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| Sponsor: | U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ)/Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) |
| Description: | The Annual Survey of Jails (ASJ) provides an annual source of data on local jails and jail inmates. Data on the size of the jail population and selected inmate characteristics are obtained every five to six years from the Census of Jails (also profiled in this catalog). In each of the years between the full censuses, a sample survey of jails, the ASJ, is conducted to estimate baseline characteristics of the nation’s jails and inmates housed in these jails. Data are supplied on inmate characteristics, admissions and releases, growth in the number of jail facilities, changes in their capacities and level of occupancy, growth in the population supervised in the community, changes in methods of community supervision, and crowding issues in local jails. |
| Relevant Policy Issues: | Rates of Involvement with Justice System. |
| Data Type(s): | Survey |
| Unit of Analysis: | Jails |
| Identification of AI/AN/NA: | On June 28, 2002, how many persons CONFINED in your jail facilities were:
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| AI/AN/NA Population in Data Set: | The nationally-representative sample included all public and private jails in selected jail jurisdictions and 50 regional jails. Each of these facilities reports on the number of AI/AN and NH/PI confined in their facility at midyear. |
| Geographic Scope: | The geographic scope of the data is national. All 50 states and the District of Columbia are included. Analysis may be possible by state, county, and city depending on sample size within each subgroup. |
| Date or Frequency: | The survey has been conducted annually since 1982, except every 5th year when the National Jail Census is conducted. |
| Data Collection Methodology: | Data are collected primarily by mail with a web-based reporting option and telephone follow-up for nonrespondents. |
| Participation: | Optional, without incentives |
| Response Rate: | After follow-up phone calls, 100 percent of the jails provided data on key variables such as number of confined persons, number of male and female inmates by adult and juvenile, number of inmates by race and Hispanic origin, average daily population (ADP), and total rated capacity of jails. Data were not imputed for any items. |
| Sampling Methodology: | Using information from the 1999 Census of Jails, a sample of jail jurisdictions was selected for the 2002 survey. The sample included all jail facilities (948) in 878 jurisdictions. Large jails and regional jails were in the sample with certainty. The remaining jurisdictions were stratified into two groups: jurisdictions with at least one juvenile inmate and jurisdictions holding adults only. Using stratified probability sampling, 474 jurisdictions were then selected from 10 strata based on the average daily population in the 1999 census. The sample selection was designed to precisely estimate the average daily population and one-day inmate population (i.e., highest population in the preceding month) for the entire nation. |
| Analysis: | Standard errors are included in the documentation for some estimates but not for AI/AN or NH/PI estimates. These are included in an “other” category. |
| Strengths: | Data are collected on a key policy issue, involvement with the justice system. There are multiple years of data available. The 2002 Annual Survey of Jails had a very high response rate (100 percent of jails provided data on critical items). The documentation is very detailed and readily accessible through the Internet. |
| Limitations: | This is a facility-level rather than an individual-level data set. Counts of AI/AN or NH/PI persons being confined are available for the facilities, by state, and nationally. This information cannot be associated with individual characteristics for additional analysis. |
| Other: | Researchers also may be interested in the Annual Survey of Jails in Indian Country (also described in this catalog). |
| Access Requirements and Use Restrictions: | Data set is available to the public at no cost. |
| Contact Information: | 2002 data and documentation can be downloaded at:
http://webapp.icpsr.umich.edu/cocoon/NACJD-STUDY/04428.xml.
Data archive information:
Questions for the Bureau of Justice Statistics should be addressed to: |
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