One of the most confounding recent trends in the criminal justice system is the disproportional increase in incarceration in rural areas. The main motivating factors of this trend have yet to be uncovered in their totality. This page seeks to explore the potential driving forces behind this pattern, along with highlighting the rural counties which are fighting this concerning, recent trend.
"All that is qualified by a few progressive mantras that undergird daily decisions at the Gadsden sheriff’s office: arrests don’t necessarily resolve crime, and when arrests must be made, that’s the exact moment where re-entry ought to begin."
The Marshall Project
July 23, 2018
Read More"My main takeaway from the conference is that everything within our system needs to be re-evaluated to reduce local jail populations and provide speedy and fair due process for Americans — our outdated laws, policing practices, bail assessments, pretrial services (or lack there of) and sentencing practices. If we want to stop building jails at a higher rate than schools, we’re going to have to change the way we look at the criminal justice system and the people in it."
Smoky Mountain News
July 18, 2018
Read More"According to Pew Research, violent crime in the United States has fallen sharply in the past 25 years. For the first time in a decade, violent crime in rural areas has surpassed the national average, as the website Governing reported."
Atlanta Black Star
July 16, 2018
Read More"The number of individuals in pretrial detention in rural or small counties with fewer than 250,000 inhabitants began surpassing urban detention rates in 2008—and continues to increase even as urban jail populations are falling."
The Crime Report
July 11, 2018
Read More"Why has this happened? An increase in rural crime, perhaps the most obvious possibility, does not seem to explain it. In one of the most significant public feats in our history, overall crime rates have trended down to their lowest levels in decades since the mid 1990s. And while the drop has been most dramatic in cities, it has occurred in rural areas as well."
National Review
July 3, 2018
Read More"While the nation's attention is focused on immigration detention centers along the U.S. border, more than 11 million people will spend time in local jails. They are caught in a complex and expensive system that treats poor people and minorities more severely. Most people in American jails have not been convicted of a crime. Many cannot afford even a few hundred dollars bail to get out awaiting trial. "
Poynter Institute
June 22, 2018
Read More"For too long, rural jails have been an overlooked part of American mass incarceration. Yet, rural jails have the nation’s highest pretrial incarceration rates—increasing by more than 400% from 1970 to 2013."
Pretrial Justice Institute
June 21, 2018
Read More"Last year, the Northeastern Pennsylvania Alliance analyzed the impact of closing any one of three prisons in that corner of the state. It found that if one were to close, not only would 400 or more prison employees be out of work, but more than 100 other jobs, like those at restaurants frequented by staff and visitors, would disappear, sapping tens of millions of dollars from the regional economy."
Philadelphia Inquirer
June 7, 2018
Read More"In fact, Lackawanna County has one of the highest jail incarceration rates in Pennsylvania, higher than any county in the state besides Philadelphia, and higher than any county in New York, New Jersey, or anywhere in New England."
Vera Institute for Justice
June 2018
Read More"According to the poll, even rural, mostly conservative voters aren’t thrilled by the current state of mass incarceration. Sixty-one percent of all rural residents believe that constructing more prisons doesn’t actually reduce crime, compared with just over two-thirds of the general population. And only 27 percent of people in rural areas believe crime in their immediate vicinity to be a major concern."
The Atlantic
April 20, 2018
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