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US Bureau of Justice Statistics
Added August, 2003
Criminal Sentencing Statistics
Summary findings
- In 2000, State and Federal courts convicted a combined total of nearly 984,000 adults of felonies -- State courts convicted an estimated 924,700 adults and Federal courts convicted 59,123 adults (accounting for 6% of the national total.)
- In 2000, 68% of all felons convicted in State courts were sentenced to a period of confinement - 40% to State prisons and 28% to local jails. Jail sentences are for short-term confinement (usually for a year or less) in a county or city facility, while prison sentences are for long-term confinement (usually for over a year) in a State facility.
- State courts sentenced 32% of convicted felons to straight probation with no jail or prison time to serve.
- Felons sentenced to a State prison in 2000 had an average sentence of 4 1/2 years but were likely to serve 55% of that sentence - or just 2 1/2 years - before release, assuming that 2000 release policies continue in effect.
- The average sentence to local jail was just over 6 months. The average probation sentence was about 3 years.
- Besides being sentenced to incarceration or probation, 39% or more of convicted felons also were ordered to pay a fine, pay victim restitution, receive treatment, perform community service, or comply with some other additional penalty. A fine was imposed on at least 25% of convicted felons.
| Average maximum sentence length (in months) for felons sentenced to: |
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|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Incarceration | ||||
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| Most serious conviction offense |
Total | Prison | Jail | Probation |
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| All offenses | 36 mo | 55 mo | 6 mo | 38 mo |
| Violent offenses | 66 mo | 91 mo | 7 mo | 44 mo |
| Property offenses | 27 mo | 42 mo | 6 mo | 38 mo |
| Drug offenses | 30 mo | 47 mo | 6 mo | 36 mo |
| Weapons offenses | 25 mo | 38 mo | 7 mo | 36 mo |
| Other offenses | 22 mo | 38 mo | 6 mo | 40 mo |
| Note: Means exclude sentences to death or to life in prison. Sentence length data were available for 852,616 incarceration and probation sentences. | ||||
This document is not necessarily endorsed by the Almanac of Policy Issues. It is being preserved in the Policy Archive for historic reasons.