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.
“But in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta’s villages, local law enforcement’s job can seem impossible. Due to a series of fiscal decisions at the state level, rural communities are making do with less money to pay for basic services, including policing. As a result, Alaska’s Village Police Officers are expected to arrest their own friends and family without adequate support and for very little pay.“
KYUK News
September 13, 2018
Read More“The report by the Legislature’s appointed watchdog for the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services said that while there’s been some improvement in programming for inmates and training of corrections employees, staffing problems have worsened at two key prisons, resulting in worn-out staff who are regularly required to work 12- to 16-hour shifts to fill vacant posts.“
Omaha World Herald
September 12, 2018
Read More“Five-year audit of rural campus along the Arkansas River shows mixed results, setting the stage for a major battle in the statehouse over future funding“
Colorado Sun
September 11, 2018
Read More"To try and address these issues of overcrowding, the Population Review Team meets once a week to review the county’s jail cases to find ways to reduce bail, alter criminal offenses and, in some cases, eliminate or reduce jail time completely."
The Crime Report
September 5, 2018
Read More"Each dot represents one of the 1,942,600 people in state prisons and jails in the U.S. The Smart Justice 50-State Blueprints show how each state can cut the number of people behind bars by half."
ACLU
September 5, 2018
Read More"With more than two million Americans behind prison and jail bars on any given day, many state leaders have been struggling with how to reduce that total while maintaining public safety. The Urban Institute released on Wednesday a new tool allowing users to project prison populations state-by-state by experimenting with different variables."
The Crime Report
September 5, 2018
Read More"I’m not sure what to make of the fact that Blackwell got more money than the families of Bauer and Hebert, one of whom was severely injured and one of whom is dead. But it’s just as telling that the police chief who tried to change the culture in Cincinnati got fired, while cops who seemingly kill and maim city residents without cause seem to get promoted."
Washington Post
August 28, 2018
Read More"Between 2000 and 2017, the Rhode Island General Assembly created more than 170 new crimes and enhanced penalties that expand the number of felonies. This represents a continuation of a retrograde “tough on crime” mentality. The fact is that while Rhode Island brags about leading the way to lowering the prison population, the state uses probation as a mechanism to surveil, stigmatize, and marginalize whole communities."
Providence Journal
August 24, 2018
Read More"In 2005, Tompkins began a program called the CHOICE program where officers were sent into schools to talk to kids about criminality, bullying, and making wise choices. The program was created in the hopes of interrupting the cycle of people going into the Department of Youth Services, then graduating to a high form of penal incarceration. He also helps rehabilitate a select group of inmates by offering them services to get an education/succeed in a vocational career."
Now This News
August 21, 2018
Read More"Against the high, mountainous landscapes of Colorado, communities both large and small are dealing with the burden of high and rising jail incarceration rates, and they are being presented with a choice: to build or not to build. In this context of worsening and crowded conditions, jail construction continues to move forward in Alamosa, and is being considered elsewhere. Yet the people of Pueblo have decided, twice now, that they do not want to invest their collective resources into more jail."
Vera Institute for Justice
July 31, 2018
Read More"In Iowa, the overall violent crime rate rose by 3 percent between 2006 and 2016, but shot up by 50 percent in communities with fewer than 10,000 residents. Violent crime rates have doubled in rural counties in West Virginia over the past couple of decades, while tripling in New Hampshire."
The Governing Institute
July 27, 2018
Read More"In 1993, about half the nation’s overall jail population consisted of pretrial detainees; today, they represent 66 percent of jail inmates. Pretrial detention is even more lopsided in Texas. According to the report, nearly 74 percent of jail inmates statewide haven’t been convicted of a crime."
Texas Observer
July 25, 2018
Read More"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
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