U.S. Department of Justice

Office of Justice Programs

Bureau of Justice Statistics

Bureau of Justice Statistics · Statistical Tables

BJS

August 2013, NCJ 242186

I

n 2011, 4,238 inmates died while in the custody 

of local jails or state prisons, an increase of 2% or 

88 deaths from 2010. A total of 885 deaths (21%) 

occurred in local jails. Overall, jails reported 33 fewer 

deaths in 2011 than in 2010. Heart disease and suicide 

continued to be the two leading causes of death in 

local jails, accounting for more than half (61%) of 

all jail deaths in 2011. The mortality rate in jails (122 

deaths per 100,000 inmates) declined 2% from 2010 

to 2011, continuing a general decline in mortality 

rates that was first observed in 2008. Heart disease 

and suicide mortality rates remained relatively stable 

between 2010 and 2011.

Over the 12-year period between 2000 and 2011, 

suicide accounted for an annual average of 41 

deaths per 100,000 jail inmates, while heart disease 

accounted for 31 deaths per 100,000. To account for 

single-year fluctuations that are common in mortality 

data, 3-year moving averages were calculated for 

selected causes of death in jails and prisons. Figures 

display the most recent year for trend estimates 

based on 3-year moving averages centered on the 

middle year. For example, estimates reported for 2010 

represent the average estimates from 2009 through 

2011. The 3-year moving average for heart disease 

remained relatively stable, varying between 27 and 34 

deaths per 100,000 jail inmates (figure 1). For suicide, 

the rate varied between 34 and 48 deaths per 100,000 

inmates. (See Methodology for more information on 

moving averages.)

The majority of jails (81%) reported zero deaths in 

2011, which was consistent with an annual average of 

82% of jails reporting zero deaths between 2000 and 

2011. Approximately 13% of jails reported a single 

death, and 6% of jails reported two or more deaths 

in 2011.

In 2011, deaths in prisons (3,353 deaths) accounted 

for approximately 80% of all deaths in local jails 

and state prisons. Deaths in state prisons increased 

by 121 from 2010 to 2011, which accounted for the 

overall net increase of inmate deaths in local jails 

and state prisons. Cancer and heart disease were the 

two leading causes of death in state prisons in 2011, 

accounting for more than half (56%) of deaths in 

state prisons.

Mortality in Local Jails and State 

Prisons, 2000-2011 - Statistical Tables

Margaret E. Noonan, BJS Statistician, Scott Ginder, RTI International

0

20

40

60

80

Heart disease

Suicide

'01 '02 '03 '04 '05 '06 '07 '08 '09 '10

Rate per 100,000 inmates

FIGURE 1 

Moving average mortality rate per 100,000 local jail 

inmates, by selected causes of death, 2000–2011

Note: Estimates based on 3-year moving averages centered on the 

middle year. For example, data for 2010 includes 2009, 2010, and 2011.

Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, Deaths in Custody Reporting 

Program, 2000–2011.

0

20

40

60

80

Heart disease

Cancer

'02 '03 '04 '05 '06 '07 '08 '09 '10

Rate per 100,000 inmates

FIGURE 2 

Moving average mortality rate per 100,000 state 

prisoners, by selected causes of death, 2001–2011

Note: Estimates based on 3-year moving averages centered on the 

middle year. For example, data for 2010 includes 2009, 2010, and 2011.

Sources: Bureau of Justice Statistics, Deaths in Custody Reporting 

Program, 2001–2011; and National Prisoner Statistics, 2001–2011.
Mortality in Local Jails and State Prisons, 2000-2011 - Statistical Tables | August 2013 2

Mortality rates in state prisons have been nearly stable since 

2001. The mortality rate for both cancer and heart disease 

was 65 deaths per 100,000 prisoners between 2001 and 2011. 

Among prisoners, the 3-year moving average mortality rate 

for heart disease remained relatively constant from 2002 to 

2010, while the 3-year moving average mortality rate for 

cancer began to increase in 2008 (figure 2).

The data in this report were developed from the Bureau 

of Justice Statistics’ (BJS) Deaths in Custody Reporting 

Program (DCRP), an annual data collection about inmate 

deaths in local jails and state prisons. The program began 

collecting data from jails in 2000 and from prisons in 2001. 

This report covers deaths in custody occurring in local jails 

and state prisons between 2000 and 2011. Statistical tables 

provide information about the causes and circumstances of 

local jail and state prison inmate deaths and present trends 

by cause of death, selected decedent characteristics, and 

mortality rates for jails and prisons inmates by states.

Mortality in local jails

Cause of death

 The number of deaths in local jails decreased from 918 

deaths in 2010 to 885 deaths in 2011 (table 1).

 Heart disease accounted for about a quarter (26%) of 

deaths in local jails in 2011 (table 2).

 After an initial decline in 2008, the mortality rate for jail 

inmates has remained relatively unchanged (125 deaths 

per 100,000 inmates in 2010 and 122 per 100,000 in 

2011). Likewise, the mortality rate showed little variation 

from 2000 to 2007, increasing or decreasing between 1% 

and 3% (table 3). 

 The illness-related mortality rate decreased approximately 

10% between 2010 and 2011, driven by a 50% decrease in 

the AIDS-related mortality rate.

 The suicide rate in local jails declined over time, from 

49 suicide deaths per 100,000 inmates in 2001 to 36 per 

100,000 in 2007. Excluding 2008 data, the rate increased 

18% from 2007 to reach 43 suicides per 100,000 inmates 

in 2011. (See Methodology for more information about 

2008 data.)

Decedent characteristics

 Males accounted for nearly 9 in 10 (87%) deaths in local 

jails in 2011. Whites accounted for more than half (59%) 

of local jail deaths in the same year (table 5).

 Males and females died at nearly equal rates in local jails 

in 2011 (table 6).

 The mortality rate for black inmates (89 per 100,000) in 

2011 was the lowest observed mortality rate among black 

inmates since the DCRP began collecting data in 2000.

 Consistently each year since 2000, the jail mortality rate 

increased with inmates’ age. In 2011, jail inmates age 55 

and older died at a rate (650 deaths per 100,000) that was 

about three times the rate for younger inmates.

 In 2011, more than a third (39%) of deaths occurred 

within the first week of admission to the jail facility.

 Between 2000 and 2011, about half of suicides (48%) and 

a third (32%) of heart disease deaths occurred within the 

first week of admission. More than a fifth of AIDS-related 

deaths (22%) and more than a third of cancer deaths 

(38%) occurred after 6 months of admission (table 7).

 Between 2000 and 2011, male jail inmates were 1.6 times 

more likely to commit suicide than female inmates. 

Female jail inmates were nearly twice as likely as males to 

die of drug or alcohol intoxication (table 8).

Facility characteristics

 In 2011, 8 in 10 jails (81%) reported zero deaths to the 

DCRP. From 2000 to 2011, an annual average of 82% of 

jails reported zero deaths (table 9).

 About 20% of all jails reported one or more deaths in 

2011. Among these jails, 67% reported a single death. 

 Together, California, Florida, New York, and Texas 

reported about a third of jail deaths in 2011. These states 

also had the largest jail populations, comprising 31% of 

the total jail population (table 10).

 About half of all jail jurisdictions in California, Maryland, 

New Jersey, and West Virginia reported at least one death 

in 2011 (table 13).

Moving averages

 The heart disease mortality rate was generally higher in 

the years prior to 2005 (appendix table 2).

 Among white inmates, the mortality rate for heart disease 

was at least 40 deaths per 100,000 prior to 2007. After a 

period of decline, the rate increased from 37 to 45 deaths 

per 100,000 white inmates between 2010 and 2011.

 Overall, the mortality rate for heart disease among 

inmates age 55 or older declined from 2003 to 2008, then 

increased after 2009. The rate in 2010 (279 per 100,000) 

was still lower than rates observed prior to 2006.

 The suicide rate increased in 2009 and 2010, after small 

declines between 2002 and 2008 (appendix table 4). 

 Between 2006 and 2008, male jail inmates committed 

suicide at a rate that was about twice that of female jail 

inmates, while the suicide rates for male and female jail 

inmates were more similar in 2010.
Mortality in Local Jails and State Prisons, 2000-2011 - Statistical Tables | August 2013 3

 From 2000 to 2010, the suicide rate for white inmates was 

at least 3 times higher than the rate for inmates of other 

races or Hispanic origin.

Mortality in state prisons

Cause of death

 The number of inmates who died in the custody of state 

prisons increased 4%, from 3,232 deaths in 2010 to 3,353 

in 2011 (table 14).

 In 2011, cancer was the most common cause of death 

in prisons, followed by heart disease, liver disease, 

respiratory disease, and AIDS-related deaths. As with 

previous years, cancer and heart disease accounted 

for more than half (56%) of all prison deaths in 2011 

(table 15).

 The illness-related mortality rate among state prisoners 

increased 4% in 2011. This increase was driven by the 

cancer mortality rate, which increased 11% between 2010 

(70 per 100,000) and 2011 (78 per 100,000) (table 16).

 In 2011, the cancer mortality rate in state prisons (78 per 

100,000) exceeded the heart disease mortality rate (65 per 

100,000) for the fourth consecutive year.

 The AIDS-related mortality rate among state prisoners 

declined 22% from 2010 to 2011 and has declined 81% 

since 2001.

Decedent characteristics

 In 2011, male prisoners accounted for more than 96% 

of prison deaths. The number of female inmates dying 

in state prisons has been relatively stable at an annual 

average of 133 deaths each year between 2001 and 2011 

(table 17).

 White prisoners accounted for about half of prison inmate 

deaths in any single year between 2001 and 2010, and for 

57% of deaths in 2011. Black inmates accounted for about 

a third of prisoner deaths in any single year between 2001 

and 2011, and for 31% of deaths in 2011 (table 18).

 Between 2001 and 2011, the female prisoner mortality 

rate fluctuated from 127 to 172 deaths per 100,000 female 

prisoners. In 2011, the male prisoner mortality rate was 

1.6 times higher than the female prisoner mortality rate 

(table 20).

Cause of death by decedent characteristics

 Mortality rates for cancer, heart disease, liver disease, and 

accidents were about twice the rates for male prisoners 

than for female prisoners (table 22).

 Between 2001 and 2011, black state prisoners (8 per 

100,000) committed suicide at about a third of the rate of 

white state prisoners (25 per 100,000).

 Among both natural and unnatural deaths, the age of 

inmates was strongly associated with high mortality rates:

 Prisoners age 55 and older died of cancer, heart disease, 

and respiratory disease at rates that were at least 5 times 

higher than for any other age group.

 The homicide rate among prisoners age 55 or older 

was 2 to 3 times higher than for prisoners ages 18 to 

44. The accident-related mortality rate for prisoners 

age 55 or older was at least 2.5 times higher than for 

younger inmates.

Deaths by jurisdiction

 Between 2010 and 2011, more than a third (20 of 50) of 

state departments of correction reported a decrease in the 

number of deaths in state prisons (table 23).

 The mortality rate among federal prisoners decreased 2%, 

from 224 deaths per 100,000 federal prisoners in 2010 to 

220 deaths per 100,000 in 2011 (table 24).

Cause of death by state 

 The average annual mortality rate for state prisoners between 

2001 and 2011 varied by state from 152 deaths per 100,000 

inmates in 2001 to 450 deaths per 100,000 inmates in 2011, 

with a median rate of 243 deaths per 100,000 inmates 

(table 26).

 Mortality rates by cause of death may not be directly 

comparable between states due to differences in age, sex, 

race, geographic location, or any other characteristic of the 

correctional popluation.

Moving averages

 The cancer mortality rate increased for both male 

(up 22%) and female (up 79%) prisoners from 2002 to 

2010. The cancer mortality rate for female prisoners 

showed the greatest increase, from 26 deaths per 100,000 

in 2002 to 47 deaths per 100,000 in 2010 (appendix 

table 6).

 The cancer mortality rate for white and black prisoners 

steadily increased from 2002 to 2010. The rate for white 

prisoners increased 33%, and the rate for black prisoners 

increased 24% during the period. 
Mortality in Local Jails and State Prisons, 2000-2011 - Statistical Tables | August 2013 4

 The liver disease mortality rate for state prisoners 

remained nearly unchanged from 2002 to 2010 (appendix 

table 8).

 From 2001 to 2011, black prisoners had the lowest liver 

disease mortality rate (between 13 and 15 deaths per 

100,000 inmates). 

 Suicide rates among state prisoners were relatively stable 

from 2002 to 2010. White inmates committed suicide at 

a higher rate than prisoners of other races or Hispanic 

origin. The suicide rate for white inmates was at least 

1.3 times higher than the rate of Hispanic inmates and 

3 times higher than the suicide rate of black inmates 

(appendix table 11).
Mortality in Local Jails and State Prisons, 2000-2011 - Statistical Tables | August 2013 5

List of tables

TABLE 1 

Number of local jail inmate deaths, by cause of death, 

2000–2011 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

TABLE 2 

Percent of local jail inmate deaths, by cause of death, 

2000–2011 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

TABLE 3 

Mortality rate per 100,000 local jail inmates, by cause of 

death, 2000–2011 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

TABLE 4 

Number of local jail inmate deaths, by selected decedent 

characteristics, 2000–2011 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

TABLE 5 

Percent of local jail inmate deaths, by selected decedent 

characteristics, 2000–2011 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

TABLE 6 

Mortality rate per 100,000 local jail inmates, by selected 

decedent characteristics, 2000–2011 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

TABLE 7 

Number of local jail inmate deaths, by cause of death and 

selected decedent characteristics, 2000–2011 . . . . . . . . . 12

TABLE 8 

Average annual mortality rate per 100,000 local jail 

inmates, by cause of death and selected decedent 

characteristics, 2000–2011 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

TABLE 9 

Number and percent of local jail jurisdictions reporting to 

the Deaths in Custody Reporting Program, by number of 

deaths reported each year, 2000–2011 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

TABLE 10 

Number of local jail deaths, by state, 2000–2011 . . . . . . . 15

TABLE 11 

Mortality rate per 100,000 local jail inmates, by state, 

2000–2011 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

TABLE 12 

Number of local jail inmates held on an average day, by 

state, 2000–2011 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

TABLE 13 

Percent of local jail jurisdictions reporting one or more 

deaths to the Deaths in Custody Reporting Program, by 

state, 2000–2011 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

TABLE 14 

Number of state prisoner deaths, by cause of death, 

2001–2011 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

TABLE 15 

Percent of state prisoner deaths, by cause of death, 

2001–2011 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

TABLE 16 

Mortality rate per 100,000 state prisoners, by cause of 

death, 2001–2011 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

TABLE 17 

Number of state prisoner deaths, by selected decedent 

characteristics, 2001–2011 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

TABLE 18 

Percent of state prisoner deaths, by selected decedent 

characteristics, 2001–2011 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

TABLE 19 

Estimated number of state prisoners in custody, by 

selected inmate characteristics, 2001–2011 . . . . . . . . . . . 21

TABLE 20 

Mortality rate per 100,000 state prisoners, by selected 

decedent characteristics, 2001–2011 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

TABLE 21 

Number of state prisoner deaths, by cause of death and 

selected decedent characteristics, 2001–2011 . . . . . . . . . 22

TABLE 22 

Average annual mortality rate per 100,000 state prisoners, 

by cause of death and selected decedent characteristics, 

2001–2011 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

TABLE 23 

Number of state and federal prisoner deaths, by location, 

2001–2011 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

TABLE 24 

Mortality rate per 100,000 state and federal prisoners, by 

location, 2001–2011 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

TABLE 25 

Number of state prisoner deaths, by cause of death and 

location, 2001–2011 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

TABLE 26 

Average annual mortality rate per 100,000 state prisoners, 

by cause of death and location, 2001–2011 . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Mortality in Local Jails and State Prisons, 2000-2011 - Statistical Tables | August 2013 6

List of appendix tables

APPENDIX TABLE 1 

Illness mortality rate per 100,000 local jail inmates, by 

selected decedent characteristics, 2000–2011 . . . . . . . . . 33

APPENDIX TABLE 2 

Heart disease mortality rate per 100,000 local jail inmates, 

by selected decedent characteristics, 2000–2011 . . . . . . 34

APPENDIX TABLE 3 

All other illnesses mortality rate per 100,000 local jail 

inmates, by selected decedent characteristics, 

2000–2011 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

APPENDIX TABLE 4 

Suicide mortality rate per 100,000 local jail inmates, by 

selected decedent characteristics, 2000–2011 . . . . . . . . . 36

APPENDIX TABLE 5 

Illness mortality rate per 100,000 state prison inmates, by 

selected decedent characteristics, 2001–2011 . . . . . . . . . 37

APPENDIX TABLE 6 

Cancer mortality rate per 100,000 state prison inmates, by 

selected decedent characteristics, 2001–2011 . . . . . . . . . 37

APPENDIX TABLE 7 

Heart disease mortality rate per 100,000 state prison 

inmates, by selected decedent characteristics, 

2001–2011 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

APPENDIX TABLE 8 

Liver disease mortality rate per 100,000 state prison 

inmates, by selected decedent characteristics, 

2001–2011 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

APPENDIX TABLE 9 

Respiratory disease mortality rate per 100,000 state 

prison inmates, by selected decedent characteristics, 

2001–2011 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

APPENDIX TABLE 10 

All other illnesses mortality rate per 100,000 state prison 

inmates, by selected decedent characteristics, 

2001–2011 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

APPENDIX TABLE 11 

Suicide mortality rate per 100,000 state prison inmates, by 

selected decedent characteristics, 2001–2011 . . . . . . . . . 40
Mortality in Local Jails and State Prisons, 2000-2011 - Statistical Tables | August 2013 7

Table 1

Number of local jail inmate deaths, by cause of death, 2000–2011

Cause of death 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008a 2009 2010 2011

All causes 904 942 970 1,002 1,021 1,045 1,094 1,100 958 959 918 885

Illness 516 485 508 512 529 501 604 608 445 490 477 422

Heart disease 198 215 221 240 227 202 246 231 185 199 240 230

AIDS-related 57 59 52 55 52 40 54 43 32 27 26 13

Cancer 31 25 39 34 29 37 39 42 25 47 34 30

Liver disease 24 27 25 31 32 32 25 39 35 31 29 14

Respiratory disease 31 18 22 21 35 21 27 48 32 31 18 19

All otherb 175 141 149 131 154 169 213 205 136 155 130 116

Suicide 289 313 314 296 299 286 278 284 228 304 305 310

Drug/alcohol intoxication 37 58 54 89 76 83 87 79 43 64 54 73

Accident 25 36 34 28 33 24 33 18 15 26 23 27

Homicidec 17 19 18 15 25 22 36 20 16 19 20 21

Other/unknown 17 24 35 52 50 110 52 71 8 24 13 22

Missing 3 7 7 10 9 19 4 20 203 32 26 10

Note: Cause-of-death rankings may differ from previously published 2000–2010 estimates because cause of death was ranked on all deaths from 2000 to 2011, which 

resulted in small changes within some categories. 

aIn 2008, a high number of cases were missing cause-of-death information. These cases were classified as other/unknown. See Methodology for more information.

bIncludes other specified illnesses, such as cerebrovascular disease, influenza, cirrhosis, and other nonleading natural causes of death, as well as unspecified illnesses. See 

Methodology for details on illness classifications.

cIncludes homicides committed by other inmates, homicides incidental to the staff use of force, and homicides resulting from assaults sustained prior to incarceration. 

