U.S. Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs Bureau of Justice Statistics November 2018, NCJ 252205 Bulletin Time Served in State Prison, 2016 Danielle Kaeble, BJS Statistician ost violent ofenders (57%) released from state prison in 2016 served less FIGURE 1 Median time served in state prison before initial than three years in prison before their release, by most serious ofense, 2016 Minitial release. About 1 in 25 violent ofenders (3.6%) served 20 years or more before their Most serious o˜ense initial release. Tese fndings are based on Murder prisoner records from the Bureau of Justice Violent o˜enses, Statistics’ National Corrections Reporting non-murder Program (NCRP), which collects records on Property o˜enses prison admissions and releases. Drug tra°cking Drug possession All statistics in this report are based on state prisoners’ frst release afer serving time for a Public order/other given ofense. Tey exclude persons who had All o˜enses been released afer serving time for an ofense, 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 returned to prison for violating community Number of years supervision, and then were released again. Note: Initial release does not refer to frst-time ofenders but to ofenders’ frst release from a given sentence (whether they are Te average time served by state prisoners frst-time ofenders or not), as opposed to a re-release after a subsequent parole violation. Statistics are based on 44 states, released in 2016, from their date of initial and data exclude state prisoners with sentences of one year admission to their date of initial release, or less; those with missing values for most serious ofense or calculated time served; those released by transfer, appeal, or was 2.6 years. Te median amount of time detainer; and those who escaped. Data include 2,755 deaths in served (the middle value in the range of time 2016. See table 1 for detail and description of ofenses. served, with 50% of ofenders serving more Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, National Corrections Reporting Program 2016. and 50% serving less) was 1.3 years (fgure 1). , HIGHLIGHTS The average time served by state prisoners Ninety-six percent of violent ofenders released in released in 2016, from initial admission to initial 2016, including 70% of those sentenced for murder release, was 2.6 years, and the median time served or non-negligent manslaughter, served less than was 1.3 years. 20 years before initial release from state prison. Persons released from state prison in 2016 served About three-quarters of violent ofenders released an average of 46% of their maximum sentence from state prison in 2016 served at least one year length before their initial release. before initial release. State prisoners initially released in 2016 served Roughly 1 in 5 state prisoners released in 2016 an average of 62% of their sentence if they were after being sentenced for rape or sexual assault serving time for rape or sexual assault, and 38% if served 10 or more years before initial release. serving time for drug possession. On average, state prisoners serving time for Persons serving less than one year in state prison property, drug, or public-order ofenses served represented 40% of frst releases in 2016. less than two years before initial release. Persons sentenced for murder or non-negligent Most ofenders (59%) released from state prison in manslaughter served an average of 15 years in 2016 after serving time for drug possession served state prison before their initial release. less than one year before their initial release. By ofense type, the median time served was 13.4 years Eight percent of initial releases from state prison in for murder, 2.2 years for violent crimes excluding 2016 were persons sentenced to more than one year for murder, 17 months for drug trafcking, and 10 months possession of drugs. On average, these ofenders spent for drug possession. 15 months in state prison, and their median time served was 10 months. Tis report is based on NCRP data from 44 states. In 2016, these states were responsible for 97% of all TABLE 1 persons released from state prisons nationwide (map 1). Time served in state prison before frst release, by most Annually administered by the Bureau of Justice Statistics, serious ofense, 2016 the NCRP obtains individual-level records from state Time served in prisona departments of corrections on prisoners entering and Percent of Most serious ofense total releases Medianb Mean leaving prison custody or community supervision. All ofenses 100% 1.3 yrs. 2.6 yrs. Violent 28.7% 2.4 yrs. 4.7 yrs. Violent ofenders served 4.7 years in state prison Murderc 1.9 13.4 15.0 on average, compared to less than 2 years for Negligent manslaughter 0.7 4.0 5.2 other ofenders Rape/sexual assault 5.0 4.2 6.2 Robbery 