One indicator of police workload, the FBI’s arrest 

estimates for State and local police agencies, grew 

from 12 million in 1982 to an estimated 13.6 million 

in 2003.* The number of employees in police 

protection increased from approximately 724,000 to 

over 1.1 million. 

Judicial and legal 

The judicial and legal workload, including civil and 

criminal cases, prosecutor functions, and public 

defender services, also expanded during this 

period. Cases of all kinds (criminal, civil, domestic, 

juvenile, and traffic) filed in the nearly 16,000 

general and limited jurisdiction State courts went 

from about 86 million to 100 million in the 16-year 

period, 1987-2003.** The total of judicial and legal 

employees grew about 101% to over 494,000 

persons in 2003.

Corrections

The total number of State and Federal inmates 

grew from 403,000 in 1982 to over 1.4 million in 

2003. The number of local jail inmates more than 

tripled from approximately 207,000 in 1982 to over 

691,000 in 2003. Adults on probation increased 

from over 1.4 million to about 4.1 million persons.*** 

Overall, corrections employment more than 

doubled from nearly 300,000 to over 748,000 

during this same period.

*

Crime in the United States, 1982 (FBI, 1983) and 2003 (FBI, 

2004), <http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/cius_03/pdf/toc03.pdf>.

**Examining the Work of State Courts, 2003: A National Perspective from the Court Statistics Project, National Center for State 

Courts, 

<http://www.ncsconline.org/D_Research/csp/2003_Files/

2003_Main_Page.html>.

***Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics, 2003 (table 6.1.2004), 

<http://www.albany.edu/sourcebook/pdf/t612004.pdf>.

Employment by State

In total, almost 13% of State and local employees 

worked in the justice system (table 6). Nevada had the 

highest percentage of justice employees relative to all 

public employees (16.9%), followed by Florida (16.6%). 

The States with the lowest percentage of justice 

employees were Vermont and North Dakota (both at 

less than 8%). 
8 Justice Expenditure and Employment in the United States, 2003 

California had the most State and local 

employees (1.8 million) as well as the 

largest number of employees in the 

justice system (247,110).3 Vermont 

was the State with the fewest justice 

employees in State and local government (slightly over 3,000) and for all 

functions (approximately 39,000).

In March 2003 the number of full-time 

equivalent (FTE) State and local government justice system employees 

was just over 2 million (table 7). Almost 

45% of all FTE justice system State 

and local employees worked in police 

protection; 35% were employed in corrections, while the remaining 20% 

were in judicial and legal jobs. 

The District of Columbia had the largest percentage of FTE State and local 

justice system employees working in 

police protection at 63%. Massachusetts and Rhode Island followed at 

56% and 54%, respectively. At 37%, 

Delaware had the smallest percentage 

of employees working in police protection.

In corrections, Texas had the largest 

percentage of FTE State and local justice system employees at 46%. Virginia and North Carolina followed at 

44% and 43%, respectively. 

3Source for these data is the Criminal Justice 

Expenditure and Employment Extracts Program 

(CJEE), table 5. <www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/

eande.htm>. 

Table 7. Justice system employment and percent distribution of full-time 

equivalent employment, by State and local government and activities, 

March 2003. 

