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U.S. correctional population at record high

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The adult U.S. correctional population reached a record high at the end of 2001, with 3.1 percent of the nation's adult population incarcerated or under community supervision, federal statistics show.

Almost 6.6 million men and women made up the correctional population at the end of 2001, an increase of 147,000 from the end of 2000, according to a report titled "Probation and Parole in the United States, 2001." The Justice Department's Bureau of Justice Statistics compiled the report.

One in every 32 adult residents were on probation or parole or were held in a prison or jail, the report said.

Someone on probation has been convicted of a crime but has not been incarcerated and can avoid jail or prison time so long as he or she does not violate conditions of probation. A parolee is someone who has been incarcerated but has been released and can stay free so long as he or she meets conditions of parole.

The adult probation population increased 2.8 percent during 2001, or by 106,542 probationers. The nation's parole population grew by 1 percent in 2001, increasing by 7,249 men and women.

Other results in the report included the following:

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Interactive: State-by-state correctional statistics

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About three in four probationers were under active supervision and were required to report regularly to a probation authority in person, by mail or by telephone.

An estimated 53 percent of all probationers had been convicted of a felony, 45 percent of a misdemeanor and 1 percent of other infractions. About 25 percent were on probation for a drug law violation and 18 percent for driving while intoxicated.

Of the almost 2 million adults discharged from probation in 2001, more than three out of five successfully met supervision conditions. About 13 percent were reincarcerated because of a violation of parole conditions or a new criminal offense.

Of the more than 464,500 parolees discharged from supervision last year, 46 percent had successfully met the conditions of their supervision, 40 percent were returned to incarceration because of a rule violation or a new offense and 9 percent had absconded. Two percent failed to meet their supervision requirements successfully but were discharged without additional incarceration.

Women were 22 percent (870,000) of the adults on probation during 2001 -- up from 18 percent in 1990. At the end of last year, 2,175,600 probationers were white, 1,228,700 were black, 469,800 were Hispanic and 58,600 were of other races or ethnic backgrounds.

Among parolees, about one in every eight (12 percent) during 2001 were women -- up from 8 percent in 1990.

• Prison population growth slows in 2000
August 12, 2001

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