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Appendix Table 3. Jail population by conviction status by state, 1978-2019

Alaska, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Rhode Island, and Vermont have combined prison and jail systems and therefore do not report jail data to the Bureau of Justice Statistics. For detailed sourcing and methodology, see our April 2024 publication, New data and visualizations spotlight states' reliance on excessive jailing.
State Population 1978 1983 1988 1993 1999 2005 2013 2019
Alabama Percent unconvicted 28% 47% 57% 49% 64% 71% 67% 74%
Alabama Jail population (adjusted) 3,667 3,838 4,363 7,873 9,324 11,283 12,049 12,349
Alaska Percent unconvicted 49% 27% 44% 52% 64% 58% 83% 38%
Alaska Jail population (adjusted) 37 34 28 33 67 40 82 25
Arizona Percent unconvicted 46% 54% 55% 58% 64% 73% 82% 80%
Arizona Jail population (adjusted) 2,231 2,737 5,032 13,393 10,167 14,094 13,609 12,840
Arkansas Percent unconvicted 64% 59% 53% 64% 61% 66% 54% 67%
Arkansas Jail population (adjusted) 1,179 1,596 1,586 1,988 3,992 4,893 4,949 6,786
California Percent unconvicted 46% 47% 47% 53% 55% 69% 60% 59%
California Jail population (adjusted) 25,774 38,961 62,600 141,910 70,811 74,245 78,012 71,598
Colorado Percent unconvicted 71% 57% 53% 46% 54% 47% 55% 60%
Colorado Jail population (adjusted) 1,570 2,273 4,032 10,106 6,086 11,924 11,638 12,625
District of Columbia Percent unconvicted 72% 43% 56% 46% 54% 64% 48% 80%
District of Columbia Jail population (adjusted) 1,300 2,241 1,177 1,427 1,630 2,598 1,518 1,376
Florida Percent unconvicted 56% 64% 67% 65% 64% 68% 71% 58%
Florida Jail population (adjusted) 9,748 14,707 26,492 60,125 49,273 61,730 50,967 53,179
Georgia Percent unconvicted 35% 38% 50% 59% 66% 63% 55% 59%
Georgia Jail population (adjusted) 7,921 10,702 16,006 34,562 29,464 37,089 36,131 37,009
Idaho Percent unconvicted 54% 48% 39% 50% 46% 65% 59% 48%
Idaho Jail population (adjusted) 507 641 586 1,316 2,049 2,865 2,649 3,016
Illinois Percent unconvicted 73% 80% 78% 84% 90% 83% 70% 77%
Illinois Jail population (adjusted) 5,930 9,141 9,272 15,507 16,561 20,073 20,752 14,693
Indiana Percent unconvicted 74% 66% 63% 57% 63% 72% 71% 65%
Indiana Jail population (adjusted) 2,485 3,775 4,998 7,018 10,653 15,017 14,705 19,684
Iowa Percent unconvicted 49% 62% 67% 60% 80% 82% 81% 74%
Iowa Jail population (adjusted) 695 885 1,035 1,609 2,637 3,318 3,696 4,360
Kansas Percent unconvicted 59% 55% 49% 47% 69% 77% 62% 68%
Kansas Jail population (adjusted) 893 1,290 1,829 3,419 4,183 5,559 6,089 6,672
Kentucky Percent unconvicted 56% 41% 38% 48% 52% 53% 43% 44%
Kentucky Jail population (adjusted) 2,226 3,522 3,666 7,634 7,020 9,982 9,939 13,356
Louisiana Percent unconvicted 43% 48% 47% 53% 54% 51% 51% 49%
Louisiana Jail population (adjusted) 3,737 5,875 6,760 11,894 9,536 14,073 10,697 12,067
Maine Percent unconvicted 40% 42% 41% 43% 50% 65% 66% 63%
Maine Jail population (adjusted) 304 465 627 731 1,051 1,453 1,635 1,512
Maryland Percent unconvicted 51% 60% 58% 92% 69% 67% 69% 51%
Maryland Jail population (adjusted) 3,145 4,493 7,174 15,675 10,758 12,070 11,674 8,345
Massachusetts Percent unconvicted 26% 25% 30% 28% 32% 42% 53% 58%
Massachusetts Jail population (adjusted) 2,088 3,483 5,081 11,491 10,399 11,792 9,646 8,444
Michigan Percent unconvicted 43% 42% 44% 46% 57% 49% 56% 54%
Michigan Jail population (adjusted) 5,701 7,560 9,307 14,733 15,148 17,541 17,768 15,230
Minnesota Percent unconvicted 27% 32% 34% 36% 42% 58% 61% 67%
Minnesota Jail population (adjusted) 1,335 2,195 2,952 5,507 5,086 5,858 5,112 5,315
Mississippi Percent unconvicted 36% 43% 42% 50% 55% 55% 49% 48%
Mississippi Jail population (adjusted) 1,297 1,452 2,113 6,006 5,409 6,499 7,002 5,942
Missouri Percent unconvicted 61% 58% 66% 70% 79% 79% 82% 78%
Missouri Jail population (adjusted) 2,831 3,888 4,178 6,511 6,663 9,325 11,197 10,948
Montana Percent unconvicted 41% 67% 44% 48% 67% 58% 45% 57%
Montana Jail population (adjusted) 374 404 546 690 442 1,302 2,156 2,018
Nebraska Percent unconvicted 47% 42% 39% 44% 41% 61% 74% 74%
Nebraska Jail population (adjusted) 524 944 1,089 2,254 1,272 2,454 3,087 3,585
Nevada Percent unconvicted 57% 63% 57% 88% 79% 75% 75% 64%
Nevada Jail population (adjusted) 958 925 2,069 2,929 4,319 6,210 6,585 6,561
New Hampshire Percent unconvicted 36% 41% 56% 51% 58% 60% 64% 43%
New Hampshire Jail population (adjusted) 387 483 779 1,560 1,155 1,642 1,820 1,101
New Jersey Percent unconvicted 48% 44% 52% 52% 55% 71% 83% 57%
New Jersey Jail population (adjusted) 3,845 5,306 8,698 14,332 11,366 13,528 14,451 7,408
New Mexico Percent unconvicted 57% 52% 55% 35% 80% 74% 74% 75%
New Mexico Jail population (adjusted) 693 1,205 2,020 3,558 4,575 6,790 6,659 5,279
New York Percent unconvicted 56% 57% 56% 56% 53% 71% 72% 66%
New York Jail population (adjusted) 10,592 16,313 25,139 52,066 32,024 32,195 26,623 21,033
North Carolina Percent unconvicted 72% 72% 75% 78% 83% 86% 87% 82%
North Carolina Jail population (adjusted) 2,569 3,841 5,413 10,821 12,566 15,136 18,069 18,801
North Dakota Percent unconvicted 57% 37% 37% 47% 48% 47% 86% 74%
North Dakota Jail population (adjusted) 140 249 241 321 450 708 1,046 1,172
Ohio Percent unconvicted 46% 44% 44% 49% 56% 59% 58% 65%
Ohio Jail population (adjusted) 5,355 7,537 8,989 15,677 16,098 19,208 17,413 19,937
Oklahoma Percent unconvicted 63% 67% 71% 58% 74% 67% 66% 75%
Oklahoma Jail population (adjusted) 1,692 2,444 2,573 4,416 5,357 6,831 11,523 10,315
Oregon Percent unconvicted 48% 52% 49% 49% 57% 59% 58% 55%
Oregon Jail population (adjusted) 1,812 2,311 2,718 6,172 5,766 6,022 5,404 5,748
Pennsylvania Percent unconvicted 48% 50% 49% 40% 57% 56% 63% 66%
Pennsylvania Jail population (adjusted) 6,245 10,123 13,293 29,170 25,171 33,906 36,482 29,973
South Carolina Percent unconvicted 52% 47% 61% 89% 71% 73% 80% 73%
South Carolina Jail population (adjusted) 1,493 2,293 3,028 5,607 8,048 10,684 10,552 10,709
South Dakota Percent unconvicted 37% 38% 33% 31% 67% 53% 70% 73%
South Dakota Jail population (adjusted) 281 326 471 711 1,046 1,138 1,520 1,580
Tennessee Percent unconvicted 42% 44% 30% 33% 52% 48% 48% 53%
Tennessee Jail population (adjusted) 4,451 6,246 7,750 23,683 14,321 15,117 18,613 23,376
Texas Percent unconvicted 58% 63% 52% 38% 61% 67% 75% 76%
Texas Jail population (adjusted) 9,708 14,569 26,635 54,103 44,085 51,433 46,266 50,462
Utah Percent unconvicted 29% 50% 21% 33% 59% 48% 44% 43%
Utah Jail population (adjusted) 633 864 1,296 2,430 3,069 4,725 5,168 5,162
Virginia Percent unconvicted 45% 44% 40% 43% 49% 50% 44% 46%
Virginia Jail population (adjusted) 3,161 5,886 7,937 11,484 13,182 19,526 21,239 19,604
Washington Percent unconvicted 44% 39% 48% 53% 55% 59% 60% 73%
Washington Jail population (adjusted) 2,350 3,530 5,544 9,336 10,182 12,840 11,709 11,575
West Virginia Percent unconvicted 45% 39% 44% 43% 49% 47% 58% 56%
West Virginia Jail population (adjusted) 1,015 1,088 1,314 1,417 1,675 2,502 3,183 3,989
Wisconsin Percent unconvicted 29% 30% 34% 29% 33% 43% 55% 50%
Wisconsin Jail population (adjusted) 1,956 3,103 4,569 9,692 10,489 13,027 12,345 12,372
Wyoming Percent unconvicted 66% 48% 49% 45% 44% 65% 67% 74%
Wyoming Jail population (adjusted) 235 378 476 482 862 1,378 1,518 1,412


Sources and methodology

Percent unconvicted

The percent of people, in that state, physically held in local jails who are unconvicted or pretrial. This percentage includes individuals who are being held for federal and state authorities. For more information on why we were unable to adjust these state level percentage figures to remove people held for other authorities, see the methodology.

Jail population (adjusted)

The number of people in jail who are being held for local authorities. For the details on the portion of each state or federal population that we removed from the pretrial/unconvicted population, see the methodology for details on the adjustments made to state jail populations.



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