Full-time equivalent employees*

Percent distribution

State 

Total justice 

system 

Police 

protection

Judicial and 

legal Corrections

Total 2,002,706 44.7% 20.4% 35.0%

California 238,806 42.6 22.8 34.6

New York 176,622 49.0 17.3 33.7

Texas 155,979 38.8 15.7 45.5

Florida 133,772 44.7 24.0 31.3

Illinois 86,279 53.2 19.8 27.0

Pennsylvania 78,232 40.6 22.5 36.8

Ohio 78,124 42.3 25.6 32.1

New Jersey 73,934 48.0 29.2 22.8

Georgia 64,637 39.4 18.4 42.2

Michigan 62,597 41.6 19.5 38.9

North Carolina 53,684 44.2 12.4 43.4

Virginia 47,922 41.0 15.4 43.6

Massachusetts 42,151 55.6 21.9 22.6

Missouri 41,803 45.2 19.5 35.3

Arizona 40,583 43.1 22.5 34.4

Maryland 39,577 43.2 18.6 38.2

Indiana 38,048 45.2 19.2 35.6

Louisiana 37,861 43.5 20.0 36.4

Tennessee 37,024 48.7 16.4 34.9

Washington 35,619 40.2 21.6 38.2

Wisconsin 35,225 46.3 17.0 36.7

Colorado 29,205 45.5 20.1 34.4

South Carolina 28,496 48.9 13.9 37.3

Minnesota 26,155 43.8 24.0 32.2

Alabama 26,036 51.0 19.5 29.5

Kentucky 22,879 42.6 27.2 30.2

Connecticut 22,626 45.8 20.9 33.2

Oklahoma 21,597 49.0 19.2 31.7

Oregon 21,049 39.3 21.3 39.4

Kansas 18,221 47.3 19.6 33.0

Mississippi 17,592 51.0 15.0 34.0

Arkansas 17,345 45.9 18.8 35.3

Nevada 15,687 44.4 20.7 34.9

Iowa 14,868 48.7 21.3 30.0

New Mexico 14,348 39.2 21.0 39.7

Utah 13,146 42.6 20.6 36.8

Nebraska 10,372 46.1 17.5 36.4

West Virginia 9,341 40.3 24.3 35.4

Hawaii 8,879 41.0 31.9 27.1

Idaho 8,194 45.0 19.9 35.1

Delaware 6,926 36.9 22.8 40.3

New Hampshire 6,893 53.2 18.1 28.7

District of Columbia 6,870 63.0 21.7 15.3

Rhode Island 6,469 53.6 19.4 27.1

Maine 6,205 50.0 16.4 33.6

Montana 5,337 43.4 24.5 32.1

Alaska 5,191 39.4 25.3 35.3

Wyoming 4,467 48.3 19.3 32.4

South Dakota 3,865 45.5 20.9 33.6

North Dakota 3,110 45.6 24.8 29.6

Vermont 2,858 43.2 22.3 34.4

Notes: Local government data are estimates subject to variability.

*Justice system employment of independent school districts and special school districts 

(primarily for special police) are not available.
Justice Expenditure and Employment in the United States, 2003 9

Definition of terms

Expenditure includes only external 

cash payments made from any source 

of funds, including any payments 

financed from borrowing, fund balances, intergovernmental revenue, 

and other current revenue. It excludes 

any intragovernmental transfers and 

noncash transactions, such as the provision of meals or housing of employees. It also excludes retirement of 

debt, investment in securities, extensions of loans, or agency transactions. 

Total expenditures for all government 

functions do include interest payments 

on debt, but the justice expenditure 

data do not.

Expenditures two major categories —

• Direct expenditure is all expenditure 

except that classified as intergovernmental. It includes "direct current 

expenditure" (salaries, wages, fees,

and commissions and purchases of 

supplies, materials, and contractual 

services) and "capital outlays" 

(construction and purchase of 

equipment, land, and existing 

structures). Capital outlays are 

included for the year when the direct 

expenditure is made, regardless of 

how the funds are raised (for example, 

by bond issue) or when they are paid 

back.

• Intergovernmental expenditure is the 

sum of payments from one government to another, including grantsin-aid, shared revenues, payments in 

lieu of taxes, and amounts for services 

performed by one government for 

another on a reimbursable or 

cost-sharing basis (for example, payments by one government to another 

for boarding prisoners). It excludes 

amounts paid to other governments for 

purchase of commodities, property, or 

utility services.

Employees are all persons on 

government payrolls during the pay 

period including March 15, 2003. They 

include all paid officials and persons on 

paid leave, but exclude unpaid 

officials, persons on unpaid leave, 

pensioners, and contractors. 

Full-time employees are all persons 

employed on a full-time basis, 

including all full-time temporary or 

seasonal workers who were employed 

during this pay period. 

Full-time equivalent employment (FTE) 

is a statistical measure that estimates 

the number of full-time employees that 

could have been employed if the 

reported number of hours worked by 

part-time employees had been worked 

by full-time employees. This statistic is 

calculated separately for each function 

of a government by dividing the 

"part-time hours paid" by the standard 

number of hours for full-time 

employees in the particular 

government and then adding the 

resulting quotient to the number of 

full-time employees. 

