U.S. Dept of Justice, Suicide in Local Jails and State and Federal Prisons, 2000-2019

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U.S. Department of Justice
Office of Justice Programs
Bureau of Justice Statistics

October 2021, NCJ 300731

E. Ann Carson, Ph.D., BJS Statistician

he total number of suicides in state,
federal, and local correctional facilities
increased from 499 in 2001 to 695 in 2019
(fgure 1, table 1). From 2001 to 2019, suicides
accounted for 5% to 8% of all deaths among state
and federal prisoners and 24% to 35% of deaths
among local jail inmates. Most jail inmates and
state and federal prisoners who died by suicide
were males, were non-Hispanic whites, and died
by means of sufocation, including hanging and
self-strangulation. More than half of all suicides
in local jails occurred within the frst 30 days of
incarceration, while the overwhelming majority
of suicides in state and federal prisons took place
afer the prisoners had served more than a year
of their sentence.
In 2019, a total of 355 local jail inmates died by
suicide. Almost 13% of jails operating above
their rated or design capacity had one or more
suicides, compared to approximately 9% of jails
operating at or below capacity. Deaths by suicide

FIGURE 1
Number of suicides in local jails and state and
federal prisons, 2000–2019
Number of suicides
400

Local jails

300
200

State and federal prisons*

100
0

2000

2005

2010

2015

2019

Note: Jail counts exclude and prison counts include deaths in
the combined jail and prison systems in Alaska, Connecticut,
Delaware, Hawaii, Rhode Island, and Vermont. See table 1
for counts.
*Includes deaths in publicly and privately operated state
facilities. Includes deaths in Federal Bureau of Prisons facilities
and excludes deaths in privately operated federal facilities. See
Methodology.
Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, Federal Law Enforcement
Agency Deaths in Custody Reporting Program, 2015–2019;
Mortality in Correctional Institutions, 2000–2019; and National
Prisoner Statistics program, 2001–2019.

Highlights
From 2001 to 2019, the number of suicides
increased 85% in state prisons, 61% in federal
prisons, and 13% in local jails.
During 2010-19, suffocation, including hanging
and self-strangulation, accounted for nearly 90%
of suicide deaths in local jails.
During 2015-19, about 12% of deaths by suicide
in local jails occurred within the first 24 hours
of incarceration, a decrease from almost 22%
during 2000-04.
The average suicide rate for white inmates in local
jails was 93 per 100,000 during the 5-year period
of 2015-19, which is 5 times the rate for black
inmates (18 per 100,000) and more than 3 times
the rate for Hispanic inmates (26 per 100,000).

Almost 60% of state prisoners who died by
suicide during 2001-19 were white.
During 2001-19, state prisoners who had been
sentenced for a violent offense accounted for
almost 72% of suicides in state prisons.
During 2015-19, about 75% of suicides in state
prisons and 64% of suicides in federal prisons
occurred after the first year of imprisonment.
Persons serving time in federal prison for
weapons offenses and sex offenses each
accounted for about 20% of suicides in federal
facilities during 2015-19.
In 2019, suicides occurred in 217 state and
federal prisons, 19% of all prison facilities.

Bureau of Justice Statistics · Statistical Tables

Suicide in Local Jails and State and Federal
Prisons, 2000–2019 – Statistical Tables

in 2019 were concentrated in the largest jails. More
than half of local jails housing 1,000 or more inmates
on June 30, 2019 reported at least one inmate suicide.
In 2019, 340 state and federal prisoners died by
suicide. Similar to local jails, suicides were more likely
to occur in large state and federal prison facilities.
About 45% of state and federal prisons that held 2,500
or more prisoners at midyear 2019 reported one or
more suicides.
Tis report fulflls a House Appropriations Committee
request to publish data in 2021 on suicides in jails
and prisons. Tese statistical tables present data from
the Mortality in Correctional Institutions collection,
through which the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS)
obtained data on deaths in jails from 2000 to 2019 and
deaths in state prisons from 2001 to 2019. Data on
deaths in federal prisons were obtained from aggregate
counts reported to BJS’s National Prisoner Statistics
program from 2001 to 2014, and from individuallevel death data collected through the Federal Law
Enforcement Agency Deaths in Custody Reporting
Program from 2015 to 2019.
Deaths are aggregated into 5-year periods in this
report so stable suicide rates can be calculated from
the suicide counts. Te tables describe geographic,
demographic, and criminal justice characteristics of jail
inmate and prisoner suicides, as well as circumstances
surrounding the deaths. Suicides that occurred in 2019
are linked to data from BJS’s 2019 Census of Local Jails
and 2019 Census of State and Federal Correctional
Facilities to describe characteristics of facilities that
had a suicide.
Suicides in local jails

Local jails had 355 deaths by suicide in 2019, an
increase from 289 in 2000.

During the 20-year period of 2000-19, California
had a total of 615 suicides in local jails, Texas had
448, Florida had 333, and Pennsylvania had 325
(table 2).

Te suicide rate among local jail inmates in 2019 (49
per 100,000) was similar to the rate in 2000 (48 per
100,000) (fgure 2).

Te suicide rate in local jails peaked in 2015 at
52 per 100,000 inmates.

During 2000-19, local jails in the South had 2,608
suicides, compared to 1,494 for jails in the West,
1,350 for jails in the Midwest, and 765 for those in
the Northeast (table 3).

