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Indiana has an incarceration rate of 765 per 100,000 people (including prisons, jails, immigration detention, and juvenile justice facilities), meaning that it locks up a higher percentage of its people than any democracy on earth. Read on to learn more about who is incarcerated in Indiana and why.

49,000 people from Indiana are behind bars

Additionally, the number of people impacted by county and city jails in Indiana is much larger than the graph above would suggest, because people cycle through local jails relatively quickly. Each year, at least 122,000 different people are booked into local jails in Indiana.

Rates of imprisonment have grown dramatically in the last 40 years

Also see these Indiana graphs:

• total numbers rather than rates.
• Women’s prisons: Incarceration Rates | Total Population
• Men’s prisons: Incarceration Rates | Total Population

Today, Indiana’s incarceration rates stand out internationally

In the U.S., incarceration extends beyond prisons and local jails to include other systems of confinement. The U.S. and state incarceration rates in this graph include people held by these other parts of the justice system, so they may be slightly higher than the commonly reported incarceration rates that only include prisons and jails. Details on the data are available in States of Incarceration: The Global Context. We also have a version of this graph focusing on the incarceration of women.

People of color are overrepresented in prisons and jails

See also our detailed graphs about Whites and Blacks in Indiana prisons and jails.

Indiana's criminal justice system is more than just its prisons and jails

The high cost of being incarcerated in Indiana

Prisons and jails in Indiana are increasingly shifting the cost of incarceration to people behind bars and their families, hiding the true economic costs of mass incarceration:

• Jails in Indiana charge up to $3.15 for a 15-minute phone call, reaping profits for companies, while prisons charge $2.10 for a 15-minute call.
• Indiana suspended its $5 medical copays in prisons at the beginning of the pandemic for flu related medical visits — but should eliminate them completely.
• Indiana prisons charge families an 11% fee to transfer money to an incarcerated loved one.
• If a person in Indiana prisons has more than $15 in their commissary account they do not qualify for assistance to purchase essentials like hygiene items and postage for legal mail.
• People in Indiana prisons earn as little as 12¢ an hour for their work.
• The hidden costs in Indiana’s “no-cost” prison tablet contract
• Indiana charges up to 27¢ for an e-message to or from prison.

Our other articles about Indiana

• Indiana's choice to criminalize "failure to appear" may be hurting public safety
• The cost of incarcerating older people is incredibly high, and their risk of reincarceration is incredibly low, yet 12% of people in Indiana prisons are over the age of 55. Why is the state keeping so many older people locked up?
• Indiana makes it difficult or even risky for incarcerated journalists to tell their stories.
• Indiana prisons are replacing incarcerated people's personal mail with scans, stifling family contact
• Bail companies in Indiana have a track record of avoiding accountability, our report All Profit, No Risk and review of state-by-state evidence show
• Indiana prisons release about 10,988 people every year
• We graded the parole release systems of all 50 states - Indiana gets an F-
• Who's helping the 29,607 women released from Indiana correctional facilities each year?

Other resources

• Research on Indiana in our Research Library

Data on COVID-19 in Indiana jails and prisons

We gave Indiana a failing grade in September 2021 for its response to the coronavirus in prisons, noting that:

• Indiana is one of only 8 state prison systems that did not offer free phone calls at any point during the pandemic.
• Indiana is one of 13 states that did not implement any policies to accelerate releases, promote medical parole or compassionate release, prevent incarceration for technical violations of probation and parole, or hasten releases for people incarcerated on minor offenses.

For more detail, see our report States of Emergency. Or check out these other resources:

• How many COVID-19 cases in Indiana communities can be linked to outbreaks in correctional facilities? (data from our report Mass Incarceration, COVID-19, and Community Spread)