Payroll is the gross 1-month payroll 

before deductions and includes 

salaries, wages, fees, and 

commissions paid to employees as 

defined above for March 2003.

Components of total expenditure

The expenditure data discussed in this Bulletin include direct expenditure and 

intergovernmental expenditure. Intergovernmental expenditure is the sum of 

payments from one government to another, including grants-in-aid, shared revenues, and amounts for services performed by one government for another on 

a reimbursable or cost-sharing basis. 

The three levels of government in the United States (Federal, State, and local) 

have varying responsibilities for justice activities, and funds are often passed 

between governments to reflect these responsibilities. For example, Federal 

intergovernmental expenditures include grants to States, and State direct 

expenditures will include those grants. 

To avoid double counting the sum of Federal, State, and local intergovernmental expenditures, the direct expenditure is used to calculate total expenditure 

for all governments. For 2003, the total direct expenditure for all governments 

was over $185 billion.

Appendix table. Direct and per capita justice expenditure across government and by function, selected years, 1982-2003

Justice expenditure 

across government 

and function

Police protection 

expenditure 

Judicial and legal 

expenditure Corrections expenditure

Year Population

Total

(in millions) Per capita

Total

(in millions) Per capita

Total

(in millions) Per capita

Total

(in millions) Per capita

2003 290,850,000 $185,490 $638 $83,089 $286 $41,545 $143 $60,855 $209

2002 287,985,000 179,580 624 79,540 276 40,431 140 59,609 207

1997 267,784,000 129,793 485 57,754 216 28,529 107 43,511 162

1992 245,807,000 93,777 382 41,327 168 20,989 85 31,461 128

1987 243,400,000 58,871 242 28,778 118 12,555 52 17,549 72

1982 226,548,000 35,842 158 19,022 84 7,771 34 9,049 40

Note: Using the Consumer Price Index (CPI) to adjust the 2003 per capita figure of $638 for inflation would yield approximately $335 in 1982 dollars. 

For more information on the CPI see the Bureau of Labor Statistics website <www.bls.gov>. Population figures are from the U.S. Census Bureau, 

Annual Population Estimates 2000-2005. 
10 Justice Expenditure and Employment in the United States, 2003 

Police protection is the function of 

enforcing the law, preserving order, 

and apprehending those who violate 

the law, whether these activities are 

performed by a city police department, 

sheriff's department, State police, or 

Federal law enforcement agency such 

as the Federal Bureau of Investigation 

or the Drug Enforcement 

Administration. Private security police 

are outside the scope of the survey.

Judicial and legal services include all 

civil and criminal courts and activities 

associated with courts such as law 

libraries, grand juries, petit juries, 

medical and social service activities, 

court reporters, judicial councils, 

bailiffs, and probate functions. It also 

includes the civil and criminal justice 

activities of the attorneys general, 

district attorneys, State's attorneys, 

and their variously named equivalents 

and corporation counsels, solicitors, 

and legal departments with various 

names. It excludes legal units of 

noncriminal justice agencies, whose 

functions may be performed by a legal 

services department in other 

jurisdictions (such as a county 

counsel).

Corrections involves the community 

supervision, confinement, and 

rehabilitation of adults and juveniles 

convicted of offenses against the law 

and the confinement of persons 

suspected of a crime awaiting trial or 

adjudication. It includes the costs of 

operation and employment for jails, 

prisons, probation, parole, pardon, and 

correctional administration. Data for 

institutions with authority to hold 

prisoners beyond arraignment (usually 

48 hours or more) are included in this 

sector. Data for lockups or "tanks" 

holding prisoners less than 48 hours 

are included in "police protection."

Methodology

The justice data in this report include 

the expenditures and employment of 

the Federal Government, the State 

governments, and a sample of county, 

municipal, and township governments. 

Unless otherwise noted, data for total 

governmental functions and non-justice governmental functions also 

include the expenditures of special districts and school districts, which generally do not have justice functions.

This report is based on a compilation 

of data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 

annual surveys of governmental 

finances and employment. The survey 

sample was selected from the 1997 

Census of Local Governments and 

consists of large units of government 

(including all 50 States) sampled with 

certainty and smaller units selected 

with a probability proportional to the 

unit’s expenditure. The total number of 

local governments in the finance sample was 7,002, and the number of local 

governments in the employment sample was 10,574.