See Methodology for more information.

Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, Deaths in Custody Reporting Program, 2000–2011.

Table 2

Percent of local jail inmate deaths, by cause of death, 2000–2011

Cause of death 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008a 2009 2010 2011

All causes 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100%

Illness 57.1% 51.5% 52.4% 51.1% 51.8% 47.9% 55.2% 55.3% 46.5% 51.1% 52.0% 47.7%

Heart disease 21.9 22.8 22.8 24.0 22.2 19.3 22.5 21.0 19.3 20.8 26.1 26.0

AIDS-related 6.3 6.3 5.4 5.5 5.1 3.8 4.9 3.9 3.3 2.8 2.8 1.5

Cancer 3.4 2.7 4.0 3.4 2.8 3.5 3.6 3.8 2.6 4.9 3.7 3.4

Liver disease 2.7 2.9 2.6 3.1 3.1 3.1 2.3 3.5 3.7 3.2 3.2 1.6

Respiratory disease 3.4 1.9 2.3 2.1 3.4 2.0 2.5 4.4 3.3 3.2 2.0 2.1

All otherb 19.4 15.0 15.4 13.1 15.1 16.2 19.5 18.6 14.2 16.2 14.2 13.1

Suicide 32.0% 33.2% 32.4% 29.5% 29.3% 27.4% 25.4% 25.8% 23.8% 31.7% 33.2% 35.0%

Drug/alcohol intoxication 4.1% 6.2% 5.6% 8.9% 7.4% 7.9% 8.0% 7.2% 4.5% 6.7% 5.9% 8.2%

Accident 2.8% 3.8% 3.5% 2.8% 3.2% 2.3% 3.0% 1.6% 1.6% 2.7% 2.5% 3.1%

Homicidec 1.9% 2.0% 1.9% 1.5% 2.4% 2.1% 3.3% 1.8% 1.7% 2.0% 2.2% 2.4%

Other/unknown 1.9% 2.5% 3.6% 5.2% 4.9% 10.5% 4.8% 6.5% 0.8% 2.5% 1.4% 2.5%

Missing 0.3% 0.7% 0.7% 1.0% 0.9% 1.8% 0.4% 1.8% 21.2% 3.3% 2.8% 1.1%

Note: Cause-of-death rankings may differ from previously published 2000–2010 estimates because cause of death was ranked on all deaths from 2000 to 2011, which 

resulted in small changes within some categories. 

aIn 2008, a high number of cases were missing cause-of-death information. These cases were classified as other/unknown. See Methodology for more information.

bIncludes other specified illnesses, such as cerebrovascular disease, influenza, cirrhosis, and other nonleading natural causes of death, as well as unspecified illnesses. See 

Methodology for details on illness classifications.

cIncludes homicides committed by other inmates, homicides incidental to the staff use of force, and homicides resulting from assaults sustained prior to incarceration. 

See Methodology for more information.

Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, Deaths in Custody Reporting Program, 2000–2011.
Mortality in Local Jails and State Prisons, 2000-2011 - Statistical Tables | August 2013 8

Table 3

Mortality rate per 100,000 local jail inmates, by cause of death, 2000–2011

Cause of death 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008a 2009 2010 2011

All causes 151 147 145 146 143 141 142 141 123 128 125 122

Illness 86 76 76 74 74 67 78 78 57 65 65 58

Heart disease 33 34 33 35 32 27 32 30 24 27 33 32

AIDS-related 10 9 8 8 7 5 7 5 4 4 4 2

Cancer 5 4 6 5 4 5 5 5 3 6 5 4

Liver disease 4 4 4 5 4 4 3 5 4 4 4 2

Respiratory disease 5 3 3 3 5 3 3 6 4 4 2 3

All otherb 29 22 22 19 22 23 28 26 17 21 18 16

Suicide 48 49 47 43 42 39 36 36 29 41 42 43

Drug/alcohol intoxication 6 9 8 13 11 11 11 10 6 9 7 10

Accident 4 6 5 4 5 3 4 2 2 3 3 4

Homicidec 3 3 3 2 3 3 5 3 2 3 3 3

Other/unknown 3 4 5 8 7 15 7 9 1 ! 3 2 3

Missing 1 ! 1 ! 1 ! 1 ! 1 ! 3 1 ! 3 26 4 4 1

Note: Cause-of-death rankings may differ from previously published 2000–2010 estimates because cause of death was ranked on all deaths from 2000 to 2011, which 

resulted in small changes within some categories. Mortality rates are based on the average daily population (ADP). In 2000 and 2001, ADP was estimated by taking the 

average of January 1 and December 31 1-day inmate population counts. 

! Interpret with caution; too few cases to provide a reliable rate. See Methodology for more information.

aIn 2008, a high number of cases were missing cause-of-death information. These cases were classified as other/unknown. See Methodology for more information.

bIncludes other specified illnesses, such as cerebrovascular disease, influenza, cirrhosis, and other nonleading natural causes of death, as well as unspecified illnesses. See 

Methodology for details on illness classifications.

cIncludes homicides committed by other inmates, homicides incidental to the staff use of force, and homicides resulting from assaults sustained prior to incarceration. 

See Methodology for more information.

Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, Deaths in Custody Reporting Program, 2000–2011.
Mortality in Local Jails and State Prisons, 2000-2011 - Statistical Tables | August 2013 9

Table 4

Number of local jail inmate deaths, by selected decedent characteristics, 2000–2011

Characteristic 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011

Total 904 942 970 1,002 1,021 1,045 1,094 1,100 958 959 918 885

Sex

Male 813 847 863 867 893 925 964 970 839 849 804 774

Female 91 91 107 133 128 120 130 130 119 110 114 111

Race/Hispanic origina

White 453 514 534 538 500 560 528 548 511 535 516 522

Black/African American 305 283 305 322 359 332 408 398 311 271 265 233

Hispanic/Latino 118 115 113 119 135 116 126 125 107 109 90 106

Otherb 17 20 10 16 24 22 27 27 27 31 23 19

Age

17 or younger 8 8 7 5 7 5 6 4 6 3 3 2

18–24 89 107 100 103 105 107 103 101 84 86 80 81

25–34 184 193 186 211 210 192 196 199 167 175 187 205

35–44 265 280 337 283 300 284 312 292 247 235 201 198

45–54 239 239 236 266 263 275 303 322 275 258 253 225

55 or older 115 111 102 128 133 170 168 182 178 194 172 172

Legal status

Convictedc 258 252 245 255 226 231 238 246 200 247 232 219

Unconvictedd 628 683 717 739 786 798 846 850 753 692 664 661

Time served

7 or fewer days 328 349 360 398 399 385 382 393 347 364 345 346

8–30 168 173 168 176 179 188 205 184 164 166 176 172

31–60 111 105 100 94 115 112 126 137 106 99 91 96

61–120 115 124 121 120 111 128 148 147 122 117 92 90

121–180 56 63 73 73 76 69 80 81 68 51 58 54

181 or more 119 113 134 124 124 127 123 152 128 146 133 124

Note: Detail may not sum to total due to missing data.

aExcludes persons of Hispanic or Latino origin unless specified.

bIncludes American Indian or Alaska Natives, Asian or other Pacific Islanders, and persons identifying two or more races.

cIncludes inmates who returned on a probation or parole violation. Starting in 2009, forms were modified to identify inmates who were convicted or returned on a 

probation or parole violation. As with previous years, these cases are counted as convicted. See Methodology for more information on changes to the survey.

dIncludes inmates whose status was marked as other or was unspecified.

Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, Deaths in Custody Reporting Program, 2000–2011.
Mortality in Local Jails and State Prisons, 2000-2011 - Statistical Tables | August 2013 10

Table 5

Percent of local jail inmate deaths, by selected decedent characteristics, 2000–2011

Characteristic 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011

Total 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100%

Sex

Male 89.9% 90.3% 89.0% 86.7% 87.5% 88.5% 88.1% 88.2% 87.6% 88.5% 87.6% 87.5%

Female 10.1 9.7 11.0 13.3 12.5 11.5 11.9 11.8 12.4 11.5 12.4 12.5

Race/Hispanic origina

White 50.7% 55.2% 55.5% 54.1% 49.1% 54.4% 48.5% 49.9% 53.5% 56.6% 57.7% 59.3%

Black/African American 34.2 30.4 31.7 32.4 35.3 32.2 37.5 36.2 32.5 28.6 29.6 26.5

Hispanic/Latino 13.2 12.3 11.7 12.0 13.3 11.3 11.6 11.4 11.2 11.5 10.1 12.0

Otherb 1.9 2.1 1.0 1.6 2.4 2.1 2.5 2.5 2.8 3.3 2.6 2.2

Age

17 or younger 0.9% 0.9% 0.7% 0.5% 0.7% 0.5% 0.6% 0.4% 0.6% 0.6% 0.3% 0.2%

18–24 9.9 11.4 10.3 10.3 10.3 10.4 9.5 9.2 8.8 8.8 8.9 9.2

25–34 20.4 20.6 19.2 21.2 20.6 18.6 18.0 18.1 17.5 17.5 20.9 23.2

35–44 29.4 29.9 34.8 28.4 29.5 27.5 28.7 26.5 25.8 25.8 22.4 22.4

45–54 26.6 25.5 24.4 26.7 25.8 26.6 27.8 29.3 28.7 28.7 28.2 25.5

55 or older 12.8 11.8 10.5 12.9 13.1 16.5 15.4 16.5 18.6 18.6 19.2 19.5

Legal status

Convictedc 29.1% 27.0% 25.5% 25.7% 22.3% 22.4% 22.0% 22.4% 21.0% 26.3% 25.9% 24.9%

Unconvictedd 70.9 73.0 74.5 74.3 77.7 77.6 78.0 77.6 79.0 73.7 74.1 75.1

Time served

7 or fewer days 36.6% 37.6% 37.7% 40.4% 39.7% 38.2% 35.9% 35.9% 37.1% 38.6% 38.5% 39.2%

8–30 18.7 18.7 17.6 17.9 17.8 18.6 19.3 16.8 17.5 17.6 19.7 19.5

31–60 12.4 11.3 10.5 9.5 11.5 11.1 11.8 12.5 11.3 10.5 10.2 10.9

61–120 12.8 13.4 12.7 12.2 11.1 12.7 13.9 13.4 13.0 12.4 10.3 10.2

121–180 6.2 6.8 7.6 7.4 7.6 6.8 7.5 7.4 7.3 5.4 6.5 6.1

181 or more 13.3 12.2 14.0 12.6 12.4 12.6 11.6 13.9 13.7 15.5 14.9 14.1

Note: Detail may not sum to total due to missing data.

aExcludes persons of Hispanic or Latino origin unless specified.

bIncludes American Indian or Alaska Natives, Asian or other Pacific Islanders, and persons identifying two or more races.

cIncludes inmates who returned on a probation or parole violation. Starting in 2009, forms were modified to identify inmates who were convicted or returned on a 

probation or parole violation. As with previous years, these cases are counted as convicted. See Methodology for more information on changes to the survey.

dIncludes inmates whose status was marked as other or was unspecified.

Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, Deaths in Custody Reporting Program, 2000–2011.
Mortality in Local Jails and State Prisons, 2000-2011 - Statistical Tables | August 2013 11

Table 6

Mortality rate per 100,000 local jail inmates, by selected decedent characteristics, 2000–2011

Characteristic 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011

Total 151 147 145 146 143 141 142 141 123 128 125 122

Sex

Male 153 150 146 143 142 143 143 142 123 129 125 123

Female 133 123 138 162 145 127 130 129 120 120 124 122

Race/Hispanic origina

White 211 224 223 218 195 213 193 198 185 202 199 204

Black/African American 128 111 114 117 126 122 145 139 109 100 100 89

Hispanic/Latino 107 98 92 94 102 85 89 87 70 71 60 71

Otherb 52 57 27 ! 43 61 37 44 43 41 53 40 34

Age

17 or younger 122 ! 114 ! 96 ! 69 ! 97 ! 70 ! 84 ! 58 ! 86 ! 43 ! 44 ! 30 !

18–24 52 59 53 53 53 53 49 48 40 42 40 41

25–34 96 94 87 96 92 81 80 81 67 72 78 87

35–44 169 167 193 160 166 154 166 156 138 142 124 124

45–54 396 371 350 358 318 302 302 300 259 255 256 231

55 or older 870 785 691 773 714 818 726 728 666 707 641 650

Legal status

Convictedc 98 95 92 94 80 82 81 83 69 87 81 77

Unconvictedd 187 182 179 177 182 173 176 175 154 148 148 151

Note: Detail may not sum to total due to missing data.

! Interpret with caution; too few cases to provide a reliable rate. See Methodology for more information.

aExcludes persons of Hispanic or Latino origin unless specified.

bIncludes American Indian or Alaska Natives, Asian or other Pacific Islanders, and persons identifying two or more races.

cIncludes inmates who returned on a probation or parole violation. Starting in 2009, forms were modified to identify inmates who were convicted or returned on a 

probation or parole violation. As with previous years, these cases are counted as convicted. See Methodology for more information on changes to the survey.

dIncludes inmates whose status was marked as other or was unspecified.

Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, Deaths in Custody Reporting Program, 2000–2011.
Mortality in Local Jails and State Prisons, 2000-2011 - Statistical Tables | August 2013 12

Table 7

Number of local jail inmate deaths, by cause of death and selected decedent characteristics, 2000–2011

Illness

Characteristic All causes

Heart 

disease

AIDSrelated CancerLiver 

disease

Respiratory 

disease All othera Suicide

Drug/alcohol 

intoxication Accident Homicideb

Total 11,798 2,634 510 412 344 323 1,874 3,506 797 322 248

Sex

Male 10,408 2,362 446 370 314 259 1,558 3,216 638 291 244

Female 1,384 272 64 42 30 64 315 289 159 31 4

Race/Hispanic originc

White 6,259 1,244 84 179 185 141 788 2,468 492 201 89

Black/African American 3,792 1,109 360 181 76 141 794 493 178 78 107

Hispanic/Latino 1,379 224 63 44 76 34 244 411 105 32 46

Otherd 263 44 3 7 5 5 35 121 17 10 4

Age

17 or younger 59 2 1 0 0 1 5 42 3 1 1

18–24 1,145 70 10 7 3 11 100 670 105 36 54

25–34 2,302 255 90 26 20 43 258 1,071 253 78 62

35–44 3,229 648 210 64 77 84 501 1,028 245 94 57

45–54 3,152 929 160 143 170 99 635 531 154 78 49

55 or older 1,819 725 36 172 74 83 366 152 34 33 24

Legal status

Convictede 2,849 800 136 115 95 84 497 613 159 98 65

Unconvictedf 8,817 1,815 369 295 249 234 1,365 2,875 634 223 177

Time served

7 or fewer days 4,401 835 38 17 78 64 582 1,672 572 160 66

8–30 2,115 546 101 52 59 88 401 571 51 46 55

31–60 1,290 344 68 52 56 37 234 351 27 24 25

61–120 1,435 336 112 72 55 54 230 360 51 32 37

121–180 803 183 77 60 32 27 154 172 24 13 19

181 or more 1,546 348 111 153 63 47 246 348 56 43 43

Note: Detail may not sum to total due to missing data. 

aIncludes other specified illnesses, such as cerebrovascular disease, nephritis, diabetes, and other moderately prevalent but unspecified illnesses. See Methodology for 

details on illness classifications.

bIncludes homicides committed by other inmates, homicides incidental to the staff use of force, and homicides resulting from assaults sustained prior to incarceration. 

See Methodology for more information.

cExcludes persons of Hispanic or Latino origin unless specified.

dIncludes American Indian or Alaska Natives, Asian or other Pacific Islanders, and persons identifying two or more races.

eIncludes inmates who returned on a probation or parole violation. Starting in 2009, forms were modified to identify inmates who were convicted or returned on a 

probation or parole violation. As with previous years, these cases are counted as convicted. See Methodology for more information on changes to the survey.

f

Includes inmates whose status was marked as other or was unspecified.

Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, Deaths in Custody Reporting Program, 2000–2011.
Mortality in Local Jails and State Prisons, 2000-2011 - Statistical Tables | August 2013 13

Table 8

Average annual mortality rate per 100,000 local jail inmates, by cause of death and selected decedent characteristics, 

2000–2011

Illness

Characteristic All causes

Heart 

disease

AIDSrelated CancerLiver 

disease

Respiratory 

disease All othera Suicide

Drug/alcohol 

intoxication Accident Homicideb

Total 137 31 6 5 4 4 22 41 9 4 3

Sex

Male 138 31 6 5 4 3 21 43 8 4 3

Female 131 26 6 4 3 6 30 27 15 3 -- !

Race/Hispanic originc

White 205 41 3 6 6 5 26 81 16 7 3

Black/African American 117 34 11 6 2 4 24 15 5 2 3

Hispanic/Latino 84 14 4 3 5 2 15 25 6 2 3

Otherd 44 7 -- ! 1 ! 1 ! 1 ! 6 20 3 2 ! 1 !

Age

17 or younger 70 2 ! 1 ! 0 0 1 ! 6 ! 50 4 ! 1 ! 1 !

18–24 48 3 0 ! 0 ! 0 ! 0 ! 4 28 4 2 2

25–34 84 9 3 1 1 2 9 39 9 3 2

35–44 155 31 10 3 4 4 24 49 12 5 3

45–54 300 88 15 14 16 9 60 50 15 7 5

55 or older 717 286 14 68 29 33 144 60 13 13 9

Legal status

Convictede 85 24 4 3 3 2 15 18 5 3 2

Unconvictedf 169 35 7 6 5 4 26 55 12 4 3

Note: Data may have been revised from previously published statistics to reflect updated information. Detail may not sum to total due to missing data. Mortality rates 

are based on the average daily population (ADP) as reported to the Deaths in Custody Reporting Program (DCRP). See Methodology for more information on estimates of 

inmate characteristic populations.