Demographic characteristics of local jail inmates
who died by suicide

During 2000-19, 90% of local jails inmates who died
by suicide were male (table 4).

Te number of deaths by suicide among female
local jail inmates increased from 124 to 204 deaths
between the periods of 2000-04 and 2015-19, rising
almost 65%.

Seventy-four percent of local jail inmates who died
by suicide during 2015-19 were white, while almost
12% were Hispanic and 11% were black.

During 2000-19, American Indians and Alaska
Natives accounted for 2% (120 deaths) and Asians,
Native Hawaiians, and Other Pacifc Islanders
accounted for about 1% (74) of suicides in local jails.

Sixty percent of inmates who died by suicide in local
jails during 2000-19 were ages 25 to 44.
FIGURE 2
Rate of suicides per 100,000 inmates in local jails
and 100,000 prisoners in state and federal prisons,
2000–2019
Rate of suicides per 100,000 inmates/prisoners
60
Local jailsa

50
40

State prisonsb

30
20
10
0

Federal prisonsc
2000

2005

2010

2015

2019

Note: Jail rates exclude and state prison rates include deaths in the
combined jail and prison systems in Alaska, Connecticut, Delaware,
Hawaii, Rhode Island, and Vermont. Data may have been revised from
previously published statistics. See Methodology. See table 1 for rates.
aBased on the annual number of suicides and the average daily
population (ADP) in local jails. In 2000, the ADP was estimated by taking
the average of January 1 and December 31 inmate population counts.
bBased on the annual number of suicides and the December 31 custody
population in state prisons. Includes deaths and populations in publicly
and privately operated state facilities.
cBased on the annual number of suicides and the December 31 custody
population in federal prisons. Includes deaths and populations in
Federal Bureau of Prisons facilities and excludes deaths and populations
in privately operated federal facilities. See Methodology.
Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, Federal Law Enforcement Agency
Deaths in Custody Reporting Program, 2015–2019; Mortality in
Correctional Institutions, 2000–2019; and National Prisoner Statistics
program, 2001–2019.

Suicide in Local Jails and State and Federal Prisons, 2000–2019 – Statistical Tables | October 2021

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Among jail inmates who died by suicide, the
percentage who were age 55 or older increased from
3% during 2000-04 to 9% during 2015-19.

FIGURE 3
Percent of suicides in local jails, by time served
between admission and death, 2000–04 and 2015–19

Te average suicide rate during 2000-19 for white
inmates was 86 per 100,000, more than 5 times the
rate for black inmates (16 per 100,000) and almost
3.5 times the rate for Hispanic inmates (25 per
100,000) (table 5).

Percent of suicides
35

Te average suicide rate for local jail inmates
age 24 or younger was highest during 2000-04
(36 per 100,000) and lowest during 2015-19
(20 per 100,000).

At 78 deaths per 100,000, local jail inmates age 55 or
older had the highest average suicide rate among all
age groups during 2000-19.
Criminal justice characteristics of local jail
inmates who died by suicide

Unconvicted inmates accounted for almost 77%
of those who died by suicide in local jails during
2000-19 (table 6).

Inmates held for a violent ofense accounted for
the largest portion of suicides in local jails during
the 20-year period and in each of its intervening
5-year periods.

During 2015-19, about 18% of suicides in
local jails were of persons held for assault, and
almost 10% were of those held for murder or
nonnegligent manslaughter.

■ 2000–04
2015–19

25
20
15
10
5
0

Less than 1 day
2–7 8–30 31–60 61–120 121–180 More
1 day
days days days days days
than
6 mos.
Time served in jail on current admission

Jail inmates who had spent more than 6 months in
custody made up 10% of suicides in 2015-19.

Suicides in local jails were less common between
6 a.m. and 12 p.m. than at other times of day
(table 7).

During 2010-19, almost 73% of jail suicides
occurred in the person’s cell and 8% occurred in jail
segregation units.

Local jail inmates held for property or public order
ofenses during 2000-19 each accounted for about
19% of suicides, while those in jail for drug ofenses
accounted for 10%.

During 2010-19, almost 14% of inmates who died
by suicide had at least one overnight stay in a mental
health services unit since entering jail.

During 2010-19, about 92% of jail suicides were
of persons held for local law enforcement agencies
or courts, 6% for state or federal prisons or other
authorities, 2% for the U.S. Marshals Service, and 1%
for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Characteristics of jail facilities with suicides
in 2019

Circumstances of suicide deaths in local jails

Twelve percent of jail facilities operated by a
private company reported at least one suicide
in 2019, compared to 11% for regional jails, 9%
for jails operated by counties, and almost 7% for
city-operated jails.

Two-thirds (66%) of local jail suicides during
2015-19 occurred within the frst 30 days of
incarceration, and 44% occurred within the frst
week (fgure 3).

Te percentage of jail suicides that occurred in the
frst 24 hours decreased between the periods of
2000-04 (22%) and 2015-19 (12%).

In 2019, a total of 282 local jail facilities,
representing 278 jail jurisdictions, reported at least
one suicide (tables 8 and 9).

Among jail facilities that reported work or prerelease
as one of their jail functions in 2019, 91% did not
have a death by suicide during that year.

Suicide in Local Jails and State and Federal Prisons, 2000–2019 – Statistical Tables | October 2021

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Te median rated capacity of jails that had two or
more suicides in 2019 was 1,296 beds, compared to a
median capacity of 305 beds in jails with one suicide
and 110 beds in jails with no suicides.

