Facts About Florida’s Prisoners:

  • Many states (24) report decreases in their prison population. Florida’s prison population continues to rise despite a decline in crime rates.
  • Florida has one of the largest prison populations in the US with over 102,000 people in state prison. Thousands more are incarcerated in Florida jails.
  • Florida’s incarceration rate of 559 inmates per 100,000 residents is substantially higher than the national average of 502 inmates per 100,000 residents.
  • Florida’s prison population increased almost 15% from 2006 to 2010.
  • Inmates serve 5 years in state prison on average.
  • Racial and ethnic minorities are overrepresented in the prison population: African American males make up nearly half of the prison population.
  • The top offense for Florida prisoners in 2010 was the manufacture, sale or purchase of drugs.
  • The majority of inmates are under-educated: 75% of state prisoners test at or below GED (9th grade) level.
  • Inmates with mental health problems are a growing part of the state’s prison population with almost 18% receiving ongoing mental health care.
  • It costs $19,469 per year on average to house a Florida state prisoner.

National figures.

  • Over 2 million inmates are held in state or federal prison and local jails.
  • Over 7 million are under some form of correctional control (in prison or jail or on probation or parole). This equals 1 in every 32 US adult residents.
  • 93.2% of state and federal prisoners are male; 6.8% are female.
  • The incarceration rate for white males is 487 per 100,000 residents.
  • The incarceration rate for Hispanic males is 1,193 per 100,000 residents.
  • The incarceration rate for black males is 3,119 per 100,000 residents.
  • Black males ages 30 to 34 have the highest custody incarceration rate of any race, age, or gender group.

Links to other organizations:

National

State of Florida:

Programs make a difference.

  • Education programs decrease recidivism.
  • Substance abuse programs decrease recidivism.
  • Felony offenders who completed a substance abuse program were 56 percent less likely to be re-arrested (recidivate) than offenders who did not receive treatment.
  • Inmates who had a high school diploma or GED at release were 7.9 percent less likely to recidivate than inmates overall.
  • Inmates with a Vocational Certificate at release were 14 percent less likely to recidivate than inmates overall.

Sources

From the Florida Department of Corrections:

Agency Annual Report 2009-2010. Available online at: http://www.dc.state.fl.us/pub/annual/0910/stats/toc.html

From the US Bureau of Justice Statistics:

West, Heather C. Prison Inmates at Midyear 2009 - Statistical Tables. Available online at: http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/index.cfm?ty=pbdetail&iid=2200.

Hughes and Wilson. Reentry Trends in the United States. Available online at: http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/index.cfm?ty=pbdetail&iid=1138

Corrections Statistics. Available online at: http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/index.cfm?ty=tp&tid=1