NCJ Number
188109
Journal
Trends and Issues Update Volume: 4 Issue: 1 Dated: July 1999 Pages: 1-4
Date Published
July 1999
Length
4 pages
Annotation
This report provides information and data on Illinois' inmate population, length of stay, sentencing, and earned time program for 1997 and trends since 1990.
Abstract
There were 26,333 male inmates in State prisons in 1990; by 1997 that number increased 69 percent, to 38,358. The number of female inmates increased by more than 170 percent during these seven years, reaching a population in 1997 of 2,430. Female inmates accounted for nearly 6 percent of the total prison population in 1997. Slightly more than 60 percent of the inmates in Illinois prisons in 1997 were between the ages of 21 and 35. In 1997 the majority of inmates were African-American (26,384). The next largest group was white (9,837), followed by Hispanic (4,086), Asian (66), American Indian (50), and other (2). Violent offenders composed 27.6 percent of the 1997 admissions and 28.1 percent of the exits from prisons. The average sentence imposed on violent offenders in 1997 was 8.8 years. The average amount of time actually served was 3 years, and the average prison stay was 2.4 years. Drug offenders had an average sentence of 3.4 years in 1997 and an average prison stay of 1 year for 1997. Sentences for property offenses averaged about 4 years, and the actual length of stay averaged 1.4 years. Determinate sentencing contributed to the growth of the Illinois prison population by increasing the amount of time that violent and drug offenders are required to serve. Inmates may be granted meritorious good-time credit of 1 day for each day served. 6 figures and 5 references