-- Less than 0.5.

! Interpret with caution; too few cases to provide a reliable rate. See Methodology for more information.

aIncludes other specified illnesses, such as cerebrovascular disease, nephritis, diabetes, and other moderately prevalent but unspecified illnesses. See Methodology for 

details on illness classifications.

bIncludes homicides committed by other inmates, homicides incidental to the staff use of force, and homicides resulting from assaults sustained prior to incarceration. 

See Methodology for more information.

cExcludes persons of Hispanic or Latino origin unless specified.

dIncludes American Indian or Alaska Natives, Asian or other Pacific Islanders, and persons identifying two or more races.

eIncludes inmates who returned on a probation or parole violation. 

f

Includes inmates whose status was marked as other or was unspecified.

Sources: Bureau of Justice Statistics, Deaths in Custody Reporting Program, 2000–2011; Annual Survey of Jails, 2000–2011; Survey of Inmates in Local Jails, 2002; and 

National Inmate Survey, 2007–2009.
Mortality in Local Jails and State Prisons, 2000-2011 - Statistical Tables | August 2013 14

Table 9

Number and percent of local jail jurisdictions reporting to the Deaths in Custody Reporting Program, by number of deaths 

reported each year, 2000–2011

 0 deaths 1 death 2 or more deaths

Year Total Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent 

2000 2,988 2,553 85.4% 289 9.7% 146 4.9%

2001 2,973 2,489 83.7 331 11.1 153 5.1

2002 2,958 2,473 83.6 332 11.2 153 5.2

2003 2,941 2,430 82.6 350 11.9 161 5.5

2004 2,924 2,406 82.3 367 12.6 151 5.2

2005 2,897 2,375 82.0 362 12.5 160 5.5

2006 2,869 2,330 81.2 368 12.8 171 6.0

2007 2,848 2,314 81.3 350 12.3 184 6.5

2008 2,833 2,332 82.3 345 12.2 156 5.5

2009 2,748 2,248 81.8 329 12.0 171 6.2

2010 2,754 2,253 81.8 340 12.3 161 5.8

2011 2,747 2,226 81.0 351 12.8 170 6.2

Annual average 

2000–2011 2,873 2,369 82.5% 343 11.9% 161 5.6%

Note: Reporting jails include all jails that reported population or death data to the DCRP. All jails are asked to report population data regardless of whether an inmate 

death occurred. Jails are locally run jurisdictions under the authority of a sheriff, county government, or other local authority. Jail jurisdictions include counties (parishes 

in Louisiana) or municipal governments that administer one or more local jails. See Methodology for more information on the function of jails.

Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, Deaths in Custody Reporting Program, 2000–2011.
Mortality in Local Jails and State Prisons, 2000-2011 - Statistical Tables | August 2013 15

Table 10

Number of local jail deaths, by state, 2000–2011

State 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011

Total 904 942 970 1,002 1,021 1,045 1,094 1,100 958 959 918 885

Alabama 24 27 21 15 23 23 34 21 19 20 28 18

Alaskaa 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1

Arizona 15 18 24 16 12 27 19 21 12 11 16 9

Arkansas 9 13 14 22 13 7 11 10 15 5 7 16

California 109 124 131 126 120 156 126 129 106 138 121 92

Colorado 13 16 14 13 11 18 13 21 21 14 20 12

Connecticut ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

Delaware ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

District of Columbia 4 0 10 12 13 11 12 10 7 8 4 7

Florida 82 98 79 85 86 79 99 103 77 88 57 63

Georgia 38 39 50 45 54 41 46 44 55 45 48 45

Hawaii ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

Idaho 3 3 1 2 1 7 5 7 1 6 3 5

Illinois 31 21 22 30 41 25 37 31 28 29 23 21

Indiana 21 21 14 23 18 16 26 18 11 16 22 21

Iowa 2 4 3 1 4 4 3 5 2 6 3 8

Kansas 9 9 12 10 15 11 10 7 12 11 10 10

Kentucky 16 13 12 14 16 22 21 25 22 18 21 16

Louisiana 10 22 22 32 41 31 26 31 34 22 26 20

Maine 2 2 7 3 2 1 5 1 1 2 3 7

Maryland 22 20 20 25 15 23 27 32 25 20 24 21

Massachusetts 5 10 16 9 8 21 14 14 17 17 16 5

Michigan 23 17 18 26 20 29 21 18 12 20 18 24

Minnesota 6 8 6 9 9 8 11 8 4 3 10 6

Mississippi 9 12 17 17 17 16 18 18 14 13 14 14

Missouri 16 14 8 17 6 10 13 25 18 19 21 12

Montana 3 1 5 5 3 6 1 2 2 6 3 8

Nebraska 5 5 6 2 4 2 6 2 5 7 6 5

Nevada 15 18 6 6 8 14 9 10 8 14 8 13

New Hampshire 3 2 5 3 3 1 4 4 2 5 1 4

New Jersey 31 17 17 38 34 32 36 34 27 25 29 20

New Mexico 15 9 9 7 17 11 21 15 11 11 17 23

New York 57 52 51 47 43 51 52 52 32 37 37 36

North Carolina 15 17 32 22 21 17 21 28 19 21 24 17

North Dakota 1 1 2 2 1 0 2 1 1 2 2 1

Ohio 23 20 30 30 18 24 26 26 23 26 23 27

Oklahoma 15 18 9 13 14 18 21 24 17 18 18 12

Oregon 10 10 7 7 15 8 11 3 15 7 9 8

Pennsylvania 38 50 51 53 66 57 56 55 44 37 31 46

Rhode Island ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

South Carolina 17 23 17 11 16 19 21 14 19 15 19 7

South Dakota 4 2 1 0 1 3 1 1 2 2 0 1

Tennessee 29 28 29 23 39 36 30 35 37 34 20 40

Texas 97 84 96 96 99 89 98 90 86 76 84 70

Utah 6 6 13 7 11 10 7 11 6 12 8 14

Vermont ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

Virginia 34 41 36 42 33 30 36 59 49 39 29 42

Washington 8 10 11 16 11 11 19 15 16 14 16 16

West Virginiab 2 6 2 6 5 6 6 4 6 7 5 7

Wisconsin 7 11 12 11 10 11 11 15 17 11 13 14

Wyoming 0 0 2 3 4 3 2 1 1 2 1 1

Note: Jails are locally run jurisdictions under the authority of a sheriff, county government, or other local authority. See Methodology for more information on the 

function of jails.

...Not available. Prisons and jails form one integrated system. See the prison tables for mortality data.

aPrisons and jails form one integrated system. Includes data for 14 locally operated jails; excludes data for prisons and jails operated by the Alaska Department of Corrections.

bIn 2007, the Bureau of Justice Statistics began receiving data from a centralized regional jail respondent that covered all West Virginia jails.

Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, Deaths in Custody Reporting Program, 2000–2011.
Mortality in Local Jails and State Prisons, 2000-2011 - Statistical Tables | August 2013 16

Table 11

Mortality rate per 100,000 local jail inmates, by state, 2000–2011

State 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011

Total 151 147 145 146 143 141 142 141 123 128 125 122

Alabama 185 228 157 119 171 157 228 132 118 144 186 117

Alaskaa 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1,370 !

Arizona 138 132 189 116 82 176 126 127 67 73 ! 121 67 !

Arkansas 171 ! 233 229 352 211 116 ! 172 ! 143 ! 203 67 ! 94 ! 223

California 150 171 173 165 154 190 154 155 127 169 162 128

Colorado 142 154 126 111 95 ! 136 94 155 160 106 157 102

Connecticut ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

Delaware ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

District of Columbia 242 ! 0 316 ! 529 374 475 ! 346 318 ! 234 ! 259 ! 132 ! 232 !

Florida 166 196 145 159 143 125 153 154 115 143 97 109

Georgia 113 110 132 114 128 92 100 98 115 97 102 101

Hawaii ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

Idaho 112 ! 101 ! 30 ! 59 ! 34 ! 178 ! 127 ! 172 ! 25 ! 160 ! 85 ! 134 !

Illinois 178 107 106 140 201 84 181 150 134 148 114 102

Indiana 165 124 95 149 109 92 139 104 62 ! 87 124 121

Iowa 66 ! 129 ! 83 ! 26 ! 110 ! 96 ! 75 ! 120 ! 49 ! 154 ! 75 ! 195 !

Kansas 177 ! 159 ! 195 134 ! 219 148 ! 130 ! 95 ! 156 157 ! 130 ! 138 !

Kentucky 139 68 86 97 98 134 124 138 122 101 120 88

Louisiana 44 ! 82 81 115 143 104 100 104 117 74 81 64

Maine 154 ! 142 ! 464 ! 191 ! 135 ! 64 ! 283 ! 61 ! 63 ! 127 ! 282 ! 530 !

Maryland 210 182 166 199 116 181 207 228 184 164 194 169

Massachusetts 53 ! 91 ! 136 73 ! 61 ! 168 101 103 128 129 149 48 !

Michigan 145 103 108 156 111 159 112 98 68 118 109 145

Minnesota 121 ! 141 ! 101 ! 140 ! 128 ! 110 ! 151 ! 106 ! 56 ! 44 ! 146 ! 92 !

Mississippi 91 ! 129 167 156 162 146 164 152 127 134 133 132

Missouri 211 171 89 ! 181 60 ! 97 ! 116 235 154 167 197 104

Montana 232 ! 53 ! 277 ! 260 ! 149 ! 288 ! 50 ! 116 ! 112 ! 345 ! 154 ! 773 !

Nebraska 234 ! 211 ! 241 ! 80 ! 140 ! 68 ! 219 ! 68 ! 159 ! 204 ! 177 ! 147 !

Nevada 288 333 106 ! 80 ! 116 ! 228 139 ! 131 ! 106 ! 181 108 ! 184

New Hampshire 338 ! 145 ! 323 ! 192 ! 181 ! 54 ! 195 ! 196 ! 99 ! 237 ! 48 ! 194 !

New Jersey 205 108 104 225 196 177 189 185 151 152 182 131

New Mexico 253 140 ! 136 ! 95 ! 210 128 ! 233 171 121 ! 133 ! 191 277

New York 208 181 166 154 141 166 161 166 106 124 123 121

North Carolina 122 132 212 144 128 95 115 147 98 128 129 93

North Dakota 162 ! 154 ! 268 ! 242 ! 114 ! 0 208 ! 113 ! 104 ! 223 ! 211 ! 90 !

Ohio 143 118 161 153 91 122 126 127 119 130 132 152

Oklahoma 208 249 119 ! 158 154 179 191 222 169 172 209 139

Oregon 150 ! 132 ! 110 ! 106 ! 230 117 ! 165 ! 36 ! 238 121 ! 153 ! 136 !

Pennsylvania 135 165 153 164 200 166 155 144 118 97 87 127

Rhode Island ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

South Carolina 194 218 140 100 ! 138 157 165 103 139 119 155 58 !

South Dakota 344 ! 176 ! 77 ! 0 66 ! 192 ! 61 ! 65 ! 141 ! 123 ! 0 66 !

Tennessee 143 138 138 100 168 149 92 139 139 129 85 166

Texas 167 154 171 159 157 165 144 130 124 113 125 105

Utah 112 ! 107 ! 223 112 ! 169 ! 156 ! 107 ! 160 ! 87 ! 173 110 ! 195

Vermont ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

Virginia 170 185 152 168 129 113 127 200 170 138 100 154

Washington 93 ! 81 ! 91 ! 136 93 ! 85 ! 142 109 119 107 130 123

West Virginiab 71 ! 185 ! 65 ! 182 ! 138 ! 147 ! 139 ! 92 ! 138 ! 180 ! 121 ! 180 !

Wisconsin 54 ! 86 ! 89 78 ! 69 ! 74 ! 73 ! 96 110 90 ! 92 100

Wyoming 0 0 163 ! 224 ! 267 ! 196 ! 131 ! 64 ! 59 ! 123 ! 64 ! 67 !

Note: Jails are locally run jurisdictions under the authority of a sheriff, county government, or other local authority. See Methodology for more information on the 

function of jails. Mortality rates are based on the average daily population (ADP). Mortality rates between states are not directly comparable because rates are not 

adjusted for sex, race, age, geographic location, or any other characteristic.

...Not available. Prisons and jails form one integrated system. See the prison tables for mortality data.

! Interpret with caution; too few cases to provide a reliable rate. See Methodology for more information.

aPrisons and jails form one integrated system. Includes data for 14 locally operated jails; excludes data for prisons and jails operated by the Alaska Department of Corrections.

bIn 2007, the Bureau of Justice Statistics began receiving data from a centralized regional jail respondent that covered all West Virginia jails.

Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, Deaths in Custody Reporting Program, 2000–2011.
Mortality in Local Jails and State Prisons, 2000-2011 - Statistical Tables | August 2013 17

Table 12

Number of local jail inmates held on an average day, by state, 2000–2011 

State 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 

Total 598,397 639,941 668,168 688,030 715,660 742,261 772,334 782,592 779,704 749,449 733,775 722,737 

Alabama 12,951 11,857 13,380 12,613 13,454 14,653 14,921 15,858 16,156 13,868 15,054 15,333 

Alaska* 60 81 97 79 105 80 70 64 52 70 64 73

Arizona 10,859 13,590 12,704 13,815 14,648 15,302 15,085 16,539 17,844 15,043 13,242 13,467 

Arkansas 5,271 5,571 6,111 6,248 6,167 6,023 6,402 6,986 7,373 7,453 7,420 7,189 

California 72,640 72,452 75,594 76,168 77,964 81,951 81,778 83,483 83,520 81,652 74,830 71,781 

Colorado 9,179 10,394 11,107 11,713 11,555 13,243 13,871 13,540 13,111 13,207 12,703 11,781 

Connecticut ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 

Delaware ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 

District of Columbia 1,656 1,618 3,161 2,268 3,477 2,318 3,473 3,142 2,987 3,089 3,037 3,011 

Florida 49,358 50,056 54,638 53,556 60,056 63,386 64,721 66,956 66,823 61,606 58,958 57,959 

Georgia 33,617 35,492 37,969 39,568 42,248 44,555 45,774 44,963 47,625 46,417 47,101 44,559 

Hawaii ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 

Idaho 2,668 2,964 3,280 3,402 2,946 3,939 3,929 4,062 3,938 3,750 3,529 3,718 

Illinois 17,452 19,701 20,691 21,478 20,370 29,744 20,391 20,660 20,966 19,601 20,224 20,666 

Indiana 12,760 16,958 14,752 15,398 16,447 17,415 18,716 17,246 17,811 18,302 17,703 17,342 

Iowa 3,046 3,109 3,612 3,853 3,620 4,167 4,023 4,158 4,085 3,891 3,993 4,099 

Kansas 5,093 5,657 6,163 7,437 6,864 7,412 7,721 7,383 7,668 6,992 7,692 7,236 

Kentucky 11,492 19,129 13,954 14,429 16,382 16,380 16,906 18,129 18,070 17,803 17,460 18,252 

Louisiana 22,744 26,967 27,229 27,824 28,640 29,863 25,979 29,801 29,060 29,572 32,199 31,022 

Maine 1,297 1,411 1,508 1,572 1,484 1,567 1,767 1,630 1,598 1,571 1,062 1,322 

Maryland 10,471 10,960 12,069 12,545 12,974 12,696 13,039 14,005 13,577 12,205 12,398 12,423 

Massachusetts 9,427 11,040 11,745 12,342 13,114 12,485 13,873 13,527 13,309 13,184 10,724 10,326 

Michigan 15,869 16,460 16,644 16,713 17,956 18,197 18,739 18,436 17,676 17,001 16,457 16,541 

Minnesota 4,958 5,663 5,954 6,408 7,033 7,265 7,286 7,582 7,105 6,747 6,835 6,537 

Mississippi 9,885 9,280 10,160 10,872 10,495 10,984 10,981 11,811 11,057 9,732 10,501 10,601 

Missouri 7,596 8,194 8,997 9,400 10,027 10,277 11,245 10,660 11,658 11,402 10,664 11,520 

Montana 1,291 1,884 1,804 1,921 2,011 2,084 1,981 1,721 1,781 1,741 1,952 1,035 

Nebraska 2,140 2,365 2,494 2,485 2,855 2,962 2,741 2,940 3,135 3,427 3,391 3,406 

Nevada 5,216 5,407 5,656 7,537 6,869 6,144 6,479 7,638 7,531 7,737 7,410 7,083 

New Hampshire 887 1,376 1,550 1,561 1,658 1,841 2,048 2,039 2,024 2,108 2,103 2,063 

New Jersey 15,102 15,683 16,295 16,858 17,384 18,035 19,096 18,403 17,824 16,426 15,955 15,280 

New Mexico 5,918 6,426 6,611 7,387 8,091 8,585 9,031 8,753 9,089 8,273 8,886 8,297 

New York 27,403 28,709 30,640 30,488 30,588 30,778 32,229 31,335 30,304 29,877 30,122 29,793 

North Carolina 12,276 12,901 15,103 15,319 16,454 17,958 18,295 19,104 19,382 16,470 18,601 18,288 

North Dakota 619 650 746 828 876 997 963 889 962 897 947 1,111 

Ohio 16,118 16,948 18,626 19,592 19,701 19,594 20,664 20,539 19,254 19,944 17,454 17,788 

Oklahoma 7,228 7,243 7,534 8,206 9,114 10,053 10,988 10,796 10,062 10,493 8,632 8,654 

Oregon 6,685 7,593 6,354 6,583 6,510 6,812 6,684 8,296 6,304 5,803 5,890 5,872 

Pennsylvania 28,248 30,296 33,240 32,227 32,934 34,264 36,168 38,221 37,350 38,010 35,444 36,290 

Rhode Island ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 

South Carolina 8,752 10,565 12,181 11,009 11,590 12,104 12,749 13,608 13,634 12,654 12,236 11,970 

South Dakota 1,163 1,138 1,296 1,347 1,514 1,562 1,645 1,537 1,417 1,626 1,572 1,505 

Tennessee 20,232 20,265 20,955 23,042 23,188 24,224 32,464 25,177 26,547 26,350 23,553 24,104 

Texas 57,999 54,639 56,185 60,223 62,907 53,967 68,106 69,284 69,392 67,519 67,302 66,604 

Utah 5,378 5,616 5,817 6,271 6,517 6,407 6,567 6,881 6,929 6,928 7,267 7,194 

Vermont ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 

Virginia 20,021 22,154 23,612 24,943 25,488 26,567 28,407 29,561 28,824 28,276 29,003 27,313 

Washington 8,638 12,289 12,095 11,808 11,867 12,899 13,390 13,727 13,461 13,076 12,350 12,988 

West Virginia 2,824 3,240 3,068 3,289 3,622 4,081 4,321 4,331 4,336 3,879 4,145 3,882 

Wisconsin 12,986 12,865 13,557 14,063 14,397 14,908 15,098 15,641 15,401 12,157 14,143 13,965 

Wyoming 924 1,085 1,230 1,342 1,499 1,534 1,532 1,553 1,694 1,620 1,567 1,494 

Note: Jails are locally run jurisdictions under the authority of a sheriff, county government, or other local authority. Jail jurisdictions include counties (parishes in 

Louisiana) or municipal governments that administer one or more local jails. See Methodology for more information on the function of jails. Mortality rates are based 

on the average daily population (ADP). In 2000 and 2001, ADP was estimated by taking the average of January 1 and December 31 1-day inmate population counts. 

