NCJ Number
136401
Journal
American Jails Volume: 6 Issue: 1 Dated: (March/April 1992) Pages: 24-26,28-30
Date Published
1992
Length
6 pages
Annotation
An exploratory study of jails in counties with a population of 50,000 or more was conducted to update information on the conditions and status of jails in the United States.
Abstract
The findings reported for 308 jails focus on the age of the jail facilities and major concerns expressed by jail administrators and include information on juvenile facilities and primary sources for funding renovation efforts. Of the 293 jails responding, 12 (4 percent) were over 100 years old, 63 (21.5 percent) were over 35 years old, 86 (29.3 percent) were between 25 and 100 years old, and the oldest jail was built in 1817. In the last 25 years, 152 (51 percent) of 298 jail facilities responding to the survey were renovated, and 85.5 percent of those 152 facilities had been renovated since 1980. Jail crowding exacerbates administrative concerns about insufficient space and inadequate security. Fifty percent of 222 respondents chose bonding as their major source of funding for expansion. Increasing the sales tax or other taxes was the second most frequently cited source of funding for renovation. 7 notes and 3 tables