Prison Population Predictions

A Pew report released last Wednesday predicts that inmate populations in the nation’s more than 1500 prisons will increase nearly 13% over the next five years, costing states some $27.5 billion in new operational & construction costs. (Article)

Analysts at Pew Charitable Trusts, a private philanthropic organization funding research into a variety of areas, attribute those predictions to things such as mandatory minimum sentences that have stretched terms for many, a decline in the number of inmates being granted paroles, and other policies many states have instituted in recent years in cracking down on crime.

According to their figures, Ohio had an estimated prison population of 47,519 at the close of 2006; that being projected to 57,223 -- a 20% increase -- by 2011.

“Ohio,” the report states, had been experiencing declining prison populations since 1999 as a result of a sentencing reform initiative. Now the state is experiencing increases because of higher-than-expected prison admissions, and based on these developments, Ohio estimates it will add over 17,000 inmates to its prison population over the next ten years.”

Kentucky had some 21,459 people in prison in 2006; that being expected to rise to 26,209 in five years, or 22%. Indiana, with 25,061 inmates currently, is foreseen as having that figure increase 15%, to 28,728 by the end of 2011.

(Report)