Mortality rates between states are not directly comparable because rates are not adjusted for sex, race, age, geographic location, or any other characteristic.

... Not available. Prisons and jails form one integrated system. See the prison tables for mortality data.

*Prisons and jails form one integrated system. Includes data for 14 locally operated jails; excludes data for prisons and jails operated by the Alaska Department of Corrections.

Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, Deaths in Custody Reporting Program, 2000–2011.
Mortality in Local Jails and State Prisons, 2000-2011 - Statistical Tables | August 2013 18

Table 13

Percent of local jail jurisdictions reporting one or more deaths to the Deaths in Custody Reporting Program, by state, 2000–

2011

State 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011

Total 14.6% 16.3% 16.4% 17.4% 17.7% 18.0% 18.8% 18.8% 17.7% 18.2% 18.2% 19.0%

Alabama 9.9 14.8 13.6 9.6 11.0 15.5 18.4 12.1 12.0 14.8 20.5 13.9

Alaskaa 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 6.7

Arizona 31.3 33.3 46.7 26.7 26.7 46.7 33.3 33.3 33.3 33.3 40.0 26.7

Arkansas 8.2 11.9 11.9 19.3 13.4 4.8 12.3 8.6 13.6 5.3 8.5 17.8

California 44.1 47.8 43.3 53.7 47.8 51.5 41.5 50.0 46.9 52.4 44.4 45.2

Colorado 10.9 12.7 20.0 10.9 16.4 21.8 18.9 20.8 24.5 11.3 21.2 13.7

Connecticut ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

Delaware ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

District of Columbia 100.0 0.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

Florida 33.8 44.1 39.7 39.7 46.3 43.3 44.8 49.3 37.3 47.7 34.8 40.9

Georgia 13.6 16.1 19.5 18.0 17.1 19.8 17.7 20.4 18.2 17.8 19.6 19.5

Hawaii ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

Idaho 7.7 5.3 2.6 5.3 2.6 18.4 13.2 18.9 2.7 17.1 5.9 11.8

Illinois 7.8 6.7 12.2 22.2 15.7 12.2 14.4 16.7 13.3 10.0 13.3 15.9

Indiana 12.2 18.7 12.2 16.7 16.7 15.6 21.1 13.3 11.1 12.4 16.9 17.8

Iowa 2.1 4.3 3.2 1.1 3.2 4.3 3.2 5.4 2.2 5.4 3.3 7.5

Kansas 8.4 9.5 10.5 9.5 10.5 11.6 7.4 6.4 11.8 7.8 6.5 10.0

Kentucky 13.8 12.8 11.3 16.5 17.7 15.8 20.3 23.0 20.3 22.9 26.4 20.5

Louisiana 5.7 17.4 17.6 18.8 28.2 18.1 20.5 19.3 28.9 20.3 19.5 17.3

Maine 13.3 13.3 33.3 20.0 6.7 6.7 33.3 7.1 7.1 14.3 27.3 41.7

Maryland 29.2 37.5 12.5 41.7 25.0 37.5 45.8 25.0 29.2 43.5 37.5 45.8

Massachusetts 23.1 46.2 53.8 38.5 38.5 61.5 61.5 53.8 61.5 61.5 61.5 23.1

Michigan 14.5 9.6 15.9 22.0 18.3 20.7 18.5 17.3 14.8 12.3 14.8 16.3

Minnesota 7.0 11.3 8.5 11.3 9.9 8.5 12.7 8.5 5.7 2.9 11.4 8.7

Mississippi 8.8 12.2 13.5 17.0 17.0 15.3 17.9 15.5 15.7 13.8 14.3 15.6

Missouri 8.0 8.0 5.6 11.3 5.0 7.6 8.3 14.3 10.9 13.5 16.5 8.7

Montana 7.3 2.4 10.0 12.5 7.3 10.0 2.5 5.0 5.0 16.2 5.1 15.4

Nebraska 7.8 7.9 9.5 3.2 6.3 3.2 8.1 3.2 8.1 4.9 8.2 6.7

Nevada 35.0 40.0 15.0 20.0 25.0 30.0 20.0 25.0 30.0 30.0 25.0 25.0

New Hampshire 30.0 20.0 50.0 20.0 20.0 10.0 30.0 30.0 20.0 40.0 10.0 40.0

New Jersey 57.1 47.6 33.3 57.1 57.1 52.4 57.1 71.4 57.1 55.0 57.1 47.6

New Mexico 26.5 20.0 17.1 14.7 23.5 12.5 25.0 31.3 18.8 13.8 34.5 38.7

New York 20.7 17.2 29.3 25.9 20.7 20.7 20.7 22.4 15.5 31.6 19.3 31.0

North Carolina 13.5 17.7 18.8 15.6 18.1 17.0 18.1 18.1 15.1 19.1 20.7 12.9

North Dakota 4.3 4.3 8.7 8.7 4.3 0.0 9.1 4.8 4.8 9.1 9.1 4.5

Ohio 13.4 14.6 16.7 20.4 16.1 18.3 18.5 20.9 17.6 17.6 16.7 18.3

Oklahoma 10.0 11.0 7.0 7.1 6.1 13.5 12.8 14.0 9.7 13.6 14.4 10.2

Oregon 12.1 21.2 12.1 12.1 21.2 18.8 21.9 9.4 28.1 16.1 16.1 16.7

Pennsylvania 23.8 33.3 36.5 30.2 44.4 28.6 31.7 39.7 25.4 30.2 23.8 33.3

Rhode Island ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

South Carolina 23.9 30.4 30.4 15.6 31.1 33.3 31.1 22.2 33.3 22.2 28.6 13.6

South Dakota 14.3 6.9 3.4 0.0 3.4 10.7 3.6 3.6 7.1 7.7 0.0 4.0

Tennessee 17.5 13.4 15.6 13.5 25.0 19.8 15.8 20.2 23.4 21.1 15.7 24.7

Texas 20.2 16.2 16.3 17.1 19.4 20.2 20.2 16.0 15.7 18.5 17.9 19.3

Utah 11.5 19.2 15.4 19.2 30.8 15.4 11.5 30.8 7.7 23.1 19.2 32.0

Vermont ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

Virginia 28.8 33.3 30.6 27.8 23.6 27.5 33.3 40.6 42.2 31.3 26.2 33.8

Washington 13.8 12.1 12.1 17.5 10.5 19.6 19.6 14.3 16.1 16.1 18.2 21.8

West Virginiab 7.1 21.4 10.5 33.3 31.3 15.4 41.7 25.0 41.7 45.5 36.4 50.0

Wisconsin 10.0 11.4 11.4 14.3 5.7 11.4 11.4 17.1 17.1 13.0 14.3 15.7

Wyoming 0.0 0.0 9.1 13.6 13.6 13.6 9.1 4.5 4.5 9.1 4.5 4.3

Note: Reporting jails include all jails that reported population or death data to the DCRP. All jails are asked to report population data regardless of whether an inmate 

death occurred. Jails are locally run jurisdictions under the authority of a sheriff, county government, or other local authority. Jail jurisdictions include counties (parishes 

in Louisiana) or municipal governments that administer one or more local jails. See Methodology for more information on the function of jails.

... Not available. Prisons and jails form one integrated system. See the prison tables for mortality data.

aPrisons and jails form one integrated system. Includes data for 14 locally operated jails; excludes data for prisons and jails operated by the Alaska Department of Corrections.

bIn 2007, the Bureau of Justice Statistics began receiving data from a centralized regional jail respondent that covered all West Virginia jails.

Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, Deaths in Custody Reporting Program, 2000–2011.
Mortality in Local Jails and State Prisons, 2000-2011 - Statistical Tables | July 2013 19

Table 14

Number of state prisoner deaths, by cause of death, 2001–2011

Cause of death 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007a 2008 2009 2010 2011

All causes 2,869 2,934 3,152 3,123 3,168 3,233 3,389 3,450 3,414 3,232 3,353

Illness 2,567 2,615 2,830 2,783 2,817 2,830 2,980 3,032 3,025 2,867 2,975

Cancer 691 681 811 733 805 806 772 874 973 927 1,028

Heart disease 743 802 801 842 835 854 840 827 844 830 855

Liver disease 307 297 306 283 318 303 316 318 333 286 339

Respiratory disease 147 163 200 199 212 196 207 255 200 211 205

AIDS-related 275 241 209 147 156 132 120 99 98 73 57

All otherb 404 431 503 579 491 539 725 659 577 540 491

Suicide 168 168 199 199 213 219 215 197 202 215 185

Drug/alcohol intoxication 35 37 23 22 37 56 41 58 50 39 58

Accident 22 29 26 34 28 32 28 26 31 34 38

Homicidec 39 48 49 49 56 55 57 40 54 67 70

Other/unknown 0 0 25 36 17 41 16 97 16 7 18

Missing 38 37 0 0 0 0 52 0 36 3 9

Note: Data may have been revised from previously published statistics to reflect updated information. Executions are not included; for data on executions, see Capital 

Punishment, 2011 - Statistical Tables. 

aIn 2007, a high number of cases were missing cause-of-death information. These cases were classified as all other illnesses.

bIncludes other specified illnesses, such as cerebrovascular disease, influenza, cirrhosis, and other nonleading natural causes of death, as well as unspecified illnesses. See 

Methodology for details on illness classifications.

cIncludes homicides committed by other inmates, homicides incidental to the staff use of force, and homicides resulting from assaults sustained prior to incarceration. 

See Methodology for more information.

Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, Deaths in Custody Reporting Program, 2001–2011.

Table 15

Percent of state prisoner deaths, by cause of death, 2001–2011

Cause of death 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007a 2008 2009 2010 2011

All causes 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100%

Illness 89.5% 89.1% 89.8% 89.1% 88.9% 87.5% 87.9% 87.9% 88.6% 88.7% 88.7%

Cancer 24.1 23.2 25.7 23.5 25.4 24.9 22.8 25.3 28.5 28.7 30.7

Heart disease 25.9 27.3 25.4 27.0 26.4 26.4 24.8 24.0 24.7 25.7 25.5

Liver disease 10.7 10.1 9.7 9.1 10.0 9.4 9.3 9.2 9.8 8.8 10.1

Respiratory disease 5.1 5.6 6.3 6.4 6.7 6.1 6.1 7.4 5.9 6.5 6.1

AIDS-related 9.6 8.2 6.6 4.7 4.9 4.1 3.5 2.9 2.9 2.3 1.7

All otherb 14.1 14.7 16.0 18.5 15.5 16.7 21.4 19.1 16.9 16.7 14.6

Suicide 5.9% 5.7% 6.3% 6.4% 6.7% 6.8% 6.3% 5.7% 5.9% 6.7% 5.5%

Drug/alcohol intoxication 1.2% 1.3% 0.7% 0.7% 1.2% 1.7% 1.2% 1.7% 1.5% 1.2% 1.7%

Accident 0.8% 1.0% 0.8% 1.1% 0.9% 1.0% 0.8% 0.8% 0.9% 1.1% 1.1%

Homicidec 1.4% 1.6% 1.6% 1.6% 1.8% 1.7% 1.7% 1.2% 1.6% 2.1% 2.1%

Other/unknown 0.0% 0.0% 0.8% 1.2% 0.5% 1.3% 0.5% 2.8% 0.5% 0.2% 0.5%

Missing 1.3% 1.3% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 1.5% 0.0% 1.1% 0.1% 0.3%

Note: Data may have been revised from previously published statistics to reflect updated information. Executions are not included; for data on executions, see Capital 

Punishment, 2011 - Statistical Tables. 

aIn 2007, a high number of cases were missing cause-of-death information. These cases were classified as all other illnesses.

bIncludes other specified illnesses, such as cerebrovascular disease, influenza, cirrhosis, and other nonleading natural causes of death, as well as unspecified illnesses. See 

Methodology for details on illness classifications.

cIncludes homicides committed by other inmates, homicides incidental to the staff use of force, and homicides resulting from assaults sustained prior to incarceration. 

See Methodology for more information.

Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, Deaths in Custody Reporting Program, 2001–2011.
Mortality in Local Jails and State Prisons, 2000-2011 - Statistical Tables | August 2013 20

Table 16

Mortality rate per 100,000 state prisoners, by cause of death, 2001–2011

Cause of death 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007a 2008 2009 2010 2011

All causes 242 245 257 252 253 249 256 260 257 245 254

Illness 216 218 231 224 225 218 225 228 228 217 225

Cancer 58 57 66 59 64 62 58 66 73 70 78

Heart disease 63 67 65 68 67 66 64 62 64 63 65

Liver disease 26 25 25 23 25 23 24 24 25 22 26

Respiratory disease 12 14 16 16 17 15 16 19 15 16 16

AIDS-related 23 20 17 12 12 10 9 7 7 6 4

All otherb 34 36 41 47 39 42 55 50 43 41 37

Suicide 14 14 16 16 17 17 16 15 15 16 14

Drug/alcohol intoxication 3 3 2 2 3 4 3 4 4 3 4

Accident 2 2 2 3 2 2 2 2 2 3 3

Homicidec 3 4 4 4 4 4 4 3 4 5 5

Other/unknown 0 0 2 3 1 3 1 7 1 1 ! 1

Missing 3 3 0 0 0 0 4 0 3 -- ! 1 !

Note: Data are from the Prisoners at Midyear series. Data may have been revised from previously published statistics to reflect updated information. State prison mortality 

rates are per 100,000 inmates held in state custody (including private facilities) on June 30 of each year. The mortality rates presented are not adjusted for age, sex, race, 

geographic location, or any other characteristic. Executions are not included; for data on executions, see Capital Punishment, 2011 - Statistical Tables. 

! Interpret with caution; too few cases to provide a reliable rate. See Methodology for more information.

-- Less than 0.5.

aIn 2007, a high number of cases were missing cause-of-death information. These cases were classified as all other illnesses.

bIncludes other specified illnesses, such as cerebrovascular disease, influenza, cirrhosis, and other nonleading natural causes of death, as well as unspecified illnesses. See 

Methodology for details on illness classifications.

cIncludes homicides committed by other inmates, homicides incidental to the staff use of force, and homicides resulting from assaults sustained prior to incarceration. 

See Methodology for more information.

Sources: Bureau of Justice Statistics, Deaths in Custody Reporting Program, 2001–2011; and National Prisoner Statistics, 2001–2011.

Table 17

Number of state prisoner deaths, by selected decedent characteristics, 2001–2011

Characteristic 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011

Total 2,869 2,934 3,152 3,123 3,168 3,233 3,389 3,450 3,414 3,232 3,353

Sex

Male 2,769 2,815 3,024 2,987 3,025 3,103 3,252 3,287 3,264 3,115 3,210

Female 100 119 126 136 143 130 137 163 150 117 143

Race/Hispanic origina

White 1,340 1,401 1,591 1,546 1,623 1,627 1,718 1,821 1,773 1,680 1,912

Black/African American 1,161 1,151 1,200 1,179 1,162 1,148 1,225 1,157 1,197 1,121 1,039

Hispanic/Latino 322 332 308 332 324 404 383 399 372 358 329

Otherb 46 44 44 65 54 50 54 73 58 61 61

Age

17 or younger 2 1 3 1 1 1 1 3 0 3 2

18–24 86 62 57 81 78 60 68 67 69 69 50

25–34 256 248 277 255 243 250 226 222 210 217 201

35–44 656 661 666 619 599 561 513 468 467 381 397

45–54 893 908 980 963 1,009 1,061 1,031 1,063 1,037 955 930

55 or older 971 1,054 1,164 1,202 1,238 1,300 1,550 1,627 1,630 1,607 1,770

Note: Detail may not sum to total due to missing data. Data may have been revised from previously published statistics to reflect updated information. Executions are 

not included; for data on executions, see Capital Punishment, 2011 - Statistical Tables.

aExcludes persons of Hispanic or Latino origin unless specified. 

bIncludes American Indian or Alaska Natives, Asian or other Pacific Islanders, and persons identifying two or more races.

Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, Deaths in Custody Reporting Program, 2001–2011.
Mortality in Local Jails and State Prisons, 2000-2011 - Statistical Tables | August 2013 21

Table 18

Percent of state prisoner deaths, by selected decedent characteristics, 2001–2011

Characteristic 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011

Total 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100%

Sex

Male 96.5% 95.9% 96.0% 95.6% 95.5% 96.0% 96.0% 95.3% 95.6% 96.4% 95.7%

Female 3.5 4.1 4.0 4.4 4.5 4.0 4.0 4.7 4.4 3.6 4.3

Race/Hispanic origina

White 46.7% 47.8% 50.6% 49.5% 51.3% 50.4% 50.8% 52.8% 52.1% 52.2% 57.2%

Black/African American 40.5 39.3 38.2 37.8 36.7 35.6 36.2 33.5 35.2 34.8 31.1

Hispanic/Latino 11.2 11.3 9.8 10.6 10.2 12.5 11.3 11.6 10.9 11.1 9.8

Otherb 1.6 1.5 1.4 2.1 1.7 1.5 1.6 2.1 1.7 1.9 1.8

Age

17 or younger 0.1% --% 0.1% --% --% --% --% 0.1% 0.0% 0.1% 0.1%

18–24 3.0 2.1 1.8 2.6 2.5 1.9 2.0 1.9 2.0 2.1 1.5

25–34 8.9 8.5 8.8 8.2 7.7 7.7 6.7 6.4 6.2 6.7 6.0

35–44 22.9 22.5 21.2 19.8 18.9 17.4 15.1 13.6 13.7 11.8 11.9

45–54 31.2 30.9 31.1 30.9 31.8 32.8 30.4 30.8 30.4 29.5 27.8

55 or older 33.9 35.9 37.0 38.5 39.1 40.2 45.7 47.2 47.8 49.7 52.8

Note: Detail may not sum to total due to missing data. Data may have been revised from previously published statistics to reflect updated information. Executions are 

not included; for data on executions, see Capital Punishment, 2011 - Statistical Tables.