7.4 3.2 4.7 State prisoners released in 2016 afer serving time for a Assaultd 11.0 1.4 2.5 violent ofense spent an average of 4.7 years in prison Other violente 2.6 1.6 3.1 before their initial release. Violent ofenders made up Property 27.4% 13 mos. 21 mos. 29% of all initial releases that year (table 1). Among Burglary 11.4 17 26 non-violent ofenses, persons released from state Larceny-theft 7.2 11 17 Motor vehicle theft 1.3 12 17 prison in 2016 afer serving time for weapons ofenses f (24 months) served fve months longer on average Fraud 4.0 11 17 Other propertyg 3.5 12 19 than those released for other public-order ofenses Drug 24.4% 14 mos. 22 mos. (19 months). Persons sentenced for drug trafcking Possession 7.6 10 15 spent an average of 26 months in state prison before Trafcking 9.3 17 26 initial release, which was fve months longer than the Other drugh 7.4 14 23 average time served for property ofenses (21 months). Public order 18.7% 13 mos. 20 mos. Weapons 5.5 16 24 i MAP 1 Other public order 13.3 12 19 Other/unspecifed 0.8% 13 mos. 27 mos. States included in analysis of time served, 2016 Number of releases 377,839 ~ ~ WA Note: Details may not sum to totals due to rounding. First release does MT NH ME not refer to frst-time ofenders but to ofenders’ frst release from a given MN sentence (whether they are frst-time ofenders or not), as opposed to a SD WI MA NY re-release after a subsequent parole violation. Statistics are based on 44 WY MI RI states and data exclude state prisoners with sentences of one year or IA PA CT , NE OH NJ less; those with missing values for most serious ofense or calculated time NV UT IL IN CA CO WV DE served; those released by transfer, appeal, or detainer; and those who KS MO KY VA MD NC escaped. Data include 2,755 deaths in 2016. Excluding deaths, the average AZ OK TN time served for murder or non-negligent manslaughter would be 11.2 years. AR SC MS AL GA ~Not applicable. TX LA aExcludes time served in jail. b FL The statistical median represents the value at which 50% of the values are larger and 50% are smaller in a sequence of numbers. HI cIncludes non-negligent manslaughter. dIncludes 72.2% aggravated assault, 21.4% simple assault, and 6.4% assault on a public safety ofcer. eIncludes kidnapping, blackmail, extortion, hit and run with injury, and Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, National Corrections Reporting other unknown violent ofenses. Program 2016. , fIncludes forgery and embezzlement. gIncludes arson, receiving and trafcking of stolen property, destruction of property, trespassing, and other unknown property ofenses. hIncludes forging prescriptions, possession of drug paraphernalia, and other unspecifed ofenses. iIncludes DUIs/DWIs; court ofenses; commercialized vice, morals, and decency ofenses; liquor law violations; and other public-order ofenses. Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, National Corrections Reporting Program, 2016. TIME SERVED IN STATE PRISON, 2016 | NOVEMBER 2018 2 More than 7 in 10 violent ofenders released in 2016 Less than 7% of persons released in 2016 afer serving served less than fve years in state prison time for property, drug, or public-order ofenses served fve years or longer in state prison before their initial Persons serving less than one year in state prison release. Tree percent of those sentenced for drug represented 40% of frst releases in 2016 (table 2). possession served fve years or more. About four-ffhs Almost a ffh (18%) of persons served less than six (81%) of persons released in 2016 who served 10 years months. More than 7 in 10 of violent ofenders (72%) or longer before their initial release were in prison for a served less than fve years in state prison before their violent ofense (not shown in table). Ninety-nine percent initial release, and nearly 9 in 10 violent ofenders of ofenders served less than 20 years before initial (88%) served less than 10 years. About a quarter (24%) release, including 70% of those sentenced for murder or of ofenders released afer being sentenced for rape or non-negligent manslaughter. sexual assault served between 5 and 10 years before initial release; most (57%) served shorter terms than that. TABLE 2 Percent of prisoners who served a given length of time before frst release, by most serious ofense, 2016 20 years Most serious ofense <6 monthsa <1 yearb <2 years <3 years <5 years <10 years <20 years or longer All ofenses 18.1% 39.5% 64.5% 76.8% 87.4% 95.5% 98.8% 1.2% Violent 10.8% 24.3% 44.3% 56.7% 71.8% 87.7% 96.4% 3.6% Murderc 2.4 3.8 7.7 11.8 20.0 39.6 69.6 30.4 Negligent manslaughter 6.6 13.2 26.9 39.0 60.2 87.1 99.1 0.9 Rape/sexual assault 5.8 12.8 27.0 39.1 57.2 81.3 96.0 4.0 Robbery 6.9 15.7 33.7 48.0 68.0 89.4 98.2 1.8 Assault 16.0 37.1 63.4 75.8 88.0 96.5 99.4 0.6 Other violentd 16.9 34.9