Table 1. Private prison populations Jurisdiction 2000 2019 % private 2019 % change 2000-2019 Alabama 0 122 0.4 * Alaska 1,383 221 4.9 -84% Private Prisons in Arizona 1,430 8,291 19.5 480% Arkansas 1,540 0 0 -100% California 4,547 1,134 0.9 -75% Colorado 2,099 3,858 19.5 84% the United States Connecticut 0 0 0 0 Delaware 0 0 0 0% Private prisons in the United States incarcerated District of Columbia 2,342 ~ ~ ~ 115,428 people in 2019, representing 8% of the Florida 3,912 11,915 12.4 205% total state and federal prison population. Since Georgia 3,746 7,883 14.4 110% 2000, the number of people housed in private Hawaii 1,187 1,248 23.6 5% prisons has increased 32% compared to an overall Idaho 1,162 1,048 11.1 -10% Illinois 0 513 1.3 * rise in the prison population of 3%. Indiana 991 4,093 15.1 313% However, the private prison population has declined Iowa 0 0 0 0% Kansas 0 0 0 0% 16% since reaching its peak in 2012 with 137,220 Kentucky 1,268 895 3.9 -29% people. Declines in private prisons’ use make these Louisiana 3,068 0 0 -100% latest overall population numbers the lowest since Maine 11 0 0 -100% 2006 when the population was 113,791. Maryland 127 29 0.2 -77% Massachusetts 0 0 0 0% States show significant variation in their use of Michigan 449 0 0 -100% private correctional facilities. Indeed, Montana held Minnesota 0 0 0 0% 47% of its prison population in private facilities, Mississippi 3,230 3,139 16.2 -3% while 20 states did not employ any for-profit Missouri 0 0 0 0% prisons. Data compiled by the Bureau of Justice Montana 986 2,222 47.0 125% Statistics (BJS) and interviews with corrections Nebraska 0 0 0 0% officials find that in 2019, 30 states and the federal Nevada 508 100 0.8 -80% government incarcerated people in private facilities New Hampshire 0 0 0 0% run by corporations including GEO Group, Core Civic New Jersey 2,498 2,297 12.3 -8% New Mexico 2,155 2,445 36.4 14% (formerly Corrections Corporation of America), New York 0 0 0 0% LaSalle Corrections, and Management and Training North Carolina 330 30 0.1 -91% Corporation. North Dakota 96 308 17.2 221% Ohio 1,918 6,766 13.4 253% Twenty states with private prison contracts Oklahoma 6,931 6,474 25.2 -7% incarcerate more than 500 people in for-profit Oregon 0 0 0 0% prisons. Texas, the first state to adopt private Pennsylvania 0 511 1.1 * prisons in 1985, incarcerated the largest number of Rhode Island 0 0 † 0 0% people under state jurisdiction, 12,516. South Carolina 0 84 0.5 * South Dakota 45 33 0.9 -27% Since 2000, the number of people in private prisons Tennessee 3,510 7,635 29.0 118% has increased 32%. In eight states the private Texas 13,985 12,516 7.9 -11% prison population has more than doubled during Utah 208 0 0 -100% this time period: Arizona (480%), Indiana (313%), Vermont 0 268 16.7 * Ohio (253%), North Dakota (221%), Florida (205%), Virginia 1,571 1,540 4.3 -2% Montana (125%), Tennessee (118%), and Georgia Washington 0 0 0 0% (110%). West Virginia 0 0 0 0% Wisconsin 4,337 0 0 0% Wyoming 275 401 16.2 46% Table 1: * Growth began at 0, ~ D.C. count incorporated in federal Federal 15,524 27,409 15.7 77% numbers, † Data from 2017; 2019 figure not available Total 87,369 115,428 8.1 33%
The Sentencing Project • 1705 DeSales Street NW, 8th Floor • Washington, D.C. 20036 • sentencingproject.org 1 Proportion of imprisoned population in private prisons, 2019
No private prisons
0.1 - 10%
10 - 20%
20 - 30%
>30%
Overall private prison population numbers, 2019
140,000
120,000
The private prison 100,000 population has declined 16% since it reached its peak 80,000 in 2012.
60,000
40,000
20,000
0 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2019
The Sentencing Project • 1705 DeSales Street NW, 8th Floor • Washington, D.C. 20036 • sentencingproject.org 2 The Federal Bureau of Prisons maintains the nation’s Political influences have been instrumental in highest number of people managed by private prison determining the growth of for-profit private prisons and contractors. Since 2000, its use increased 77%, and continue today. However, if overall prison populations the number of people in private federal custody — continue the current trend of modest declines, the which includes prisons, half-way houses and home privatization debate will likely intensify as opportunities confinement — totaled 27,409 in 2019. While a significant for the prison industry dry up and corrections companies historical increase, the population declined 33% since seek profit in other areas of criminal justice services its peak in 2013, likely reflecting the continuing decline and immigration detention. of the overall federal prison population. This number will continue to drop as a result of President Biden’s recent executive order to phase out federal contracts with private prison companies.
Among the immigrant detention population, 40,634 people – 81% of the detained population – were confined in privately run facilities in 2019. The privately detained immigrant population grew 739% from 2002 to 2019.1 Biden’s executive order does not limit private contracts with immigrant detention facilities.
Sources and Notes:
Prisoners Series (2000-2019), Bureau of Justice Statistics. Correspondence with Connecticut, Delaware, Massachusetts, North Dakota, Oregon and Wisconsin corrections officials. Overall private prison population total for 2019 differs from the Bureau of Justice Statistics report due to the inclusion of state data obtained by The Sentencing Project which had not been available to the Bureau. Average daily immigrant detention numbers obtained from Immigration and Custom Enforcement and Removal Operations division by Detention Watch Network and the Center for Constitutional Rights as part of a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit.
1 This number has declined as a result of COVID-19-related releases. The total population held in publicly and privately run facilities by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) dropped 61% from 37,688 in March 2020 to 14,715 in mid- January 2021. See U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. 2021. ‘ICE Guidance on COVID-19’; U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. 2020. ‘FY 2020 Detention Statistics.’
This fact sheet was created by Kevin Muhitch, Research Fellow, and Nazgol Ghandnoosh, Senior Research Analyst. Published March 2021.
The Sentencing Project works for a fair and effective U.S. justice 1705 DeSales Street NW, 8th Floor system by promoting reforms in sentencing policy, addressing Washington, D.C. 20036 unjust racial disparities and practices, and advocating for sentencingproject.org alternatives to incarceration.