Certain limitations reflect the fact that 

the surveys from which this Bulletin 

was extracted are not designed to 

obtain data on specific justice functions. The sampling variability, or standard error, for each of the justice 

activities is likely to be larger than for 

the major categories that the surveys 

were designed to estimate. Similarly, 

the standard error is likely to be greater 

for local governments than for 

State-local aggregates which are sampled in part with certainty. Specific 

standard errors can be found on the 

Census Bureau’s website (<http://

www. census.gov>).

Differences in functional responsibilities from State to State and government to government can affect the 

comparability of expenditure and 

employment data. Readers should be 

generally cautious in comparing governmental expenditures because of 

this variation in the division of responsibilities. 

The data in this report differ in some 

cases from those previously published 

in the Census Bureau=s finance and 

employment survey reports because of 

definitional differences and the more 

intensive review procedures and data 

refinements used for this compilation. 

Data on State and local justice system 

per capita expenditure by State and 

activity were not collected in 2003. 

These data are available for 2002. 

The data here differ from other BJS 

series which collect agency-based 

employment and expenditure data 

because of collection methods, units of 

analysis, and data collection purposes. 

These include —

Law Enforcement Management and 

Administrative Statistics, Prosecutors 

in State Courts and various court statistics series, The Census of Local 

Jails, 1999, The Census of State and 

Federal Correctional Facilities, 2000, 

and the report State Prison Expenditures, 2001.

Financial data for the Federal Government were extracted from The Budget 

of the United States Government, FY 

2003, Appendix. The historical finance 

data may differ slightly from the justice 

expenditure data found in the Expenditure and Employment Extracts 

because of definitional differences.

Federal Government civilian employment data were obtained from the U.S. 

Office of Personnel Management. Statistics for State and local governments 

were obtained by a mail survey including all State departments, agencies, 

and institutions, and a local central 

reporting office supplemented by special mailings.
Justice Expenditure and Employment in the United States, 2003 11

Trend comparisons between the data 

in this report and reports covering data 

for 1971-79, 1985, 1988, 1990, and 

1997 from the Justice Assistance Data 

Survey (JADS) are complicated by differences in methodology. These differences are described in the BJS reports 

for these years, and on the BJS website. In making trend comparisons, 

users should limit their analysis to one 

of the two sources:

• long-term trends for 1971-79, 1985, 

1988,1990, and 1997 from the JADS

• recent year-to-year trends from the 

1980-2001 Justice Expenditure and 

Employment Extracts data.

A more detailed description of the survey methodology (including sample 

design and sampling errors) can be 

found in the Justice Expenditure and 

Employment Extracts at <http://www. 

ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs>.

This report is available in portable 

document format and in ASCII. 

Its related statistical data and tables 

are available at the BJS World Wide 

Web Internet site: <http://

www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/>

The data from the Justice 

Expenditure and Employment 

Extracts are available from the 

National Archive of Criminal Justice 

Data, maintained by the Interuniversity Consortium for Political 

and Social Research at the University 

of Michigan, 1-800-999-0960. The 

archive may also be accessed 

through the BJS Internet site.

Office of Justice Programs

Partnerships for Safer Communities

http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov

The Bureau of Justice Statistics is 

the statistical agency of the U.S. 

Department of Justice. Jeffrey L. 

Sedgwick is director. 

BJS Bulletins present the first 

release of findings from permanent 

data collection programs.

Kristen Hughes wrote this report 

under the supervision of Steven K. 

Smith. Mark Motivans and Steven 

D. Owens provided statistical 

review. Tina Dorsey and Marianne 

W. Zawitz produced and edited the 

report. Jayne Robinson prepared 

the report for final printing.

The data extraction, editing, and 

tabulation for the 2002 and 2003 

Justice Expenditure and 

Employment Extracts were 

performed at the U.S. Census 

Bureau by Steven D. Owens.

April 2006, NCJ 212260 
U.S. Department of Justice

Office of Justice Programs

Bureau of Justice Statistics

Washington, DC 20531

Official Business

Penalty for Private Use $300

PRESORTED STANDARD

POSTAGE & FEES PAID

DOJ/BJS

Permit No. G-91

*NCJ~212260*

12 Justice Expenditure and Employment in the United States, 2003