As a result of truth-in-sentencing practices, the State prison population is expected to increase through the incarceration of more offenders for longer periods of time. One purpose of the VOI/TIS incentive grants is to enable States to manage prison capacity by providing funds to increase prison beds for violent offenders.
On average, between 1990 and 1997 the prison population grew by 7% annually. State prison inmates totaled 1,100,850 in 1997, up from 689,577 in 1990 (table 2). Most of the growth occurred among violent offenders who accounted for 50% of the total increase in State prison inmates. Drug offenders comprised about 19% of the growth and property offenders, 16%.
Table 2. Trends in State prison population and admissions, 1990-97
Yearend Number of Year population/a admissions/b
1990 689577 460739 1991 732914 466285 1992 780571 480676 1993 857675 475100 1994 936896 498919 1995 1001359 521970 1996 1048004 512618 1997 1100850 540748
Note: Includes only offenders with a sentence of more than 1 year. a/Sentenced prisoners under State jurisdiction. b/Excludes escapees, AWOLs returned and transfers to other jurisdictions.
-------------------------------------- State prison admission rates have dropped --------------------------------------
While the number of inmates held in State prisons increased 60% since 1990, the number admitted to prison increased about 17%. In 1997, 540,748 offenders were admitted to State prison, up from 460,739 in 1990. The number of admissions relative to the number of inmates in prison dropped from 73 per 100 State prisoners in 1990 to 52 per 100 in 1997.
During this period the source of admissions to prison also changed. New court commitments to State prison, or offenders admitted to prison under a new sentence, increased slightly between 1990 and 1997 (from 323,069 to 334,630), while parole violators represented an increased portion of prison admissions.
The most recent data on admissions by offense type (table 3) reveal that offenders incarcerated for violent offenses increased, up from 86,600 in 1990 to 96,300 in 1996. New court commitments for property and drug offenders decreased between 1990 and 1996.
[...]
----------------------------------------------------------------- The commitment rate for murder rose from 460 per 1,000 arrests in 1990 to 613 per 1,000 in 1996 -----------------------------------------------------------------
In contrast to the increase in the number of incarcerated violent offenders and the slight increase in admissions overall, arrests for the major violent crimes (except for aggravated assault) actually declined between 1990 and 1996. Arrests for murder dropped 19%; rape, 18%; other sexual assault, 13%; and robbery, 16%. There was also a sharp decline of burglary arrests (21%) (table 4).
Table 4. Adult arrests and new court commitments to State prison per 1,000 arrests, by offense, 1980, 1990, and 1996
Number of new court
commitments to
Number of adult arrests State prison/1,000 arrests
Most serious offense 1980 1990 1996 1980 1990 1996
Violent offenses
Murder 18200 19800 16100 621 460 613
Rape 26700 33300 27400 182 229 219
Other sexual assault 55600 90500 78600 61 112 177
Robbery 102200 127400 106700 245 233 277
Aggravated assault 236600 410800 445005 45 56 62
Property offenses
Burglary 282800 290000 229700 107 160 165
Larceny/theft 745300 1088700 983900 14 24 27
Motor vehicle theft 75600 119800 102600 40 72 72
Fraud 358800 382100 565400 19 24 24
Drug offenses 471200 1008300 1294700 19 103 77
Weapons offenses 141200 181000 163400 11 34 55
Note: Arrest data were obtained from the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting Program. Data on new court commitments by offense were estimated and include offenders with a sentence of more than 1 year. (See Methodology for details.)
At the same time, the commitment rate, or the number of new court commitments to State prison relative to the number of arrests, increased for most violent offenses between 1990 and 1996. The number of admissions to State prison for murder per 1,000 arrests rose from 460 in 1990 to 613 in 1996, almost reaching the high of 621 admissions per 1,000 arrests in 1980.
The likelihood of going to prison upon arrest for drug offenses substantially increased between 1980 and 1990 as the commitment rate soared from 19 per 1,000 arrests to 103 per 1,000. The rate dropped to 77 commitments per 1,000 arrests in 1996. For property offenders, the commitment rate also increased between 1980 and 1990 and remained relatively constant between 1990 and 1996.