-- Less than 0.05%.

aExcludes persons of Hispanic or Latino origin unless specified. 

bIncludes American Indian or Alaska Natives, Asian or other Pacific Islanders, and persons identifying two or more races.

Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, Deaths in Custody Reporting Program, 2001–2011.

Table 19

Estimated number of state prisoners in custody, by selected inmate characteristics, 2001–2011

Characteristic 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011

Total 1,187,800 1,199,900 1,225,700 1,239,700 1,252,400 1,297,200 1,321,700 1,327,000 1,326,500 1,320,600 1,289,400

Sex

Male 1,110,400 1,121,300 1,143,100 1,155,500 1,165,300 1,205,100 1,227,200 1,232,100 1,232,500 1,228,400 1,200,400

Female 77,400 78,700 82,600 84,200 87,100 92,200 94,500 94,900 94,000 92,200 89,000

Race/Hispanic origina

White 425,100 433,800 458,900 453,500 462,800 475,000 479,700 485,800 482,900 480,400 447,400

Black/African American 530,900 524,500 523,400 519,000 517,500 523,300 531,100 536,900 532,600 528,000 490,200

Hispanic/Latino 160,600 165,900 169,900 180,000 183,200 189,900 196,100 187,000 191,200 195,000 271,600

Otherb 27,400 29,000 30,000 30,900 31,600 33,700 34,600 34,600 36,100 35,600 80,100

Age

17 or younger 2,900 3,000 2,500 2,500 2,500 2,800 2,600 2,500 2,500 2,400 2,300

18–24 217,800 216,800 215,700 218,200 220,400 227,500 232,200 189,100 189,100 189,500 193,000

25–34 403,200 400,900 408,100 412,800 418,300 429,500 440,600 434,000 433,800 427,800 423,900

35–44 362,900 362,900 364,000 368,200 372,000 384,500 391,800 391,500 391,400 339,900 327,600

45–54 153,100 163,800 176,500 178,500 180,400 185,600 190,000 232,100 232,000 255,900 242,600

55 or older 47,900 52,600 57,600 58,300 58,900 60,400 62,000 77,800 77,800 105,100 99,900

Note: Detail may not sum to total due to missing data. The estimated number of state prisoners presented is rounded. Mortality rates based on this population 

are calculated on exact numbers. Data are from the Prisoners at Midyear series. Data may have been revised from previously published statistics to reflect updated 

information. Executions are not included; for data on executions, see Capital Punishment, 2011 - Statistical Tables. 

aExcludes persons of Hispanic or Latino origin unless specified. 

bIncludes American Indian or Alaska Natives, Asian or other Pacific Islanders, and persons identifying two or more races.

Sources: Bureau of Justice Statistics, Deaths in Custody Reporting Program, 2001–2011; and National Prisoner Statistics, 2001–2011.
Mortality in Local Jails and State Prisons, 2000-2011 - Statistical Tables | July 2013 22

Table 20

Mortality rate per 100,000 state prisoners, by selected decedent characteristics, 2001–2011

Characteristic 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011

Total 242 245 257 252 253 249 256 260 257 245 260

Sex

Male 249 251 265 259 260 257 265 267 265 254 267

Female 129 151 153 162 164 141 145 172 160 127 161

Race/Hispanic origina

White 315 323 347 341 351 343 358 375 367 350 427

Black/African American 219 219 229 227 225 219 231 216 225 212 212

Hispanic/Latino 201 200 181 184 177 213 195 213 195 184 121

Otherb 168 151 147 211 171 148 156 211 161 171 76

Age

17 or younger 70 ! 33 ! 122 ! 40 ! 40 ! 36 ! 38 ! 122 ! 0 127 ! 87 !

18–24 39 29 26 37 35 26 29 35 36 36 26

25–34 63 62 68 62 58 58 51 51 48 51 47

35–44 181 182 183 168 161 146 131 120 119 112 121

45–54 583 554 555 539 559 572 543 458 447 373 383

55 or older 2,029 2,005 2,021 2,063 2,103 2,154 2,500 2,091 2,096 1,529 1,771

Note: Detail may not sum to total due to missing data. Data are from the Prisoners at Midyear series. Data may have been revised from previously published statistics to 

reflect updated information. The mortality rates presented are calculated on exact population numbers. The mortality rates presented are not adjusted for age, sex, race, 

geographic location, or any other characteristic. See Methodology. Executions are not included; for data on executions, see Capital Punishment, 2011 - Statistical Tables.

! Interpret with caution; too few cases to provide a reliable rate. See Methodology for more information. 

aExcludes persons of Hispanic or Latino origin unless specified. 

bIncludes American Indian or Alaska Natives, Asian or other Pacific Islanders, and persons identifying two or more races.

Sources: Bureau of Justice Statistics, Deaths in Custody Reporting Program, 2001–2011; National Prisoner Statistics, 2001–2011; and Survey of Inmates in State 

Correctional Facilities, 2004. 

Table 21

Number of state prisoner deaths, by cause of death and selected decedent characteristics, 2001–2011

Illness

Characteristic

All 

causes Cancer

Heart 

disease

Liver 

disease

Respiratory 

disease

AIDSrelated All other SuicideDrug/alcohol 

intoxication Accident Homicidea

Total 35,317 9,101 9,073 3,406 2,195 1,607 5,939 2,180 456 328 584 

Sex

Male 33,851 8,764 8,762 3,295 2,074 1,525 5,605 2,069 438 314 580 

Female 1,464 337 311 111 121 82 334 110 18 14 4 

Race/Hispanic originb

White 18,032 4,973 4,766 1,849 1,216 334 2,691 1,267 270 183 270 

Black/African American 12,740 3,223 3,439 804 755 1,080 2,421 457 79 97 194 

Hispanic/Latino 3,863 742 747 664 198 179 718 356 88 38 101 

Otherc 610 141 110 83 22 13 95 91 19 9 17 

Age

17 or younger 18 1 1 1 1 0 2 10 0 1 1 

18–24 747 49 87 7 50 16 99 304 29 23 68 

25–34 2,605 223 443 64 146 212 386 713 127 66 168 

35–44 5,988 959 1,403 517 300 675 994 633 167 82 166 

45–54 10,829 2,814 2,551 1,702 529 546 1,882 379 102 82 121 

55 or older 15,111 5,051 4,584 1,114 1,167 158 2,572 141 31 74 59 

Note: Detail may not sum to total due to missing data. Data may have been revised from previously published statistics to reflect updated information. 

aIncludes homicides committed by other inmates, homicides incidental to the staff use of force, and homicides resulting from assaults sustained prior to incarceration. 

See Methodology for more information.

bExcludes persons of Hispanic or Latino origin unless specified. 

cIncludes American Indian or Alaska Natives, Asian or other Pacific Islanders, and persons identifying two or more races.

Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, Deaths in Custody Reporting Program, 2001–2010. 
Mortality in Local Jails and State Prisons, 2000-2011 - Statistical Tables | August 2013 23

Table 22

Average annual mortality rate per 100,000 state prisoners, by cause of death and selected decedent characteristics, 

2001–2011

Illness

Characteristic

All 

causes Cancer

Heart 

disease

Liver 

disease

Respiratory 

disease

AIDSrelated All other SuicideDrug/alcohol 

intoxication Accident Homicidea

Total 252 65 65 24 16 11 42 16 3 2 4

Sex

Male 260 67 67 25 16 12 43 16 3 2 4

Female 151 35 32 11 13 8 35 11 2 1 -- !

Race/Hispanic originb

White 355 98 94 36 24 7 53 25 5 4 5

Black/African American 221 56 60 14 13 19 42 8 1 2 3

Hispanic/Latino 185 35 36 32 9 9 34 17 4 2 5

Otherc 151 35 27 21 5 3 24 23 5 2 ! 4

Age

17 or younger 64 4 ! 4 ! 4 ! 4 ! 0 7 ! 35 ! 0 4 ! 4 !

18–24 32 2 4 0 ! 2 1 4 13 1 1 3

25–34 56 5 10 1 3 5 8 15 3 1 4

35–44 148 24 35 13 7 17 25 16 4 2 4

45–54 494 128 116 78 24 25 86 17 5 4 6

55 or older 1,993 666 605 147 154 21 339 19 4 10 8

Note: Detail may not sum to total due to missing data. Data may have been revised from previously published statistics to reflect updated information. State prison 

mortality rates are per 100,000 inmates held in state custody (including private facilities) on June 30 of each year. The mortality rates presented are calculated on exact 

population numbers. The mortality rates presented are not adjusted for sex, race, age, geographic location, or any other characteristic. Executions are not included; for 

data on executions, see Capital Punishment, 2011 – Statistical Tables.

-- Less than 0.5.

! Interpret with caution; too few cases to provide a reliable rate. See Methodology for more information.

aIncludes homicides committed by other inmates, homicides incidental to the staff use of force, and homicides resulting from assaults sustained prior to incarceration. 

See Methodology for more information.

bExcludes persons of Hispanic or Latino origin unless specified. 

cIncludes American Indian or Alaska Natives, Asian or other Pacific Islanders, and persons identifying two or more races.

Sources: Bureau of Justice Statistics, Deaths in Custody Reporting Program, 2001–2011; National Prisoner Statistics, 2001–2011; and Survey of Inmates in State 

Correctional Facilities, 2004.
Mortality in Local Jails and State Prisons, 2000-2011 - Statistical Tables | August 2013 24

Table 23

Number of state and federal prisoner deaths, by location, 2001–2011

2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011

Federal 301 335 346 333 388 328 368 399 376 387 387

Statea 2,869 2,934 3,152 3,123 3,168 3,233 3,389 3,450 3,414 3,232 3,353

Alabama 87 85 92 65 66 61 54 75 80 66 104

Alaskab 8 14 4 8 4 6 10 14 7 13 12

Arizona 64 73 84 66 78 72 61 77 85 85 86

Arkansas 42 31 39 34 38 37 46 41 50 54 50

California 287 337 333 348 366 424 395 369 392 412 388

Colorado 42 51 47 39 54 31 42 38 49 48 37

Connecticutb 30 30 36 33 40 25 27 32 29 21 19

Delawareb 16 15 19 13 19 13 15 15 12 23 15

Florida 182 183 221 226 244 261 249 291 278 275 297

Georgia 93 102 126 90 122 103 143 128 125 112 123

Hawaiib 7 13 8 8 8 5 13 14 11 12 6

Idaho 17 9 12 12 13 18 14 18 13 13 13

Illinois 86 72 80 97 72 94 104 71 75 94 97

Indiana 46 49 56 56 45 70 54 70 91 69 74

Iowa 9 11 13 15 19 12 17 21 14 13 12

Kansas 21 22 32 30 19 16 20 24 20 22 25

Kentucky 36 41 45 42 43 46 46 68 57 42 60

Louisiana 71 78 70 94 89 72 82 117 108 100 108

Maine 6 7 2 4 0 6 1 2 4 3 5

Maryland 70 71 67 78 57 61 57 69 56 40 41

Massachusetts 29 20 30 25 37 39 39 29 29 39 33

Michigan 114 113 127 138 140 138 117 99 148 93 119

Minnesota 13 15 13 6 13 9 13 17 12 16 19

Mississippi 36 33 58 51 61 58 77 54 52 52 47

Missouri 57 65 65 77 68 66 78 87 81 88 74

Montana 6 5 12 12 12 5 5 9 3 2 6

Nebraska 7 8 7 7 8 8 12 6 11 12 17

Nevada 27 25 24 31 28 23 39 35 35 41 34

New Hampshire 2 9 6 6 8 6 6 5 9 4 10

New Jersey 69 60 47 57 60 70 60 66 58 56 66

New Mexico 11 15 11 16 18 13 22 29 21 16 16

New York 175 185 198 153 170 131 148 133 142 124 117

North Carolina 66 59 74 94 69 90 99 117 86 87 71

North Dakota 3 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 1 1

Ohio 115 113 91 126 121 106 123 101 120 116 111

Oklahoma 51 64 71 53 74 80 98 88 79 60 85

Oregon 24 33 25 34 37 40 36 31 34 39 40

Pennsylvania 122 126 147 161 149 124 150 145 165 141 157

Rhode Islandb 3 8 8 7 2 8 9 6 7 7 10

South Carolina 69 45 63 50 75 65 72 83 49 70 55

South Dakota 4 11 11 5 4 4 8 6 4 8 11

Tennessee 51 61 97 71 76 84 73 74 69 74 59

Texas 408 396 383 395 351 443 435 469 426 375 417

Utah 5 9 10 11 8 7 7 11 17 13 12

Vermontb 3 2 5 1 6 7 1 3 3 5 0

Virginia 71 69 93 86 84 78 103 86 87 93 99

Washington 29 30 31 36 45 36 39 35 44 35 21

West Virginia 17 8 15 13 10 13 19 19 18 20 23

Wisconsin 48 49 41 40 29 45 43 44 42 25 48

Wyoming 5 3 2 2 8 3 8 9 7 3 3

Note: Data may have been revised from previously published statistics to reflect updated information. Executions are not included; for data on executions, see Capital Punishment, 

2011 - Statistical Tables.

aIncludes 9 prisoner deaths reported by the District of Columbia in 2001. As of December 30, 2001, sentenced felons from the District of Columbia were the responsibility of the 

Federal Bureau of Prisons. 

bPrisons and jails form one integrated system. Includes data for prisons and jails operated by the Alaska Department of Corrections; excludes data for 14 locally operated jails.

Sources: Bureau of Justice Statistics, Deaths in Custody Reporting Program, 2001–2011; National Prisoner Statistics, 2001–2006; and Federal Bureau of Prisons, 2007–2011. 
Mortality in Local Jails and State Prisons, 2000-2011 - Statistical Tables | August 2013 25

Table 24

Mortality rate per 100,000 state and federal prisoners, by location, 2001–2011

2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011

Federal 221 232 227 208 244 201 222 241 220 224 220

Statea 242 245 257 252 253 249 256 260 257 245 260

Alabama 365 318 333 261 257 251 222 302 316 241 388

Alaskab 192 ! 333 90 ! 179 ! 87 ! 123 ! 195 ! 269 135 ! 239 223

Arizona 236 251 275 212 240 202 165 199 211 210 215

Arkansas 378 266 343 269 302 293 349 310 377 388 355

California 178 213 207 213 223 242 224 218 226 247 263

Colorado 247 284 252 198 266 144 187 165 211 211 169

Connecticutb 167 157 187 175 210 128 135 155 146 109 106

Delawareb 225 220 280 192 275 183 205 208 174 350 229

Florida 253 249 286 276 287 295 268 297 276 269 294

Georgia 205 220 268 185 256 200 269 237 253 214 233

Hawaiib 137 ! 252 151 ! 146 ! 140 ! 86 ! 230 257 200 ! 226 110 !

Idaho 323 163 ! 214 204 212 278 193 242 189 187 174

Illinois 188 167 185 219 161 207 228 155 165 198 200

Indiana 237 245 265 256 197 293 215 269 336 255 270

Iowa 111 ! 135 ! 155 174 221 139 193 240 166 143 132

Kansas 246 251 354 327 210 179 225 277 232 248 268

Kentucky 313 337 354 336 324 298 301 450 372 290 429

Louisiana 364 394 354 480 454 354 393 559 527 500 573

Maine 355 ! 385 ! 102 ! 201 ! 0 296 ! 47 ! 92 ! 197 ! 157 ! 253 !

Maryland 293 293 278 328 246 265 249 299 244 179 178

Massachusetts 278 199 298 249 364 365 352 256 255 347 288

Michigan 236 226 256 284 286 272 231 196 314 204 277

Minnesota 208 223 178 77 ! 155 100 ! 144 193 130 170 204

Mississippi 242 214 365 322 370 354 454 305 297 309 305

Missouri 202 218 215 256 219 219 261 290 266 290 239

Montana 227 ! 171 ! 420 490 451 172 ! 172 ! 298 ! 97 ! 65 ! 192 !

Nebraska 181 ! 200 ! 169 ! 173 ! 186 ! 176 ! 269 134 ! 242 ! 259 365

Nevada 271 248 236 280 251 185 299 269 275 330 280

New Hampshire 86 ! 363 ! 242 ! 247 ! 326 ! 216 ! 205 ! 173 ! 316 ! 136 ! 413 !

New Jersey 241 208 179 217 228 239 208 261 238 229 279

New Mexico 191 ! 252 179 ! 252 274 191 337 458 324 237 239

New York 252 275 300 236 269 206 232 214 238 217 212

North Carolina 208 178 220 267 188 239 256 298 211 217 179

North Dakota 296 ! 87 ! 88 ! 82 ! 74 ! 72 ! 0 0 0 83 ! 72 !

Ohio 254 252 200 285 273 226 248 201 235 228 218

Oklahoma 232 288 326 235 322 347 415 368 330 245 358

Oregon 226 291 210 268 290 306 269 230 247 281 291

Pennsylvania 333 321 363 401 363 291 333 317 331 294 316

Rhode Islandb 90 ! 221 ! 226 ! 200 ! 59 ! 219 ! 236 ! 154 ! 189 ! 209 ! 330 !

South Carolina 322 203 270 214 325 284 308 339 201 288 246

South Dakota 150 ! 373 ! 363 ! 158 ! 118 ! 111 ! 237 ! 180 ! 117 ! 234 ! 309 !

Tennessee 290 343 501 365 391 433 377 379 354 366 298

Texas 278 268 247 253 224 280 274 293 268 236 261

Utah 121 ! 219 ! 227 ! 242 ! 168 ! 141 ! 138 ! 213 ! 329 244 227

Vermontb 216 ! 146 ! 349 ! 49 ! 304 ! 327 ! 46 ! 144 ! 136 ! 232 ! 0

Virginia 231 223 299 277 271 251 324 253 266 292 324

Washington 189 187 192 212 272 209 214 193 254 203 123

West Virginia 489 225 ! 392 326 252 ! 304 409 383 360 393 447

Wisconsin 241 240 188 181 133 202 188 196 189 112 214

Wyoming 329 ! 191 ! 126 ! 115 ! 407 ! 148 ! 399 ! 537 ! 400 ! 144 ! 139 !

Note: Data are from the Prisoners at Midyear series. Data may have been revised from previously published statistics to reflect updated information. See Methodology.

Mortality rates are not directly comparable between states because rates are not adjusted for sex, race, age, geographic location, or any other characteristic. Executions 

are not included; for data on executions, see Capital Punishment, 2011 - Statistical Tables. 