Demographic characteristics of state prisoners
who died by suicide

Almost 13% of jails operating above 100% capacity
at midyear 2019 had a suicide during the calendar
year, compared to about 8% of jails operating at
100% capacity or less.

During 2015-19, 57% of persons in state prison who
committed suicide were white, almost 24% were
black, and almost 15% were Hispanic.

More than half of all jail jurisdictions with an
average daily population (ADP) of 1,000 or more
inmates in 2019 had at least one suicide that year,
and more than 35% of these jurisdictions reported
two or more suicides.

Eleven percent of jail jurisdictions that held 50% or
more of their inmates for felonies in 2019 had a
death by suicide that year.

In jail jurisdictions reporting multiple deaths by
suicide in 2019, the ratio of inmates to correctional
staf was 4.6, compared to 4.4 for jurisdictions with
one suicide and 3.8 for jurisdictions with no suicides.

Almost 95% of all persons in state prison who died
by suicide during 2001-19 were male (table 12).

State prisoners who were Asian, Native Hawaiian,
and Other Pacifc Islander and those who were
American Indian and Alaska Native each accounted
for less than 2% of suicides during 2015-19.

Among state prisoners who died of suicide, the
portion who were age 24 or younger decreased from
almost 17% during the 4-year period of 2001-04 to
10% during the 5-year period of 2015-19.

In state prisons, the suicide rate increased 49%
between the 4-year period of 2001-04 and 5-year
period of 2015-19 (table 13).

Suicides in state prisons

Asian state prisoners had average suicide rates
during 2015-19 that were double those of black or
Hispanic state prisoners.

From 2001 to 2019, the number of suicides in state
prisons increased 85% from 168 to 311, while total
deaths from all causes in these facilities grew more
than 34% (table 1).

With the exception of state prisoners age 24 or
younger (15 per 100,000), the average suicide rates
among all age groups during 2001-19 were between
17 and 19 per 100,000.

Te number of prisoner suicides in states in the
South nearly doubled between 2010-14 (343) and
2015-19 (631) (table 10).

Criminal justice characteristics of state prisoners
who died by suicide

Te number of prisoners who died by suicide
between 2010-14 and 2015-19 tripled in three
states (Arkansas, Georgia, and West Virginia) and
more than doubled in fve states (Alabama, Florida,
Mississippi, North Carolina, and Tennessee).

Te average annual suicide rate grew from 15 per
100,000 state prisoners to 21 per 100,000 between
the 4-year period of 2001-04 and the 5 year period of
2015-2019 (table 11).

Over the 19 years of data collection on deaths in
state prisons, the Northeast (22 per 100,000) had the
highest average annual suicide rate, compared to the
West (21 per 100,000), Midwest (16 per 100,000),
and South (15 per 100,000).

Tirty percent of suicides during 2001-19 were of
prisoners serving time for murder or nonnegligent
manslaughter (table 14).

Prisoners serving sentences for a drug ofense
accounted for 8% of suicides during the 4-year
period of 2001-04 and 4% during the 5-year period
of 2015-19.

Almost 70% of suicides in state prisons were of
prisoners who served more than 1 year under state
correctional authority.

Persons who served more than 10 years in state
prison accounted for 13% of suicides in these
facilities during 2001-04 and almost 25% during
2015-19 (fgure 4).

Suicide in Local Jails and State and Federal Prisons, 2000–2019 – Statistical Tables | October 2021

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Circumstances of suicide deaths in state prisons

As in local jails, the majority of suicides in state
prisons during 2010-19 were by sufocation,
including hanging and self-strangulation (table 15).

During 2015-19, almost 76% of suicides of persons
in state prison took place in the person’s cell or
room, 11% in a segregation unit, and 4% in a special
medical or mental health services unit.

About 15% of persons in state prison who died by
suicide during 2010-19 had spent at least one night
in a mental health facility afer admission to prison,
while 51% had not, with this characteristic unknown
for 32%.
Suicides in federal prisons

Suicides in federal prisons increased 61%, from 18 in
2001 to 29 in 2019.

FIGURE 4
Percent of suicides in state and federal prisons, by time
served between admission and death, 2001–04 and
2015–19
Percent of suicides
35
a
■ State, 2001–04a
30
■ State, 2015–19 b
25
Federal, 2015–19
20
15
10
5
0 1 week 1.1 weeks– 1.1–6 6.1 months– 1.1–5 5.1–10 10.1 years
or less 1 month months 1 year
years years or more
Time served in prison on current sentence

During 2015-19, males accounted for 98% of
suicides among persons in federal prison, and whites
accounted for 59% (table 16).

Note: Details may not sum to totals due to rounding and missing data.
Data may have been revised from previously published statistics.
See Methodology. See tables 14 and 18 for percentages.
aIncludes deaths in publicly and privately operated state facilities and in
the combined jail and prison systems in Alaska, Connecticut, Delaware,
Hawaii, Rhode Island, and Vermont.
bIncludes deaths in Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) facilities
and excludes deaths in privately operated federal facilities. As of
December 30, 2001, sentenced felons from the District of Columbia
were the responsibility of the BOP. See Methodology.
Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, Federal Law Enforcement Agency
Deaths in Custody Reporting Program, 2015–2019; and Mortality in
Correctional Institutions, 2001–2019.

During 2015-19, white prisoners were 8.5 times as
likely as Hispanic prisoners and 5 times as likely as
black prisoners to die by suicide in federal prisons
on average.

In 2019, about 19% of state, 17% of federal, and 12%
of privately operated prison facilities under contract
to both state and federal authorities experienced one
or more suicides.

From 2015-19, 13% of federal prisoners who died
by suicide had been sentenced for drug ofenses
(table 18).

Almost 13% of the 979 prison facilities whose main
function was general housing of adult prisoners
reported a single suicide event during 2019, and
another 6% reported two or more suicides.

Federal prisons had an average suicide rate of 16 per
100,000 prisoners during 2015-19 (table 17).
Demographic and criminal justice characteristics
of federal prisoners who died by suicide

Almost two-thirds (64%) of federal prisoners who
died by suicide during 2015-19 had served more
than 1 year of their sentence.

Death by sufocation accounted for about 81% of all
suicides in federal prisons during 2015-19 (table 19).
Characteristics of state and federal prison
facilities with suicides in 2019
Suicides were recorded in 217 state or federal prison
facilities in 2019, with 71 of those facilities having
multiple suicides (table 20).

Te median capacity of prisons that had two or
more suicides in 2019 was 1,738 beds, compared to
1,365 beds for facilities reporting one suicide and
927 beds for those with no suicides.

Eighty-four percent of prisons operating at 100%
capacity or less on June 30, 2019, and 77% of
facilities operating above 100% capacity, experienced
no suicides in the calendar year.

State and federal prisons holding 2,500 or more
prisoners were more likely to report one or more

Suicide in Local Jails and State and Federal Prisons, 2000–2019 – Statistical Tables | October 2021

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suicides (45% of these facilities) than prisons with
smaller populations (table 21).

Tirty-fve percent of prison facilities whose
security level was administrative, maximum, or
super maximum had at least one suicide in 2019,
compared to 15% of medium security and 4% of
minimum security prisons.

State and federal prisons reporting two or more
suicides in 2019 held 11% of prisoners in restricted
housing status, while facilities with no suicides held
approximately 5% in restricted housing.

Prisons reporting zero suicides in 2019 had a larger
percentage of staf assigned to security duties (73%)
than facilities with one suicide or two or more
suicides (68% each).

Suicide in Local Jails and State and Federal Prisons, 2000–2019 – Statistical Tables | October 2021

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Terms and defnitions
Average daily population—The number of inmates in
jail each day for a year, divided by the number of days in
the year.

transfer inmates to federal, state, or other authorities
house inmates for federal, state, or other authorities

Capacity, design—The number of inmates or prisoners
a facility can hold, as set by the architect or planner.

operate community-based programs as alternatives

Capacity, rated—The number of inmates, prisoners, or
beds a facility can hold, as set by a rating official.
Custody count—Inmates held in the physical custody
of local jails, or prisoners held in the physical custody of
state or federal prisons, regardless of sentence length or
which authority has jurisdiction over the person.
Federal prison—The system that houses persons under
the jurisdiction of the Federal Bureau of Prisons, which
holds adult prisoners in secure federal prison facilities,
nonsecure community corrections facilities, and
privately operated facilities, and holds persons age 17
or younger in privately operated facilities.
Jail—A confinement facility generally operated under
the authority of a sheriff, police chief, or county or city
administrator. A small number of jails are privately
operated. Regional jails include two or more jail
jurisdictions with a formal agreement to operate a jail
facility. Facilities include jails, detention centers, county
or city correctional centers, special jail facilities (such as
medical or treatment centers and prerelease centers),
and temporary holding or lockup facilities that are part
of a facility’s combined function. Jails are intended for
adults but can hold juveniles before or after their cases
are adjudicated.
Jails—

hold inmates sentenced to jail facilities who usually
have a sentence of 1 year or less

receive individuals pending arraignment and hold
them as they await trial, conviction, or sentencing

readmit probation, parole, and bail bond violators
and absconders

detain juveniles pending their transfer to
juvenile authorities

hold mentally ill persons pending their movement to
appropriate mental health facilities

hold individuals for the military, for protective

custody, as witnesses for courts, and for contempt
of court

release convicted inmates to the community on
completion of sentence

due to crowding of their facilities
to incarceration.

Jail jurisdiction—A county (parish in Louisiana) or
municipal government that administers one or more
local jails and represents the entity responsible for
managing jail facilities under its authority.
Jail reporting unit—Most jail jurisdictions consist
of a single facility, but some have multiple facilities,
or multiple facility operators, called reporting units.
For example, a single jail jurisdiction may have legal
authority over five jail facilities, with four managed
by a single operator and one managed by a different
operator (i.e., one jail jurisdiction with two reporting
units and five jail facilities).
Prison—A long-term confinement facility that is run by
a state or the federal government and typically holds
felons, or offenders with sentences of more than 1 year
imposed by state or federal courts. Sentence length
may vary by state. Alaska, Connecticut, Delaware,
Hawaii, Rhode Island, and Vermont each operate an
integrated system that combines prisons and jails,
and all of their inmates are counted in this report as
prisoners. Prisoners under the jurisdiction of state or
federal correctional officials can be held in publicly
or privately operated secure or nonsecure facilities,
including state or federal prisons, boot camps, halfway
houses, treatment facilities, hospitals, local jails, or
another state’s facilities.
Prison jurisdiction—The legal authority of state or
federal correctional officials over a prisoner, regardless
of where the prisoner is held.
Suicide—A self-inflicted death by—

suffocation, including hanging, strangulation,

asphyxia, anoxia, and other methods of reducing
oxygen intake

exsanguination, including all types of sharp force
trauma or other injuries that cause acute loss
of blood

poisoning, including drug overdoses
firearm
other methods, including self-inflicted blunt
force trauma, dehydration, and unknown or
unreported causes.

Suicide in Local Jails and State and Federal Prisons, 2000–2019 – Statistical Tables | October 2021

■

List of tables
TabLE 1. Total deaths and number and rate of suicides in local jails and state and federal prisons,
2000–2019
TabLE 2. Aggregated number of suicides in local jails, by state and region, 2000–19
TabLE 3. Average rate of suicides per 100,000 inmates in local jails, by state and region, 2000–19
TabLE 4. Percent of suicides in local jails, by demographic characteristics of inmates, 2000–19
TabLE 5. Average rate of suicides per 100,000 inmates in local jails, by demographic characteristics of
inmates, 2000–19
TabLE 6. Percent of suicides in local jails, by criminal justice characteristics of inmates, 2000–19
TabLE 7. Percent of suicides in local jails, by circumstances of death, 2000–19
TabLE 8. Percent of local jails, by number of suicides and facility characteristics, 2019
TabLE 9. Percent of local jail jurisdictions, by number of suicides and population characteristics, 2019
TabLE 10. Aggregated number of suicides in state and federal prisons, by state and region, 2001–19
TabLE 11. Average rate of suicides per 100,000 prisoners in state and federal prisons, by state and
region, 2001–19
TabLE 12. Percent of suicides in state prisons, by demographic characteristics of prisoners, 2001–19
TabLE 13. Average rate of suicides per 100,000 prisoners in state prisons, by demographic
characteristics of prisoners, 2001–19
TabLE 14. Percent of suicides in state prisons, by criminal justice characteristics of prisoners, 2001–19
TabLE 15. Percent of suicides in state prisons, by circumstances of death, 2001–19
TabLE 16. Percent of suicides in federal prisons, by demographic characteristics of prisoners, 2015–19
TabLE 17. Average rate of suicides per 100,000 prisoners in federal prisons, by demographic
characteristics of prisoners, 2015–19
TabLE 18. Percent of suicides in federal prisons, by criminal justice characteristics of prisoners,
2015–19
TabLE 19. Percent of suicides in federal prisons, by circumstances of death, 2015–19
TabLE 20. Percent of state and federal prisons, by number of suicides and facility characteristics, 2019
TabLE 21. Percent of state and federal prisons, by number of suicides and population
characteristics, 2019
Continued on next page

Suicide in Local Jails and State and Federal Prisons, 2000–2019 – Statistical Tables | October 2021

■

List of figures
FIGURE 1. Number of suicides in local jails and state and federal prisons, 2000–2019
FIGURE 2. Rate of suicides per 100,000 inmates in local jails and 100,000 prisoners in state and federal
prisons, 2000–2019
FIGURE 3. Percent of suicides in local jails, by time served between admission and death, 2000–04 and
2015–19
FIGURE 4. Percent of suicides in state and federal prisons, by time served between admission and
death, 2001–04 and 2015–19

List of appendix tables
aPPEndIx TabLE 1. Number of correctional facilities, by type and operator, 2019

Suicide in Local Jails and State and Federal Prisons, 2000–2019 – Statistical Tables | October 2021

■

TabLE 1
Total deaths and number and rate of suicides in local jails and state and federal prisons, 2000–2019
Local jails
Total deaths
Suicides
Suicide rate per 100,000 local jail inmatesa
State prisons
Total deaths
Suicides
Suicide rate per 100,000 state prisonersb
Federal prisonsc
Total deaths
Suicides
Suicide rate per 100,000 federal prisonersb

2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
903
289
48

942
313
49

969
314
47

/ 2,869 2,935
/ 168 168
:
14
14
/
/
:

301
18
13

335
17
12

1,001 1,021 1,045 1,094 1,099
296 299 286 278 283
43
42
39
36
36

987
328
46

1,053 1,096 1,076 1,103 1,138 1,200
368 369 334 317 339 355
50
52
47
43
46
49

3,152 3,123 3,168 3,233 3,389 3,452 3,417 3,233 3,351 3,357 3,478
199 199 213 219 215 197 202 215 185 205 192
16
16
17
17
16
15
15
16
14
16
15

3,484 3,708 3,734 3,954 4,137 3,848
249 219 254 261 312 311
20
18
21
22
26
27

346
6
4

333
11
7

388
13
8

328
12
7

368
18
11

959
228
29

399
21
13

961
304
41

376
21
12

918
305
42

387
11
6

888
311
43

387
17
10

960
301
40

350
19
11

400
14
8

444
24
14

455
20
12

388
18
12

381
24
16

378
29
19

381
29
20

Note: Jail counts exclude and state prison counts include deaths in the combined jail and prison systems in Alaska, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Rhode Island, and Vermont. Data may have been revised from
previously published statistics. See Methodology.
:Not calculated.
/Not collected.
aBased on the annual number of suicides and the average daily population (ADP) in local jails. In 2000, the ADP was estimated by taking the average of January 1 and December 31 inmate population counts.
bBased on the annual number of suicides and the December 31 custody population in state or federal prisons.
cIncludes deaths in Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) facilities and excludes deaths in privately operated federal facilities. From 2001 to 2014, the BOP provided an aggregate count of deaths in BOP-operated
facilities, by cause of death. From 2015 to 2019, the BOP provided individual-level death records from both BOP- and privately operated federal facilities. To allow for comparability over time, nine deaths in
private federal prisons in 2015, seven in 2016, seven in 2017, five in 2018, and nine in 2019 were excluded. Among these deaths, one suicide was in 2015, one in 2016, and none in 2017, 2018, and 2019. As of
December 30, 2001, sentenced felons from the District of Columbia were the responsibility of the BOP. See Methodology.
Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, Federal Law Enforcement Agency Deaths in Custody Reporting Program, 2015–2019; Mortality in Correctional Institutions, 2000–2019; and National Prisoner Statistics
program, 2001–2019.

Suicide in Local Jails and State and Federal Prisons, 2000-2019 – Statistical Tables | October 2021

■

TabLE 2
Aggregated number of suicides in local jails, by state and region, 2000–19
U.S. total
Northeast
Maine
Massachusetts
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New York
Pennsylvania
Midwest
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas
Michigan
Minnesota
Missouri
Nebraska
North Dakota
Ohio
South Dakota
Wisconsin
South
Alabama
Arkansas
District of Columbia
Florida
Georgia
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maryland
Mississippi
North Carolina
Oklahoma
South Carolina
Tennessee
Texas
Virginia
West Virginia
West
Arizona
California
Colorado
Idaho
Montana
Nevada
New Mexico
Oregon
Utah
Washington
Wyoming

2000–04
1,511
194
7
14
8
26
55
84
316
43
29
9
39
44
21
36
15
4
52
4
20
654
40
34
1
63
75
21
25
33
28
41
28
16
38
135
66
10
347
29
156
35
6
11
27
23
15
21
17
7

2005–09
1,379
171
6
18
8
30
42
67
288
42
31
12
23
40
12
36
10
5
51
5
21
598
34
16
4
82
68
21
30
37
33
31
28
17
48
94
53
2
322
26
132
45
12
10
13
12
10
25
33
4

2010–14
1,613
199
8
22
7
33
53
76
356
42
45
13
23
50
17
52
8
5
65
3
33
655
36
26
5
94
66
23
28
36
27
41
25
29
41
114
51
13
403
25
167
28
16
18
19
28
16
32
48
6

2015–19
1,714
201
6
26
10
27
34
98
390
42
49
12
28
38
30
51
12
4
76
7
41
701
37
20
5
94
73
15
34
38
29
62
32
26
59
105
57
15
422
39
160
59
8
10
25
18
22
31
42
8

2000–19
6,217
765
27
80
33
116
184
325
1,350
169
154
46
113
172
80
175
45
18
244
19
115
2,608
147
96
15
333
282
80
117
144
117
175
113
88
186
448
227
40
1,494
119
615
167
42
49
84
81
63
109
140
25

Note: For details on regions, see U.S. Census Bureau. (n.d.). Census regions and divisions of the United States. https://
www2.census.gov/geo/pdfs/maps-data/maps/reference/us_regdiv.pdf. Excludes deaths in the combined jail and
prison systems in Alaska, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Rhode Island, and Vermont. Data may have been revised
from previously published statistics. See Methodology.
Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, Mortality in Correctional Institutions, 2000–19.

Suicide in Local Jails and State and Federal Prisons, 2000–2019 – Statistical Tables | October 2021

■

TabLE 3
Average rate of suicides per 100,000 inmates in local jails, by state and region, 2000–19
U.S. total
Northeast
Maine
Massachusetts
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New York
Pennsylvania
Midwest
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas
Michigan
Minnesota
Missouri
Nebraska
North Dakota
Ohio
South Dakota
Wisconsin
South
Alabama
Arkansas
District of Columbia
Florida
Georgia
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maryland
Mississippi
North Carolina
Oklahoma
South Carolina
Tennessee
Texas
Virginia
West Virginia
West
Arizona
California
Colorado
Idaho
Montana
Nevada
New Mexico
Oregon
Utah

2000–04
46
42
96 !
24
114 !
32
37
54
56
43
38
52 !
125
53
70
82
122
108 !
57
62 !
29
41
62
116
8!
24
40
28
19
56
55
57
71
30
35
46
57
62
49
44
42
65
39 !
123
88
67
44
71

2005–09
36
33
74 !
27
80 !
33
27
36
45
38
35
59
62
44
33
65
66
106 !
51
64 !
29
32
45
47
27 !
26
30
24
21
56
60
34
53
26
36
29
37
10 !
40
33
32
67
61
108
37
27
29
74

2010–14
44
42
131 !
43
67 !
42
38
41
58
40
53
63
63
59
52
90
46 !
87 !
71
36 !
50
36
50
71
39 !
34
31
25
18
60
47
44
51
49
34
35
35
62
53
36
43
46
88
179
54
66
51
90

2015–19
48
50
82 !
53
118 !
48
31
58
63
48
52
51
73
47
85
84
62
54 !
78
71 !
63
38
49
46
53 !
35
36
13
23
82
43
64
55
46
41
31
41
64
56
59
42
93
39 !
79
70
51
70
85

2000–19
43
41
94
36
91
38
33
47
55
42
44
56
79
51
60
80
70
83
64
58
42
37
51
67
30
29
34
21
20
62
51
49
57
38
37
35
42
49
49
42
40
68
57
120
61
52
48
80

Continued on next page

Suicide in Local Jails and State and Federal Prisons, 2000–2019 – Statistical Tables | October 2021

■

TabLE 3 (continued)
Average rate of suicides per 100,000 inmates in local jails, by state and region, 2000–19
Washington
Wyoming

2000–04
30
115 !

2005–09
50
50 !

2010–14
79
77 !

2015–19
70
109 !

2000–19
57
86

Suicide in Local Jails and State and Federal Prisons, 2000–2019 – Statistical Tables | October 2021

■

TabLE 4
Percent of suicides in local jails, by demographic characteristics of inmates, 2000–19
Inmate characteristic
Total suicides
Sex
Male
Female
Race/ethnicity
Whitea
Blacka
Hispanic
American Indian/Alaska Nativea
Asian/Native Hawaiian/Other
Pacific Islandera
Othera,b
Age
24 or younger
25–34
35–44
45–54
55 or older

2000–04
1,511
100%
91.7
8.2
100%
70.5
14.1
12.2
1.6

2005–09
1,379
100%
92.2
7.8
100%
69.2
15.0
11.0
2.6

2010–14
1,613
100%
90.5
9.5
100%
71.5
13.0
11.8
2.0

2015–19
1,714
100%
88.1
11.9
100%
74.0
11.3
11.5
1.6

2000–19
6,217
100%
90.5
9.5
100%
71.4
13.2
11.6
1.9

1.3
0.1
100%
22.9
31.2
30.1
12.3
3.3

1.4
0.3
100%
19.6
28.8
30.0
16.5
4.9

0.9
0.6
100%
16.0
32.8
26.2
17.6
7.3

1.2
0.2
100%
11.0
32.9
28.6
18.4
9.0

1.2
0.3
100%
17.1
31.5
28.6
16.3
6.3

TabLE 5
Average rate of suicides per 100,000 inmates in local jails, by demographic characteristics of inmates, 2000–19
Inmate characteristic
Total
Sex
Male
Female
Race/ethnicity
Whitea
Blacka
Hispanic
American Indian/Alaska Nativea
Asian/Native Hawaiian/Other
Pacific Islandera
Othera,b
Age
24 or younger
25–34
35–44
45–54
55 or older

2000–04
46

2005–09
36

2010–14
44

2015–19
48

2000–19
43

48
32

38
22

46
32

49
38

45
31

90
16
30
56

70
15
21
72

91
18
24
54

93
18
26
47

86
16
25
57

52
1!

48
2!

43
3!

63
1!

52
2

36
44
53
53
65

25
33
46
45
55

27
43
55
56
80

20
45
65
62
103

27
41
54
54
78

Note: Rates are based on the annual number of suicides and the average daily population (ADP) in local jails. In 2000, the ADP was estimated by taking
the average of January 1 and December 31 inmate population counts. Excludes deaths in the combined jail and prison systems in Alaska, Connecticut,
Delaware, Hawaii, Rhode Island, and Vermont. Data may have been revised from previously published statistics. See Methodology.
! Interpret with caution. Estimate is based on 10 or fewer cases.
aExcludes persons of Hispanic origin (e.g., “white” refers to non-Hispanic whites and “black” refers to non-Hispanic blacks).
bIncludes persons of two or more races or other unspecified races.
Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, Annual Survey of Jails, 2000–19; Mortality in Correctional Institutions, 2000–19; National Inmate Survey, 2007–09
and 2011–12; and Survey of Inmates in Local Jails, 2002.

Suicide in Local Jails and State and Federal Prisons, 2000–2019 – Statistical Tables | October 2021

■

TabLE 6
Percent of suicides in local jails, by criminal justice characteristics of inmates, 2000–19
Inmate characteristic
Total suicides
Legal status
Convicted
Unconvicted
Other/unknown
Most serious ofensea
Violent
Murderb
Kidnapping
Rape/sexual assault
Robbery
Assault
Other
Property
Burglary
Larceny/theft
Motor vehicle theft
Arson
Fraud
Drugs
Possession
Trafficking
Other/unknown
Public order
Weapons offense
Obstruction of justice
DUI/DWI
Traffic offense excluding DUI/DWI
Probation/parole violation and escape
Other
Other offenses/unreported
Time served in jail on current admission
Less than 1 day
1 day
2–7 days
8–30 days
31–60 days
61–120 days
121–180 days
More than 6 months
Hold statusc
Local law enforcement/court
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
U.S. Marshals Service
Other authorityd

2000–04
1,511
100%
18.3
72.7
9.0
100%
47.8
12.0
3.6
8.9
5.2
13.9
4.2
18.6
6.2
7.4
1.3
0.7
3.1
10.9
5.8
3.7
1.4
20.1
1.4
3.3
2.3
2.7
6.5
3.9
2.7
100%
12.2
9.6
25.7
16.9
10.1
9.2
5.1
9.9
/
/
/
/
/

2005–09
1,379
100%
16.8
75.0
8.3
100%
47.6
10.8
3.1
8.9
5.6
17.0
2.4
18.4
6.6
7.6
0.8
0.8
2.5
8.3
3.8
2.5
2.0
20.4
0.9
3.9
2.8
2.3
6.6
4.0
5.3
100%
9.5
9.4
28.7
14.9
10.5
11.9
5.0
9.4
/
/
/
/
/

