WASHINGTON -- State and federal authorities held 1,470,045 prisoners as of last Dec. 31, a 2.1 percent increase during the year, the Justice Department said Sunday.
The department's Bureau of Justice Statistics said the Federal Bureau of Prisons, the largest system, grew by more than 9,500 during 2003 (5.8 percent); state prisons grew by about 20,000 (1.6 percent).
Eleven states had increases of at least 5 percent in 2003, led by North Dakota (11.4 percent), Minnesota (10.3 percent) and Montana (8.9 percent). Several large states also had significant increases in prisoner counts, such as Texas (4,900), Florida (4,400) and California (3,100). Eleven states had a decline in population, led by Connecticut (down 4.2 percent) and New York (down 2.8 percent).
As of Dec. 31, state prisons were operating at capacity to as much as 16 percent above capacity, the department said. Federal prisons were operating at 39 percent above capacity.
At the same time, privately operated facilities housed 95,522 prisoners, or 5.7 percent of state prisoners and 12.6 percent of federal prisoners.