! Interpret with caution; too few cases to provide a reliable rate. See Methodology for more information. 

aIncludes 9 prisoner deaths reported by the District of Columbia in 2001. As of December 31, 2001, sentenced felons from the District of Columbia were the 

responsibility of the Federal Bureau of Prisons. 

bPrisons and jails form one integrated system. Includes data for prisons and jails operated by the Alaska Department of Corrections; excludes data for 14 locally 

operated jails.

Sources: Bureau of Justice Statistics, Deaths in Custody Reporting Program, 2001–2011; National Prisoner Statistics, 2001–2006; and Federal Bureau of Prisons, 

2007–2011. 
Mortality in Local Jails and State Prisons, 2000-2011 - Statistical Tables | August 2013 26

Table 25

Number of state prisoner deaths, by cause of death and location, 2001–2011

Illness

All causes Cancer

Heart 

disease

Liver 

disease

Respiratory 

disease

AIDSrelated All other SuicideDrug/alcohol 

intoxication Accident Homicidea Other/unknown Missing

Federal 3,951 ... ... ... ... 150 3,456 165 ... 43 99 0 35

Stateb 35,317 9,101 9,073 3,406 2,195 1,607 5,939 2,180 456 328 584 273 175

Alabama 835 209 190 87 47 34 173 15 1 9 9 43 18

Alaskac 100 13 22 11 2 0 14 18 7 8 2 1 2

Arizona 831 217 188 124 49 24 109 67 26 2 20 3 2

Arkansas 462 124 154 36 27 21 55 26 1 7 9 2 0

California 4,051 943 713 452 293 113 829 364 138 26 142 33 5

Colorado 478 88 92 91 38 0 86 38 19 12 14 0 0

Connecticutc 322 43 78 54 15 7 70 47 2 3 3 0 0

Delawarec 175 37 39 17 11 19 23 19 1 0 2 1 6

Florida 2,707 791 555 194 180 247 566 75 9 21 44 13 12

Georgia 1,267 334 419 83 88 73 150 59 1 10 31 18 1

Hawaiic 105 27 19 14 3 2 17 17 0 1 4 0 1

Idaho 152 43 46 8 8 1 21 19 0 1 2 2 1

Illinois 942 270 270 55 50 60 121 85 8 9 9 3 2

Indiana 680 167 188 53 42 18 110 44 23 11 18 4 2

Iowa 156 55 30 9 13 3 20 22 1 0 1 2 0

Kansas 251 72 60 33 13 1 48 14 2 5 2 1 0

Kentucky 526 158 174 39 21 24 92 11 1 4 1 0 1

Louisiana 989 286 250 83 35 84 169 17 1 7 4 20 33

Maine 40 11 11 5 1 1 5 3 1 0 2 0 0

Maryland 667 134 146 56 27 97 71 52 47 4 26 6 1

Massachusetts 349 93 90 33 18 8 50 34 9 5 2 5 2

Michigan 1,346 437 437 111 69 34 134 76 13 17 9 1 8

Minnesota 146 45 23 27 4 1 24 19 2 1 0 0 0

Mississippi 579 150 222 27 33 17 80 26 3 8 7 1 5

Missouri 806 225 233 92 42 18 131 41 4 5 12 2 1

Montana 77 18 16 12 4 0 14 9 2 1 1 0 0

Nebraska 103 22 23 18 5 2 11 4 4 2 1 4 7

Nevada 342 64 85 21 8 9 91 19 1 2 7 10 25

New Hampshire 71 24 12 10 3 2 6 10 4 0 0 0 0

New Jersey 669 153 190 45 45 74 92 36 9 6 8 5 6

New Mexico 188 48 33 31 15 2 30 17 4 1 7 0 0

New York 1,676 448 416 160 80 196 167 138 15 20 16 17 3

North Carolina 912 285 238 81 64 51 136 28 2 15 10 1 1

North Dakota 10 2 4 1 0 0 2 1 0 0 0 0 0

Ohio 1,243 392 366 76 95 30 191 63 4 5 15 5 1

Oklahoma 803 189 209 93 47 22 119 42 15 15 35 13 4

Oregon 373 103 78 66 14 4 56 26 11 7 3 5 0

Pennsylvania 1,587 405 468 163 84 30 326 76 6 9 8 1 11

Rhode Islandc 75 15 17 1 1 4 8 16 3 3 1 4 2

South Carolina 696 132 264 39 43 33 132 28 1 1 21 1 1

South Dakota 76 10 25 11 5 1 8 10 1 3 2 0 0

Tennessee 789 184 233 92 44 36 120 32 17 8 17 3 3

Texas 4,498 992 1,168 483 372 127 970 273 16 39 38 18 2

Utah 110 22 22 10 5 0 18 23 3 1 3 3 0

Vermontc 36 8 8 6 1 3 1 5 3 0 0 1 0

Virginia 949 307 254 95 54 48 124 32 1 4 8 18 4

Washington 381 108 93 47 23 9 62 21 3 6 6 3 0

West Virginia 175 50 71 12 7 5 23 4 1 0 2 0 0

Wisconsin 454 139 113 30 41 10 54 55 7 3 0 0 2

Wyoming 53 9 16 8 5 1 8 4 1 1 0 0 0

Note: Detail may not sum to total due to missing data. Data may have been revised from previously published statistics to reflect updated information. Executions are not included; 

for data on executions, see Capital Punishment, 2011 - Statistical Tables.

... Not available. With the exception of AIDS-related deaths, the Federal Bureau of Prisons did not break out illness deaths by a specific cause of death (e.g., cancer and liver disease). 

Drug and alcohol intoxication deaths are included in the count of accidental deaths.

aIncludes homicides committed by other inmates, homicides incidental to the staff use of force, and homicides resulting from assaults sustained prior to incarceration. See 

Methodology for more information.

bIncludes 9 prisoner deaths reported by the District of Columbia in 2001. As of December 30, 2001, sentenced felons from the District of Columbia were the responsibility of the 

Federal Bureau of Prisons.

cPrisons and jails form one integrated system. Includes data for prisons and jails operated by the Alaska Department of Corrections; excludes data for 14 locally operated jails.

Sources: Bureau of Justice Statistics, Deaths in Custody Reporting Program, 2001–2011; National Prisoner Statistics, 2001–2006; and Federal Bureau of Prisons, 2007–2011.
Mortality in Local Jails and State Prisons, 2000-2011 - Statistical Tables | August 2013 27

Table 26

Average annual mortality rate per 100,000 state prisoners, by cause of death and location, 2001–2011

Illness

All causes Cancer

Heart 

disease

Liver 

disease

Respiratory 

disease

AIDSrelated All other SuicideDrug/alcohol 

intoxication Accident Homicidea Other/unknown Missing

Federal 223 ... ... ... ... 8 195 9 ... 2 6 0 2

Stateb 252 65 65 24 16 11 42 16 3 2 4 2 1

Alabama 296 74 67 31 17 12 61 5 -- ! 3 ! 3 ! 15 6

Alaskac 188 24 41 21 ! 4 ! 0 26 34 13 ! 15 ! 4 ! 2 ! 4 !

Arizona 217 57 49 32 13 6 28 18 7 1 ! 5 1 ! 1 !

Arkansas 331 89 110 26 19 15 39 19 1 ! 5 ! 6 ! 1 ! 0

California 223 52 39 25 16 6 46 20 8 1 8 2 -- !

Colorado 209 39 40 40 17 0 38 17 8 5 6 0 0

Connecticutc 152 20 37 26 7 3 ! 33 22 1 ! 1 ! 1 ! 0 0

Delawarec 230 49 51 22 14 ! 25 30 25 1 ! 0 3 ! 1 ! 8 !

Florida 278 81 57 20 18 25 58 8 1 ! 2 5 1 1

Georgia 231 61 76 15 16 13 27 11 -- ! 2 ! 6 3 -- !

Hawaiic 175 45 32 23 5 ! 3 ! 28 28 0 2 ! 7 ! 0 2 !

Idaho 214 61 65 11 ! 11 ! 1 ! 30 27 0 1 ! 3 ! 3 ! 1 !

Illinois 189 54 54 11 10 12 24 17 2 ! 2 ! 2 ! 1 ! -- !

Indiana 260 64 72 20 16 7 42 17 9 4 ! 7 2 ! 1 !

Iowa 165 58 32 9 ! 14 3 ! 21 23 1 ! 0 1 ! 2 ! 0

Kansas 256 74 61 34 13 1 ! 49 14 2 ! 5 ! 2 ! 1 ! 0

Kentucky 347 104 115 26 14 16 61 7 ! 1 ! 3 ! 1 ! 0 1 !

Louisiana 450 130 114 38 16 38 77 8 -- ! 3 ! 2 ! 9 15

Maine 184 51 ! 51 ! 23 ! 5 ! 5 ! 23 ! 14 ! 5 ! 0 9 ! 0 0

Maryland 260 52 57 22 11 38 28 20 18 2 ! 10 2 ! -- !

Massachusetts 296 79 76 28 15 7 ! 42 29 8 ! 4 ! 2 ! 4 ! 2 !

Michigan 253 82 82 21 13 6 25 14 2 3 2 ! -- ! 2 !

Minnesota 160 49 25 30 4 ! 1 ! 26 21 2 ! 1 ! 0 0 0

Mississippi 323 84 124 15 18 9 45 14 2 ! 4 ! 4 ! 1 ! 3 !

Missouri 243 68 70 28 13 5 40 12 1 ! 2 ! 4 1 ! -- !

Montana 243 57 51 38 13 ! 0 44 28 ! 6 ! 3 ! 3 ! 0 0

Nebraska 216 46 48 38 10 ! 4 ! 23 ! 8 ! 8 ! 4 ! 2 ! 8 ! 15 !

Nevada 267 50 66 16 6 ! 7 ! 71 15 1 ! 2 ! 5 ! 8 ! 20

New Hampshire 245 83 41 34 ! 10 ! 7 ! 21 ! 34 ! 14 ! 0 0 0 0

New Jersey 229 52 65 15 15 25 31 12 3 ! 2 ! 3 ! 2 ! 2 !

New Mexico 267 68 47 44 21 3 ! 43 24 6 ! 1 ! 10 ! 0 0

New York 242 65 60 23 12 28 24 20 2 3 2 2 -- !

North Carolina 224 70 59 20 16 13 33 7 -- ! 4 2 ! -- ! -- !

North Dakota 72 ! 14 ! 29 ! 7 ! 0 0 14 ! 7 ! 0 0 0 0 0

Ohio 237 75 70 15 18 6 36 12 1 ! 1 ! 3 1 ! -- !

Oklahoma 316 74 82 37 18 9 47 17 6 6 14 5 2 !

Oregon 265 73 55 47 10 3 ! 40 18 8 ! 5 ! 2 ! 4 ! 0

Pennsylvania 332 85 98 34 18 6 68 16 1 ! 2 ! 2 ! -- ! 2 !

Rhode Islandc 193 39 44 3 ! 3 ! 10 ! 21 ! 41 8 ! 8 ! 3 ! 10 ! 5 !

South Carolina 273 52 103 15 17 13 52 11 -- ! -- ! 8 -- ! -- !

South Dakota 212 28 ! 70 31 ! 14 ! 3 ! 22 ! 28 ! 3 ! 8 ! 6 ! 0 0

Tennessee 373 87 110 44 21 17 57 15 8 4 ! 8 1 ! 1 !

Texas 262 58 68 28 22 7 56 16 1 2 2 1 -- !

Utah 208 42 42 19 ! 9 ! 0 34 43 6 ! 2 ! 6 ! 6 ! 0

Vermontc 171 38 ! 38 ! 29 ! 5 ! 14 ! 5 ! 24 ! 14 ! 0 0 5 ! 0

Virginia 274 88 73 27 16 14 36 9 -- ! 1 ! 2 ! 5 1 !

Washington 205 58 50 25 12 5 ! 33 11 2 ! 3 ! 3 ! 2 ! 0

West Virginia 365 104 148 25 15 ! 10 ! 48 8 ! 2 ! 0 4 ! 0 0

Wisconsin 189 58 47 12 17 4 ! 22 23 3 ! 1 ! 0 0 1 !

Wyoming 264 45 ! 80 40 ! 25 ! 5 ! 40 ! 20 ! 5 ! 5 ! 0 0 0

Note: Detail may not sum to total due to missing data. Data are from the Prisoners at Midyear series. Data may have been revised from previously published statistics to reflect updated 

information. See Methodology. The mortality rates presented are not adjusted for sex, race, age, geographic location, or any other characteristic. Executions are not included; for data on 

executions, see Capital Punishment, 2011 - Statistical Tables. 

... Not available. With the exception of AIDS-related deaths, the Federal Bureau of Prisons did not break out illness deaths by a specific cause of death (e.g., cancer and liver disease). Drug and 

alcohol intoxication deaths are included with other accidental deaths.

! Interpret with caution; too few cases to provide a reliable rate. See Methodology for more information.

-- Less than 0.5.

aIncludes homicides committed by other inmates, homicides incidental to the staff use of force, and homicides resulting from assaults sustained prior to incarceration. See Methodology for more 

information.

bIncludes 9 prisoner deaths reported by the District of Columbia in 2001. As of December 30, 2001, sentenced felons from the District of Columbia were the responsibility of the Federal Bureau of 

Prisons.

cPrisons and jails form one integrated system. Data include total jail and prison population.

Sources: Bureau of Justice Statistics, Deaths in Custody Reporting Program, 2001–2011; National Prisoner Statistics, 2001–2006; and Federal Bureau of Prisons, 2007–2011. 
Mortality in Local Jails and State Prisons, 2000-2011 - Statistical Tables | August 2013 28

Methodology

Data collection coverage

The Deaths in Custody Reporting Program (DCRP) is an 

annual Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) data collection. The 

DCRP collects national, state, and incident-level data on 

persons who died while in the physical custody of the 50 

state departments of corrections or the approximately 2,800 

local adult jail jurisdictions nationwide. The DCRP began 

in 2000 under the Death in Custody Reporting Act of 2000 

(P.L. 106-297), and it is the only national statistical collection 

to obtain comprehensive information about deaths in adult 

correctional facilities. BJS uses DCRP data to track national 

trends in the number and causes (or manners) of deaths 

occurring in state prison or local jail custody. 

Mortality data measured by the DCRP include decedent 

characteristics, such as sex, race and Hispanic origin, 

age, date of admission, conviction status, admission 

offense, and the location and type of facility (prison or 

jail) where the inmate died. The DCRP also collects data 

about circumstances surrounding the death, including the 

cause, time and location where the death occurred, and 

information on whether an autopsy was conducted and the 

availability of results to the respondent. In cases of deaths 

due to illness, the DCRP collects data on whether the 

decedent had a preexisting medical condition for which he 

or she received medical treatment prior to death. Data on 

executions are excluded from this report but are accessible 

on the BJS website along with the DCRP mortality data. 

Statistics presented in this report are current as of March 

1, 2013. For more information on mortality in correctional 

settings, see Mortality in Local Jails, 2000–2007, NCJ 222988, 

BJS web, July 2010; Medical Causes of Death in State Prisons, 

2001–2004, NCJ 216340, BJS web, January 2007; and Suicide 

and Homicide in State Prisons and Local Jails, NCJ 210036, 

BJS web, August 2005.

The DCRP data collection instruments are administered 

annually to both state prisons and local jails. Respondents 

provide an aggregate count of the number of deaths that 

occurred during the referenced calendar year. State prison 

respondents provide aggregate counts through the National 

Prisoner Statistics data collection, and local jails provide 

aggregate counts through the Annual Survey of Jails. The 

jail (CJ-9) and prison (NPS-4A) survey instruments used to 

obtain data on each prison and jail death are available on the 

BJS website at www.bjs.gov. 

In addition to the death count, BJS requests jails to provide 

summary statistics about their population and admissions. 

All jails, including those with no deaths to report (which 

includes about 80% of jails in any given year) are asked to 

complete the annual summary survey form. BJS obtains a 

separate report describing the decedent’s characteristics and 

the circumstances surrounding the death for each death that 

occurred in a state prison or local jail. State prison and local 

jail respondents can submit individual records on decedents 

at any time during a collection cycle through a BJS webbased collection system.

BJS has modified the survey instruments slightly over time, 

including changes to clarify questions and ease the burden 

on respondents. Several questions were added to capture 

information on any medical treatment that the inmate 

received prior to death. Changes also allowed respondents 

to elaborate on cause of death by adding text boxes to the 

intoxication, suicide, and inmate-involved homicide death 

questions. Previously, these fields had only been available 

for deaths due to illness, accident, homicides not caused by 

other inmates, and other unspecified causes. In addition, 

BJS clarified respondent instructions on the prison forms 

and removed a question collecting the conviction status of 

an inmate after an analysis showed that more than 99% of 

prison inmates were convicted at the time of death. BJS also 

streamlined the survey layout to simplify the progression 

through questions related to autopsies. Rather than initially 

submitting an incomplete instrument that indicated 

pending autopsy results, respondents were only permitted 

to complete the entire survey after autopsy results were 

available. This change reduced follow-up contact and the 

burden on respondents.

Starting in 2001 and annually thereafter, BJS has collected 

DCRP data directly from state prison systems, maintaining a 

100% response rate.

Nonresponse

The jail universe includes all jails currently operating and 

jails that have been contacted for the DCRP but have closed, 

consolidated, or otherwise eliminated operations. This 

universe allows BJS to determine jail participation in the 

DCRP. The most recent jail universe, constructed in 2013, 

identified 2,812 jurisdictions representing 3,247 jail facilities. 

Of these, 2,747 (97.6%) participated in the DCRP, a slight 

decrease from the 98% to 99% participation in previous years.

The congressionally mandated Death in Custody Act expired 

at yearend 2006. Starting in 2007, participation in DCRP 

became voluntary. As a result, some jail juridictions no 

longer report data to the program. Change in deaths over 

time may be affected by this change in reporting.

A jail jurisdiction is a legal entity that has responsibility 

for managing jail facilities. Jail jurisdictions typically 

operate at the county level, in which a sheriff ’s office or 

jail administrator manages the local facilities. The DCRP 

data identify the jail facility in which a jail inmate dies, 

but the data are arrayed at the jail jurisdiction level. BJS 

defines a jail as a locally operated correctional facility that 

confines persons before or after adjudication for more than 

72 hours, excluding temporary lockups. Typically, there is 
Mortality in Local Jails and State Prisons, 2000-2011 - Statistical Tables | August 2013 29

one facility per jail jurisdiction, but the 2006 Census of Jail 

Facilities found that 15% of jail jurisdictions had multiple 

facilities under a central authority. (See the BJS website for 

more information.)

