Texas Increases Private Prison Population

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Mon, 06/23/2008 - 11:26am — Nicole

The Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) released its latest numbers in June regarding the national rate of incarceration and provided state level data as well. According to the BJS the total number of prisoners in custody during 2007 numbered 2.3 million.

As usual, Texas ranks high among the number of prisoners incarceated in state custody. Prisoners in Texas comprised nearly 173,000 of the total number of people in federal and state custody. Additionally, 18,720 of Texas prisoners were detained in private facilities (see chart below); a total 0f 10.8% of prisoners in the state. During 2006, Texas imprisoned about 18,220 prisoners in private facilities for percen-change of plus 2.74% in a single year.

Last year, lawmakers passed reforms meant to reduce the state's reliance on incarceration. Those policies have been lauded by the recent Pew Report and other states as a model. Time will tell if Texas is able to minimize it's overal prison population, and the number of people in private lockups as well.

Largest 20 State Private Prison Populations 2007

State	Number of Private Prisoners	% of all State Prisoners
New Mexico	2,835	43.4%
Montana	1,273	36.7%
Hawaii	2,044	33.8%
Wyoming	677	32%
Alaska	1,503	28.3%
Idaho	1,932	26.1%
Vermont	559	25.8%
Oklahoma	5,950	23.2%
Colorado	5,021	22.2%
Mississippi	4,779	22%
Tennessee	5,180	19.6%
Arizona	6,275	16.9%
Minnesota	1,144	11.6%
Kentucky	2,424	11.2%
Texas	18,720	10.8%
New Jersey	4,892	9.2%
Louisiana	3,114	8.4%
Florida	6,420	6.8%
Washington	1,036	5.9%
Indiana	1,142	4.3%