The job of the correctional system is to carry out sentences of the courts. In the case of convicted criminals, the specific task is to deprive the individuals of their freedom.
Correctional systems exist at the county, state, and federal levels.
In general, county prisons house only offenders serving sentences of a year or less. State and federal systems receive prisoners with longer terms. Federal prisons house only persons convicted of violating federal laws. Most correctional institutions are set up to put inmates through an initial period of receiving and testing. During this time, usually several weeks, new convicts are given instructions about the rules of the system within which they are confined.