Determining eligibility for reporting to the DCRP

In the DCRP, custody refers to the holding of an inmate in a 

facility or to the period during which a correctional authority 

maintains a chain of custody over an inmate. For instance, 

if a jail transports an ill inmate to a hospital for medical 

services and that inmate dies while in the chain of custody 

of the jail, that death is counted as a death in custody. A 

death that occurs when an inmate is not in the custody of 

a correctional authority is considered beyond the scope of 

the DCRP. Out-of-scope deaths include inmates on escape 

status or under the supervision of community corrections 

on probation, parole, or home-electronic monitoring. BJS 

instructs both state prison and local jail officials to determine 

whether the inmate was in the physical custody of the 

jurisdiction at the time of death, regardless of the reason an 

inmate was being held. For state prisons responding to the 

survey, inmates in physical custody include those held in any 

private prison facility under contract to the responding state’s 

department of corrections or in any of their state-operated 

facilities, including halfway houses, prison camps or farms, 

training or treatment centers, and prison hospitals. 

BJS instructs state prison officials to exclude deaths of 

inmates who were transferred to local jails while still serving 

a prison term because the DCRP obtains information about 

such deaths through the jail reports. Jail inmate custody 

includes inmates who are temporarily out of the jail facility 

but are within the chain of custody of the jail. For example, a 

death in custody would include a jail inmate who died after 

being transferred to an offsite facility that cares for critically 

ill persons. Between 2000 and 2011, the DCRP data have 

shown that more than a third (41%) of jail inmate deaths 

occurred in medical facilities outside of the jail facility. 

Custody is further complicated by the dual law enforcement 

and jail administration functions of some sheriffs’ offices. As 

a result, some deaths reported as jail deaths actually occurred 

before the jail had custody of the decedent. BJS identifies 

and excludes from the DCRP these deaths that occurred 

in the process of arrest by using information about the 

circumstances surrounding the death. 

Cause-of-death information

The instructions for completing the DCRP tell respondents 

to report death information as determined by an autopsy 

or other official medical death investigation. For this 

collection, intoxication deaths, accidents, suicides, and 

homicides are considered discrete causes of death. Although 

there is a distinction between manner and cause of death 

from a medico-legal standpoint, no such distinction is 

made in the DCRP. When reporting a death due to illness, 

accident, suicide, intoxication, or homicide, BJS requests that 

respondents describe the events surrounding these deaths. 

Homicides include all types of intentional homicide and 

involuntary manslaughter as ruled by a medical examiner 

or pathologist at autopsy. For example, an inmate may die 

of positional asphyxia (suffocation caused by the position 

of the inmate’s body) while the inmate is being removed 

from a cell. A legal-intervention homicide committed while 

the inmate is trying to escape would also be included. In 

addition, homicides include cases that are ruled a homicide 

at autopsy when events that led to the death occurred prior 

to incarceration. For example, an inmate who was shot 

in the community years prior to incarceration died from 

complications of the gunshot wound while incarcerated. 

Clinical data specialists convert illness-related death text 

entries into standard medical codes according to the World 

Health Organization’s International Statistical Classification 

of Diseases and Related Health Problems, Tenth Revision

(ICD-10). 

Other BJS sources of correctional mortality data

BJS collects other data reported to the DCRP on correctional 

mortality and deaths that occur in the process of arrest. 

These other collections include—

 Capital Punishment, which provides data on legal 

executions. Further discussion on executions is available 

on the BJS website.

 The National Prisoner Statistics (NPS), which annually 

collected aggregate counts of deaths in state and federal 

prisons prior to the establishment of the DCRP. Prior to 

2007, the NPS also collected counts of deaths by cause of 

death, including deaths due to execution, illness, AIDS, 

suicide, accident, homicide, and other causes. After 2006, 

the Federal Bureau of Prisons continued to submit the 

counts of deaths by cause of death using the DCRP, but no 

longer provided counts of deaths using the NPS. Further 

discussion of the NPS is available on the BJS website.

 The Census of Jails, conducted every 5 to 6 years, 

provides counts of inmate deaths in local jails. Further 

discussion of the Census of Jail Inmates is available on the 

BJS website.

 The Survey of Jails in Indian Country (SJIC), which 

provides aggregate counts of the number of deaths 

occurring in all known Indian country correctional 

facilities operated by tribal authorities or the U.S. 

Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Indian Affairs. 

Further discussion of the SJIC is available on the 

BJS website.
Mortality in Local Jails and State Prisons, 2000-2011 - Statistical Tables | August 2013 30

 Arrest-Related Deaths (ARD), which obtains data on 

deaths that occurred during the process of arrest. Statelevel respondents provide details of deaths that occurred 

during arrest. Further discussion of ARD is available on 

the BJS website. 

Reported statistics 

Mortality data are shown in statistical tables by type of 

correctional institution (state prisons and local jails) and 

include the number of deaths and mortality rates by year, 

cause of death, selected decedent characteristics, and state.

Mortality rates are calculated per 100,000 inmates, with the 

denominators providing estimates of the number of personyears of exposure in custody in institutional corrections. 

Until 2010, the mortality rate for state prisons was calculated 

as the number of deaths per year divided by the midyear 

state prison population in custody multiplied by 100,000. 

Starting in 2011, the rate was calculated using yearend 

custody counts because midyear populations were no longer 

available. Custody counts for state prisons provide estimates 

of person-years for prison populations. BJS uses data from 

the NPS to provide midyear and yearend custody counts 

of prisoners. For more information on the NPS, see the 

BJS website.

The mortality rate in local jails is calculated as the number 

of deaths per year divided by the average daily jail inmate 

population (ADP) multiplied by 100,000. The ADP for local 

jails is defined as the average daily number of jail inmates 

held in a jail jurisdiction during a calendar year, from 

January 1 through December 31. 

The ADP is used as the denominator for jail mortality rates 

to accommodate the high turnover and daily fluctuation 

in local jail populations. Also, the ADP better reflects the 

number of inmate days per year than a 1-day count. Jail 

populations have a higher turnover than prison populations; 

mean stay in local jails is about 21 days, compared to 2 years 

for state prisons. 

The jail ADP also reflects the annual number of admissions 

and mean length of stay, and can be expressed as the product 

of these two values. When mean length of stay is expressed 

in years, the ADP is equivalent to the number of personyears spent by jail inmates during a given year. BJS obtains 

the jail ADP data directly from jails through the DCRP using 

the summary form CJ-9A. Starting in 2002, BJS collected 

the ADP directly from respondents. Prior to 2002, BJS 

calculated the jail ADP by taking the average of the January 1 

count from the prior year and the December 31 count from 

the reference year, which is an appropriate proxy measure 

for ADP.

Both denominators provide for annualizing mortality rates, 

which are calculated separately by group or by characteristic. 

The annualized mortality rates in state prisons and local jails 

are comparable to annual crude mortality rates reported by 

the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS). 

The NCHS calculates crude mortality rates as the number of 

events for a period (e.g., a year) divided by the population 

estimate at the midpoint of the period. For general 

population mortality statistics, the NCHS employs the 

midyear population as an approximation to the average 

population exposed to risk of death during any given year. 

For more information, see Siegal, J. & Swanson, D. (2004). 

The Methods and Materials of Demography, Second Edition. 

San Diego, CA: Elsevier Academic Press, 269.

The crude mortality rates reported in the DCRP annual 

statistical tables are not directly comparable to the crude 

mortality rates within the (nonincarcerated) general 

population, and the crude mortality rates in state prisons 

are not directly comparable to those of local jails. The 

composition of the general population (sex, race, and age) 

differs from the population in state prisons and local jails. 

Because mortality is correlated with sex, race, and age, the 

crude mortality rates in state prisons, local jails, and the 

general population should not be compared. 

Individual inmate death records collected annually in 

the death file are included in the national death count. 

Independent jail-specific summary death counts are 

collected on the annual summary form (CJ-9A) and serve as 

control death totals. If the death count in the summary form 

file is greater than the count in the individual inmate death 

file, the summary file count is used as the total in calculating 

a jail mortality rate. For 2011, individual records for jail 

inmate deaths were adjusted to match independent counts 

of deaths occurring in each jail, and the mortality rates were 

adjusted accordingly.

Estimating inmate population characteristics to 

calculate mortality rates by demographic subgroups

BJS does not obtain annual data for all demographic 

characteristics of prison and jail inmates in all jurisdictions. 

BJS uses data from sources other than the DCRP to estimate 

the nationwide sex, race, and age composition of state 

prison and local jail inmate populations. These data sources 

consist primarily of periodic surveys of inmates in custody 

in prisons and jails. The inmate characteristic distributions 

obtained from these surveys are applied to denominators 

(counts of inmates or ADP) to estimate the number of 

inmates in each demographic subgroup. 

BJS estimated the demographic distribution of the state 

prison population data from the NPS and National 

Corrections Reporting Program (NCRP) collections. For a 

discussion on the methodology for obtaining estimates of 

the sex, race, and age distributions of state prisoners, see 

Prisoners in 2011, NCJ 239808, BJS web, December 2012.
Mortality in Local Jails and State Prisons, 2000-2011 - Statistical Tables | August 2013 31

Prior to using the NPS and NCRP to estimate demographic 

distributions, reports of mortality rates for state prison 

inmates used demographic distributions derived from BJS’s 

2004 Survey of Inmates in State and Federal Correctional 

Facilities (SISCF). As a result, state prison mortality rates 

shown in these tables may differ from previously published 

rates. A rate comparison between the two sources showed 

very little difference in the resultant mortality rates. In most 

instances, the rates either matched or nearly matched. The 

rates differed in only three instances: Hispanic in 2001, 

and females and inmates age 55 or older in 2002. In each 

instance, the rates calculated using population data from the 

NCRP and NPS were slightly higher (less than a 1% increase) 

than rates calculated using population data from the SISCF.

To estimate the distributions of demographic attributes of 

the ADP for inmates, BJS used data from several surveys to 

generate distributions of sex, race, and age, and applied these 

distributions to the ADP. BJS’s Annual Survey of Jails (ASJ) 

provided estimates of the sex distribution of inmates for 

each year of the DCRP collection and applied these to each 

year’s ADP from the DCRP to estimate the ADP of male and 

female jail inmates. Jail Inmates at Midyear 2010 – Statistical 

Tables (NCJ 233431, BJS web, April 2011) documents that 

the distributions of inmate characteristics have changed 

slowly over time. For the most recent information on the 

ASJ, see the BJS website.

To estimate the racial and ethnic distribution of adult jail 

inmates, BJS used data from the Survey of Inmates in Local 

Jails (SILJ) and the National Inmate Survey (NIS) to estimate 

the relative distribution of adults by race and Hispanic 

origin for different periods. Because the SILJ (2002) and the 

NIS (2007 to 2009) are not fielded annually, the population 

estimates were smoothed before being applied to DCRP 

data. BJS used the SILJ estimates to cover the period from 

2000 to 2004 and the NIS estimates to cover the period from 

2005 to 2011. In both cases, the percentages associated with 

the distribution of race and Hispanic origin were applied to 

the adult jail ADP.

BJS did not annually collect data on the age distribution of 

jail populations. Rather, BJS obtained estimates of the age 

distribution of jail inmates from periodic surveys of jail 

inmates, including the SILJ in 2002 and the NIS from 2007 

to 2009, which are available on the BJS website. For more 

information about jail inmates in 2002, see Profile of Jail 

Inmates, 2002, NCJ 201932, BJS web, July 2004. 

To estimate the age distribution of the jail inmate population, 

BJS first obtained an estimate of the number of jail inmates 

age 17 or younger from the ASJ. According to table 6 in Jail 

Inmates at Midyear 2011 - Statistical Tables (NCJ 237961, 

BJS web, April 2012) from 2000 through 2011, the annual 

number of jail inmates age 17 or younger ranged from 5,900 

to 7,600 inmates. By applying the annual percentage of jail 

inmates age 17 or younger to the annual average daily jail 

inmate population, BJS obtained an estimate of the ADP of 

jail inmates age 17 or younger. 

To estimate the age distribution of adult jail inmates, BJS 

used data from the SILJ for 2000 to 2006 and the NIS for 

2007 to 2011 to estimate the relative distribution of adults 

by age category for different periods. The age estimates were 

smoothed to account for gaps in reference years when age 

estimates were available, specifically for 2003, 2006, 2010, 

and 2011.

Moving averages 

Moving averages were used to smooth short term 

irregularities and to estimate long term trends. For instance, 

moving averages were computed to examine data trends for 

certain causes of death in jails and prisons while smoothing 

out short-term fluctuations. The data were cut into several 

3-year overlapping periods spanning all 11 years of prison 

data and 12 years of jail data.

The moving averages in this report describe some changes 

in cause-specific mortality rates over time (e.g., whether 

the decline in the AIDS-related mortality rate was steady, 

or whether the increase of suicides in jails was recent). 

Moving averages were not computed for all causes of death 

in custody, because the resultant rates would have been 

unstable and therefore statistically meaningless due to small 

cell sizes.

Random error and suppression 

The DCRP data on deaths in state prisons and local jails are 

not subject to sampling error. However, mortality data from 

a complete or near-complete enumeration may be subject 

to random error. Following the methodology of Brillinger 

and NCHS, “the number of deaths that actually occurred 

may be considered as one of a large series of possible results 

that could have arisen under the same set of circumstances” 

(NCHS, 2007). The random variation can be large when the 

number of deaths is small, so caution is warranted when 

interpreting statistics based on small numbers of deaths. 

According to NCHS standards, mortality rates based on 

fewer than 100 deaths per year should be interpreted with 

caution. For more information on vital rates, see Brillinger, 

D.R. (1986). The natural variability of vital rates and 

associated statistics. Biometrics 42:693-734. See also National 

Vital Statistics Reports. Deaths: Final Data for 2007, Centers 

for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for 

Health Statistics. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/

data/nvsr/nvsr58/nvsr58_19.pdf.

Continuing to use the NCHS and Brillinger methods, 

BJS quantified random variation by assuming that the 

appropriate underlying probability distribution for the 

number of deaths is a Poisson distribution. This provides for 
Mortality in Local Jails and State Prisons, 2000-2011 - Statistical Tables | August 2013 32

a computationally simple, as well as reasonable, approach 

to estimating variances for mortality statistics when the 

probability of dying is low. BJS calculated variances based on 

the assumption of a Poisson process. From these variances, 

BJS calculated relative random error estimates, which are 

comparable to relative standard error in that the relative 

random error is the ratio of random error derived from the 

Poisson variance to the number of deaths. Following NCHS, 

when the relative random error exceeded 30 percent, BJS 

flagged estimated mortality rates due to the instability of 

the rate.

Survey performance issues

Survey administration and modifications to the survey form 

generated data from 2007 to 2009 that may not be wholly 

compatible with prior DCRP data. In 2012, BJS identified a 

previously undetected data error that mischaracterized over 

600 illness-related deaths as illness-related deaths missing 

detailed cause-of-death information, leading to an inflated 

frequency of prison deaths in reference year 2007 being 

characterized as all other illnesses while simultaneously 

depressing frequencies of known illnesses (e.g., heart 

disease, cancer, or liver disease). The error was identified 

and resolved, correcting the distributions. In 2008, local jail 

officials were unable to provide causes of death for 21.4% 

of jail inmate deaths. During 2009, BJS made modifications 

to the collection instruments to improve reporting and 

reduce burden.

 Item nonresponse in 2008 jail data and unknown cause of 

death: An abnormally large number of cases were missing 

a response for cause of death in the 2008 jail file (n=203; 

21.4% of all jail deaths in 2008). This coincided with 

the final year the U.S. Census Bureau acted as the data 

collection agent for the DCRP. In prior years of the DCRP 

jail data collection, an average of 6% of all causes of death 

were classified as other or unknown. For this report, 

BJS categorized all of these 203 jail deaths from 2008 as 

missing data about cause of death.

 2009 data collection: Prior to fielding the 2009 DCRP 

collection, BJS reviewed the data collection instrument 

and data submission procedures and assessed the 

communications with DCRP respondents with the goal 

of reducing the burden on respondents. The survey was 

modified to facilitate navigation and to encourage online 

response. The modifications led to delays in implementing 

data collection. As a result, death reports were not 

collected in the year the deaths occurred, but were 

instead collected retrospectively during 2010 for the first 

time. Data collection for subsequent years resumed on a 

normal schedule.
Mortality in Local Jails and State Prisons, 2000-2011 - Statistical Tables | August 2013 33

Appendix table 1

Illness mortality rate per 100,000 local jail inmates, by selected decedent characteristics, 2000–2011

Characteristic 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010

Total 79 75 75 72 73 75 71 67 62 63

Sex

Male 80 75 74 71 72 74 70 66 62 62

Female 76 74 80 77 80 79 77 73 68 67

Race/Hispanic origina

White 90 86 86 86 87 89 82 82 80 86

Black/African American 88 85 84 82 87 93 89 79 71 69

Hispanic/Latino 55 51 50 44 44 42 41 38 34 31

Otherb 17 ! 12 ! 15 ! 18 ! 20 ! 18 ! 19 18 ! 16 ! 12 !

Age

17 or younger 14 ! 9 ! 14 ! 5 ! 14 ! 9 ! 19 ! 14 ! 19 ! 15 !

18–24 8 8 9 9 9 9 8 7 8 9

25–34 30 29 29 25 24 24 24 22 20 22

35–44 95 91 89 79 80 80 75 66 57 55

45–54 270 249 235 219 212 205 191 176 165 160

55 or older 662 627 600 600 599 606 549 533 514 539

Legal status

Convictedc 59 57 56 54 50 50 46 47 47 48

Unconvictedd 92 87 86 83 87 89 85 78 71 72

Note: Detail may not sum to total due to missing data. Estimates are produced using 3-year moving averages centered on the middle year. For example, data for 2010 

includes 2009, 2010, and 2011. See Methodology for an explanation of moving averages and unreliable rates.

! Interpret with caution; too few cases to provide a reliable rate. 

aExcludes persons of Hispanic or Latino origin unless specified.

bIncludes American Indian or Alaska Natives, Asian or other Pacific Islanders, and persons identifying two or more races.

cIncludes inmates who returned on a probation or parole violation. Starting in 2009, forms were modified to identify inmates who were convicted or returned on a 

probation or parole violation. As with previous years, these cases are counted as convicted. See Methodology for more information on changes to the survey.

dIncludes inmates whose status was marked as other or was unspecified.

Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, Deaths in Custody Reporting Program, 2000–2011.
Mortality in Local Jails and State Prisons, 2000-2011 - Statistical Tables | August 2013 34

Appendix table 2

Heart disease mortality rate per 100,000 local jail inmates, by selected decedent characteristics, 2000–2011

Characteristic 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010

Total 33 34 33 31 30 30 28 27 28 30

Sex

Male 34 34 34 32 31 31 29 27 28 31

Female 27 30 27 24 23 22 24 24 27 28

Race/Hispanic origina

White 44 43 40 40 40 40 35 35 37 45

Black/African American 35 37 37 34 33 34 36 31 31 32

Hispanic/Latino 14 17 19 17 15 12 12 13 14 12

Otherb 9 6 5 ! 7 ! 9 ! 9 ! 9 ! 6 ! 5 ! 5 !

