Correctional Facility and Inmate Locations: Urban and Rural Status Patterns
Correctional Facility and Inmate Locations: Urban and Rural Status Patterns
Author Sonya R Porter
Author John L Voorheis
Author William Sabol
Abstract As the incarcerated population grew from the 1980s through the late 2000s, so too did the number of correctional facilities. An increasing number of these facilities have been constructed in rural areas. While research has shown there has been growth in prisons and prisoners in rural areas, there are no recent national-level statistics regarding the urban-rural status of correctional facilities and inmates, the urban-rural status of inmates prior to prison, or an accounting of how many inmates from urban or rural areas are incarcerated in urban and rural facilities. Using 2010 decennial census and Bureau of Justice Statistics’ 2004 Survey of Prison Inmates data we describe these patterns. We find that a disproportionate share of prisons and inmates are located in rural areas, while a disproportionate share of inmates are from urban areas. Our research could inform discussions about the potential consequences of Census Bureau residence criteria for inmates.
Reading Notes:
Objective: To understand the urban/rural distribution of correctional facilities and inmates prior to prison
Importance: This distribution matters for the implications of the Decennial inmate residence criteria and where people are counted
Background: Prior to 1980 the majority of prisons were in metro areas, but with the increase of prisoners from 330,000 to 1.4 million many prisons were built in rural communities
Data & Key Variables:
2004 Survey of Prison Inmates - zip code where inmates lived prior to incarceration and inmate of correctional facilities (prisons). Includes 14,500 state inmates and 3,700 federal inmates. 13,910 with non-missing zipcode
2010 Census - group quarters (all types of correctional facilities)
Methodology: Two different urban/rural assignments - official Census definition & refinement that differentiates small & larger urban clusters
Results: The urban/rural definition matters when measuring the distribution of prisons and inmates. Using official Census definitions the majority of prisons and inmates are in urban areas and most prisoners from urban areas are in urban prisons. But this isn't true using alternate definition of urban/rural
Key Table/Figure:
