DOI: 10.3886/icpsr20367.v1
title: Census of Jail Inmates: Individual-Level Data, 2005
title: Version 1

description: The Census of Jail Inmates is the eighth in a series of
 data collection efforts aimed at studying the nation's
 locally-administered jails. Beginning in 2005, the National Jail
 Census was broken out into two collections. The 2005 Census of Jail
 Inmates (CJI) collects data on the facilities' supervised populations,
 inmate counts and movements, and persons supervised in the community.
 The forthcoming 2006 Census of Jail Facilities collects information
 on staffing levels, programming, and facility policies. Previous
 censuses were conducted in 1970, 1972, 1978, 1983, 1988, 1993, and
 1999. The 2005 CJI enumerated 2,960 locally administered confinement
 facilities that held inmates beyond arraignment and were staffed by
 municipal or county employees. Among these were 42 privately-operated
 jails under contract to local governments and 65 regional jails that
 were operated for two or more jail authorities. In addition, the
 census identified 12 facilities maintained by the Federal Bureau of
 Prisons that functioned as jails. These 12 facilities, together with
 the 2,960 nonfederal facilities, brought the number of jails in
 operation on June 30, 2005, to a nationwide total of 2,972. The CJI
 supplies data on characteristics of jails such as admissions and
 releases, growth in the number of jail facilities, changes in their
 rated capacities and level of occupancy, crowding issues, growth in
 the population supervised in the community, and changes in methods of
 community supervision. The CJI also provides information on changes in
 the demographics of the jail population, supervision status of persons
 held, and a count of non-United States citizens in custody. The data
 are intended for a variety of users, including federal and state
 agencies, local officials in conjunction with jail administrators,
researchers, planners, and the public.
description: The 2005 Census of Jail Inmates enumerated 2,960
 locally-administered jails that held inmates beyond arraignment
 (usually 72 hours) and were staffed by municipal or county employees.
 Among these were 42 privately-operated jails under contract to local
 governments and 65 regional jails that were operated for two or more
 jail authorities. In addition, the census identified 12 facilities
 maintained by the Federal Bureau of Prisons that functioned as jails.
 These 12 facilities, together with the 2,960 nonfederal facilities,
 brought the number of jails in operation on June 30, 2005, to a
 nationwide total of 2,972. Excluded from the census were temporary
 holding facilities, such as drunk tanks and police lockups, that do
 not hold persons after they are formally charged in court (usually
 within 72 hours of arrest). Also excluded were state-operated
 facilities in Alaska, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Rhode Island, and
 Vermont, which have combined jail-prison systems. Fourteen
independently operated jails in Alaska were included.
description: Datasets: 
DS1: Census of Jail Inmates: Individual-Level Data, 2005
description: All locally-administered jails in the United States and
 facilities maintained by the Federal Bureau of Prisons that function
as jails.