Age

17 or younger 10 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

18–24 3 2 2 ! 3 ! 3 ! 3 ! 2 ! 3 ! 3 ! 3 !

25–34 10 11 12 11 10 8 8 7 8 9

35–44 37 37 35 31 31 31 31 27 25 26

45–54 117 117 113 97 88 77 73 68 72 79

55 or older 337 339 308 298 280 281 256 244 253 279

Legal status

Convictedc 26 28 27 25 23 22 20 20 22 24

Unconvictedd 38 37 37 35 35 34 33 30 31 34

Note: Detail may not sum to total due to missing data. Estimates are produced using 3-year moving averages centered on the middle year. For example, data for 2010 

includes 2009, 2010, and 2011. See Methodology for an explanation of moving averages and unreliable rates.

! Interpret with caution; too few cases to provide a reliable rate. 

aExcludes persons of Hispanic or Latino origin unless specified.

bIncludes American Indian or Alaska Natives, Asian or other Pacific Islanders, and persons identifying two or more races.

cIncludes inmates who returned on a probation or parole violation. Starting in 2009, forms were modified to identify inmates who were convicted or returned on a 

probation or parole violation. As with previous years, these cases are counted as convicted. See Methodology for more information on changes to the survey.

dIncludes inmates whose status was marked as other or was unspecified.

Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, Deaths in Custody Reporting Program, 2000–2011.
Mortality in Local Jails and State Prisons, 2000-2011 - Statistical Tables | August 2013 35

Appendix table 3

All other illnesses mortality rate per 100,000 local jail inmates, by selected decedent characteristics, 2000–2011

Characteristic 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010

Total 46 41 42 41 43 45 43 40 35 33

Sex

Male 45 41 40 39 41 43 41 39 34 32

Female 48 45 52 53 56 57 54 48 39 39

Race/Hispanic origina

White 46 43 45 45 47 49 48 47 42 41

Black/African American 53 47 47 48 53 59 53 48 40 37

Hispanic/Latino 41 36 31 27 28 29 30 24 20 19

Otherb 6 ! 6 ! 8 ! 13 ! 11 ! 10 ! 8 ! 11 ! 10 ! 5 !

Age

17 or younger 0 0 14 ! 0 14 ! 0 14 ! 14 ! 15 ! 15 !

18–24 5 ! 5 ! 6 7 6 6 6 5 ! 4 ! 5 !

25–34 21 17 17 14 15 15 16 15 13 13

35–44 58 54 54 48 49 48 45 40 33 28

45–54 151 132 122 122 124 128 118 109 93 80

55 or older 320 284 294 300 316 326 293 292 259 264

Legal status

Convictedc 33 29 29 29 28 28 26 27 25 23

Unconvictedd 54 49 50 48 52 55 52 48 41 38

Note: Detail may not sum to total due to missing data. Includes other specified illnesses, such as cerebrovascular disease, influenza, cirrhosis, and other non-leading 

natural causes of death, as well as unspecified illnesses. See Methodology for details on illness classifications. Estimates are produced using 3-year moving averages 

centered on the middle year. For example, data for 2010 includes 2009, 2010, and 2011. See Methodology for an explanation of moving averages and unreliable rates. 

! Interpret with caution; too few cases to provide a reliable rate. 

aExcludes persons of Hispanic or Latino origin unless specified.

bIncludes American Indian or Alaska Natives, Asian or other Pacific Islanders, and persons identifying two or more races.

cIncludes inmates who returned on a probation or parole violation. Starting in 2009, forms were modified to identify inmates who were convicted or returned on a 

probation or parole violation. As with previous years, these cases are counted as convicted. See Methodology for more information on changes to the survey.

dIncludes inmates whose status was marked as other or was unspecified.

Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, Deaths in Custody Reporting Program, 2000–2011.
Mortality in Local Jails and State Prisons, 2000-2011 - Statistical Tables | August 2013 36

Appendix table 4

Suicide mortality rate per 100,000 local jail inmates, by selected decedent characteristics, 2000–2011

Characteristic 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010

Total 48 46 44 41 39 37 34 35 37 42

Sex

Male 50 48 45 43 41 39 36 37 38 43

Female 32 34 33 28 22 21 19 24 28 32

Race/Hispanic origina

White 97 94 86 78 71 71 66 71 76 86

Black/African American 16 14 15 16 17 16 15 14 13 14

Hispanic/Latino 30 28 30 30 28 23 20 18 19 22

Otherb 23 ! 23 ! 23 ! 22 ! 20 ! 18 ! 18 ! 20 20 19 !

Age

17 or younger 86 ! 74 ! 64 ! 56 ! 51 ! 43 ! 38 ! 29 ! 24 ! 20 !

18–24 36 35 33 30 27 25 23 24 23 25

25–34 45 44 42 41 37 34 29 30 35 41

35–44 57 54 54 47 48 47 44 46 46 51

45–54 58 55 51 45 43 45 44 47 50 57

55 or older 74 ! 66 ! 52 ! 61 ! 56 ! 55 53 54 58 58

Legal status

Convictedc 22 21 18 17 15 15 14 16 18 20

Unconvictedd 66 63 60 56 53 50 45 47 49 55

Note: Detail may not sum to total due to missing data. Estimates are produced using 3-year moving averages centered on the middle year. For example, data for 2010 

includes 2009, 2010, and 2011. See Methodology for an explanation of moving averages and unreliable rates.

! Interpret with caution; too few cases to provide a reliable rate. 

aExcludes persons of Hispanic or Latino origin unless specified.

bIncludes American Indian or Alaska Natives, Asian or other Pacific Islanders, and persons identifying two or more races.

cIncludes inmates who returned on a probation or parole violation. Starting in 2009, forms were modified to identify inmates who were convicted or returned on a 

probation or parole violation. As with previous years, these cases are counted as convicted. See Methodology for more information on changes to the survey.

dIncludes inmates whose status was marked as other or was unspecified.

Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, Deaths in Custody Reporting Program, 2000–2011.
Mortality in Local Jails and State Prisons, 2000-2011 - Statistical Tables | August 2013 37

Appendix table 5

Illness mortality rate per 100,000 state prison inmates, by selected decedent characteristics, 2001–2011

Characteristic 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010

Total 222 224 227 222 223 224 227 225 225

Sex

Male 228 231 233 229 230 231 234 231 232

Female 129 136 143 136 133 135 142 136 131

Race/Hispanic origina

White 291 297 305 302 306 312 320 319 334

Black/African American 206 209 212 207 206 202 203 199 200

Hispanic/Latino 166 161 150 157 161 174 170 166 135

Otherb 113 130 133 134 121 135 141 140 89

Age

17 or younger 12 ! 13 ! 13 ! 13 ! 13 ! 25 ! 13 ! 41 ! 42 !

18–24 13 12 13 13 11 13 15 16 15

25–34 39 38 38 35 32 29 26 26 25

35–44 156 151 143 128 115 104 97 91 89

45–54 535 518 518 519 513 474 435 387 364

55 or older 1,971 1,979 2,017 2,050 2,184 2,145 2,123 1,799 1,716

Note: Detail may not sum to total due to missing data. Estimates are produced using 3-year moving averages centered on the middle year. For example, data for 2010 

includes 2009, 2010, and 2011. See Methodology for an explanation of moving averages and unreliable rates.

! Interpret with caution; too few cases to provide a reliable rate. 

aExcludes persons of Hispanic or Latino origin unless specified.

bIncludes American Indian or Alaska Natives, Asian or other Pacific Islanders, and persons identifying two or more races.

Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, Deaths in Custody Reporting Program, 2001–2011.

Appendix table 6

Cancer mortality rate per 100,000 state prison inmates, by selected decedent characteristics, 2001–2011

Characteristic 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010

Total 60 61 63 62 62 62 66 70 74

Sex

Male 63 63 65 64 64 65 68 72 76

Female 26 33 33 34 31 31 33 38 47

Race/Hispanic origina

White 88 87 92 88 92 94 102 106 117

Black/African American 51 53 56 56 55 54 56 59 63

Hispanic/Latino 36 37 33 37 32 33 33 41 37

Otherb 32 ! 34 ! 37 ! 43 37 42 39 49 29

Age

17 or younger 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 14 !

18–24 2 ! 2 ! 2 ! 1 ! 1 ! 1 ! 2 ! 3 ! 4 !

25–34 5 5 6 5 5 4 4 4 5

35–44 29 29 29 26 22 20 18 20 20

45–54 142 133 136 137 140 128 124 117 118

55 or older 688 675 700 695 707 688 702 626 626

Note: Detail may not sum to total due to missing data. Estimates are produced using 3-year moving averages centered on the middle year. For example, data for 2010 

includes 2009, 2010, and 2011. See Methodology for an explanation of moving averages and unreliable rates.

! Interpret with caution; too few cases to provide a reliable rate. 

aExcludes persons of Hispanic or Latino origin unless specified.

bIncludes American Indian or Alaska Natives, Asian or other Pacific Islanders, and persons identifying two or more races.

Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, Deaths in Custody Reporting Program, 2001–2011.
Mortality in Local Jails and State Prisons, 2000-2011 - Statistical Tables | August 2013 38

Appendix table 7

Heart disease mortality rate per 100,000 state prison inmates, by selected decedent characteristics, 2001–2011

Characteristic 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010

Total 65 67 67 67 65 64 63 63 64

Sex

Male 67 69 69 69 68 66 65 66 67

Female 35 33 34 31 32 32 36 29 29

Race/Hispanic origina

White 92 95 94 97 92 91 90 90 96

Black/African American 59 61 62 61 62 58 58 58 61

Hispanic/Latino 36 36 33 35 38 43 42 40 31

Otherb 24 ! 32 ! 38 ! 32 ! 31 ! 34 ! 37 31 ! 18 !

Age

17 or younger 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 14 ! 14 !

18–24 3 ! 3 ! 4 ! 5 ! 4 ! 3 ! 4 ! 4 ! 4 !

25–34 11 12 12 12 10 8 8 8 8

35–44 41 41 41 37 33 29 28 29 31

45–54 139 137 134 135 132 120 107 94 90

55 or older 676 666 647 673 697 660 627 525 502

Note: Detail may not sum to total due to missing data. Estimates are produced using 3-year moving averages centered on the middle year. For example, data for 2010 

includes 2009, 2010, and 2011. See Methodology for an explanation of moving averages and unreliable rates.

! Interpret with caution; too few cases to provide a reliable rate. 

aExcludes persons of Hispanic or Latino origin unless specified.

bIncludes American Indian or Alaska Natives, Asian or other Pacific Islanders, and persons identifying two or more races.

Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, Deaths in Custody Reporting Program, 2001–2011.

Appendix table 8

Liver disease mortality rate per 100,000 state prison inmates, by selected decedent characteristics, 2001–2011

Characteristic 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010

Total 25 24 24 24 24 24 24 24 24

Sex

Male 26 25 25 25 25 25 25 25 25

Female 13 ! 13 ! 14 ! 13 ! 12 ! 10 ! 10 ! 10 ! 9 !

Race/Hispanic origina

White 35 34 35 35 35 35 36 37 39

Black/African American 14 15 14 14 14 13 14 13 14

Hispanic/Latino 39 34 32 31 35 35 34 30 24

Otherb 24 ! 27 ! 24 ! 26 ! 26 ! 22 ! 24 ! 18 ! 14 !

Age

17 or younger 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 14 ! 14 !

18–24 0 0 0 -- ! -- ! -- ! 1 ! 1 ! 1 !

25–34 2 ! 2 ! 1 ! 1 ! 1 ! 1 ! 1 ! 1 ! 1 !

35–44 20 17 14 12 11 10 10 8 9

45–54 94 86 90 91 89 79 73 63 58

55 or older 128 135 141 145 167 164 164 140 148

Note: Detail may not sum to total due to missing data. Estimates are produced using 3-year moving averages centered on the middle year. For example, data for 2010 

includes 2009, 2010, and 2011. See Methodology for an explanation of moving averages and unreliable rates.

! Interpret with caution; too few cases to provide a reliable rate. 

-- Less than 0.5.

aExcludes persons of Hispanic or Latino origin unless specified.

bIncludes American Indian or Alaska Natives, Asian or other Pacific Islanders, and persons identifying two or more races.

Sources: Bureau of Justice Statistics, Deaths in Custody Reporting Program, 2001–2011.
Mortality in Local Jails and State Prisons, 2000-2011 - Statistical Tables | August 2013 39

Appendix table 9

Respiratory disease mortality rate per 100,000 state prison inmates, by selected decedent characteristics, 2001–2011

Characteristic 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010

Total 14 15 16 16 16 17 17 17 16

Sex

Male 14 16 17 16 16 17 17 17 16

Female 9 ! 11 ! 14 ! 16 15 16 14 12 ! 10 !

Race/Hispanic origina

White 20 22 24 23 24 26 26 25 26

Black/African American 12 13 15 15 14 14 13 14 12

Hispanic/Latino 9 9 8 9 9 11 12 13 9

Otherb 12 ! 8 ! 6 ! 5 ! 3 ! 4 ! 3 ! 4 ! 3 !

Age

17 or younger 0 0 0 13 ! 13 ! 13 ! 0 0 0

18–24 2 ! 2 ! 2 ! 3 ! 2 ! 3 ! 2 ! 2 ! 1 !

25–34 3 4 4 3 3 3 3 3 2 !

35–44 8 8 9 9 8 7 7 7 6

45–54 26 27 27 27 26 26 24 21 20

55 or older 151 159 175 168 175 175 170 150 130

Note: Detail may not sum to total due to missing data. Estimates are produced using 3-year moving averages centered on the middle year. For example, data for 2010 

includes 2009, 2010, and 2011. See Methodology for an explanation of moving averages and unreliable rates.

! Interpret with caution; too few cases to provide a reliable rate. 

aExcludes persons of Hispanic or Latino origin unless specified.

bIncludes American Indian or Alaska Natives, Asian or other Pacific Islanders, and persons identifying two or more races.

Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, Deaths in Custody Reporting Program, 2001–2011.

Appendix table 10

All other illnesses mortality rate per 100,000 state prison inmates, by selected decedent characteristics, 2001–2011

Characteristic 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010

Total 57 58 56 54 56 58 57 51 47

Sex

Male 58 58 57 55 57 59 58 52 48

Female 45 45 47 42 43 46 49 47 35

Race/Hispanic origina

White 55 59 60 59 63 66 66 60 57

Black/African American 69 67 64 61 62 62 62 55 50

Hispanic/Latino 46 46 43 44 47 51 49 43 34

Otherb 21 ! 30 ! 26 ! 28 ! 24 ! 32 ! 37 37 26

Age

17 or younger 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

18–24 6 6 5 ! 4 ! 4 ! 5 ! 5 ! 6 ! 5 !

25–34 18 15 15 13 13 12 11 10 9

35–44 58 55 50 44 42 37 34 27 24

45–54 133 135 130 128 126 121 108 90 78

55 or older 327 346 354 368 435 457 460 358 310

Note: Detail may not sum to total due to missing data. Includes other specified illnesses, such as cerebrovascular disease, influenza, cirrhosis, and other nonleading 

natural causes of death, as well as unspecified illnesses. See Methodology for details on illness classifications. Estimates are produced using 3-year moving averages 

centered on the middle year. For example, data for 2010 includes 2009, 2010, and 2011. See Methodology for an explanation of moving averages and unreliable rates.

! Interpret with caution; too few cases to provide a reliable rate. 

aExcludes persons of Hispanic or Latino origin unless specified.

bIncludes American Indian or Alaska Natives, Asian or other Pacific Islanders, and persons identifying two or more races.

Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, Deaths in Custody Reporting Program, 2001–2011.
Mortality in Local Jails and State Prisons, 2000-2011 - Statistical Tables | August 2013 40

Appendix table 11

Suicide mortality rate per 100,000 state prison inmates, by selected decedent characteristics, 2001–2011

Characteristic 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010

Total 15 15 16 17 17 16 15 15 15

Sex

Male 15 16 17 17 17 16 16 16 15

Female 11 ! 13 ! 11 ! 12 ! 10 ! 11 ! 10 ! 12 ! 13 !

Race/Hispanic origina

White 23 25 26 27 27 25 25 25 25

Black/African American 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 7 7

Hispanic/Latino 16 16 19 21 21 19 17 18 15

Otherb 28 ! 28 ! 28 ! 21 ! 19 ! 21 ! 21 ! 27 ! 20 !

Age

17 or younger 48 ! 25 ! 27 ! 13 ! 25 ! 38 ! 40 ! 41 ! 28 !

18–24 13 13 15 15 14 12 13 13 12

25–34 16 17 16 15 16 16 16 15 15

35–44 14 15 16 18 17 15 14 14 16

45–54 14 16 17 19 21 21 18 17 17

55 or older 14 ! 16 ! 18 ! 20 ! 20 21 21 22 19

Note: Detail may not sum to total due to missing data. Estimates are produced using 3-year moving averages centered on the middle year. For example, data for 2010 

includes 2009, 2010, and 2011. See Methodology for an explanation of moving averages and unreliable rates.

! Interpret with caution; too few cases to provide a reliable rate. 

aExcludes persons of Hispanic or Latino origin unless specified.

bIncludes American Indian or Alaska Natives, Asian or other Pacific Islanders, and persons identifying two or more races.

Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, Deaths in Custody Reporting Program, 2001–2011.
Office of Justice Programs

Innovation • Partnerships • Safer Neighborhoods

www.ojp.usdoj.gov

The Bureau of Justice Statistics, located in the Office of Justice Programs, 

U.S. Department of Justice, collects, analyses, and disseminates statistical 

information on crime, criminal offenders, victims of crime, and the 

operation of justice systems at all levels of government. William J. Sabol is 

acting director. 

Margaret E. Noonan and RTI analyzed the data; the report was prepared by 

Margaret E. Noonan. E. Ann Carson verified the report.

Kim Aspinwall carried out data collection and processing with assistance 

from Sarah Love, under the supervision of Chris Ellis, RTI International. 

Scott Ginder provided statistical assistance, and Todd Heinrich provided 

technical assistance.

Vanessa Curto, Irene Cooperman from Lockheed Martin, and Jill Thomas 

edited the report, and Barbara Quinn and Tina Dorsey produced the report, 

under the supervision of Doris J. James.

August 2013, NCJ 242186