2010–14
1,613
100%
16.9
79.3
3.8
100%
49.5
10.0
4.1
9.1
5.4
18.4
2.5
19.1
6.1
9.1
0.9
0.7
2.2
9.7
4.5
3.1
2.2
17.9
1.1
3.5
2.2
1.7
6.0
3.5
3.7
100%
7.3
10.0
30.1
19.7
8.4
10.0
3.7
10.6
100%
94.5
0.8
1.4
3.4

2015–19
1,714
100%
19.2
79.2
1.6
100%
46.9
9.7
3.3
8.8
4.0
18.1
3.1
18.1
5.4
7.6
1.3
0.5
3.4
11.9
6.2
4.0
1.8
19.2
1.1
5.4
1.8
1.2
6.9
2.7
3.9
100%
5.1
6.8
31.9
22.4
9.0
9.9
4.8
9.9
100%
88.9
0.8
2.5
7.8

2000–19
6,217
100%
17.8
76.7
5.5
100%
48.0
10.6
3.5
8.9
5.0
16.9
3.1
18.6
6.1
7.9
1.1
0.7
2.8
10.3
5.1
3.4
1.8
19.3
1.1
4.1
2.2
1.9
6.5
3.5
3.9
100%
8.4
8.9
29.2
18.7
9.5
10.2
4.6
10.0
100%
91.6
0.8
2.0
5.7

Note: Excludes deaths in the combined jail and prison systems in Alaska, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Rhode Island, and Vermont. Details may not
sum to totals due to rounding and missing data. Data may have been revised from previously published statistics. See Methodology.
/Not collected.
aRefers to the most serious offense for which the individual is being held in jail, where violent offenses are most serious, followed by property, drug,
public order, and all other offenses.
bIncludes nonnegligent manslaughter.
cIncludes contractual, temporary, courtesy, or ad hoc holds for federal, local, or state authorities. A jail inmate may have multiple hold statuses. The
2000–19 category reflects 2010–19 percentages because these data were first collected in 2010.
dIncludes state or federal prison, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, or any other jail jurisdiction.
Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, Mortality in Correctional Institutions, 2000–19.

Suicide in Local Jails and State and Federal Prisons, 2000–2019 – Statistical Tables | October 2021

■

TabLE 7
Percent of suicides in local jails, by circumstances of death, 2000–19
Circumstance of death
Total suicides
Time of death
Morning (6 a.m.–12 p.m.)
Afternoon (12 p.m.–6 p.m.)
Evening (6 p.m.–12 a.m.)
Overnight (12 a.m.–6 a.m.)
Method of suicide
Suffocationa
Exsanguinationb
Poisoningc
Firearm
Otherd
Location of suicide evente
Inmate's cell/room
Temporary housing
Common area within jail facilityf
Segregation unit
Special medical unit/infirmary
Special mental health services unit
Elsewhere within jail facility
Outside of jail facility
Other
Inmate had an overnight stay in a mental
health facility after jail admission
Yes
No
Unknown

2000–04
1,511
100%
18.9
25.0
27.0
27.2
/
/
/
/
/
/
100%
79.4
9.1
4.0
/
/
/
/
1.1
5.2

2005–09
1,379
100%
20.5
26.9
26.3
23.7
/
/
/
/
/
/
100%
80.1
8.6
4.2
/
/
/
/
0.6
5.2

2010–14
1,613
100%
20.8
28.8
27.8
21.6
100%
85.6
1.4
2.1
0.7
10.2
100%
72.5
6.1
4.2
8.1
3.3
1.0
1.7
0.6
1.9

2015–19
1,714
100%
18.8
31.3
26.4
22.2
100%
91.4
1.2
0.9
0.3
6.2
100%
72.6
5.5
4.5
8.1
3.0
1.3
1.9
0.9
0.6

2000–19
6,217
100%
19.7
28.2
26.9
23.6
100%
88.6
1.3
1.5
0.5
8.2
100%
72.5
5.8
4.3
8.1
3.2
1.1
1.8
0.8
1.3

/
/
/
/

100%
14.3
71.4
14.1

100%
13.6
72.2
14.1

100%
13.9
71.8
14.1

Note: Excludes deaths in the combined jail and prison systems in Alaska, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Rhode Island, and Vermont. Details may
not sum to totals due to rounding and missing data. Data may have been revised from previously published statistics. The 2000–19 category reflects
2010–19 percentages because data were first collected in 2010. See Methodology.
/Not collected.
aIncludes hanging, strangulation, asphyxia, anoxia, and other methods of reducing oxygen intake.
bIncludes all types of sharp force trauma or other injuries that cause acute loss of blood.
cIncludes drug overdoses and ingestion or use of other poisonous substances.
dIncludes self-inflicted blunt force trauma, dehydration, and unknown or unreported causes.
eLocation where inmate attempted to commit suicide. May not reflect actual location of death.
fIncludes temporary holding areas or lockups and common areas within the facility, such as jail yards, cafeterias, or kitchens.
Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, Mortality in Correctional Institutions, 2000–19.

Suicide in Local Jails and State and Federal Prisons, 2000–2019 – Statistical Tables | October 2021

■

TabLE 8
Percent of local jails, by number of suicides and facility characteristics, 2019
Facility characteristic
Total
Jail operator
County
City
Regional
Private
Inmate sex
Both male and female
Female only
Male only
Jail purposea
Temporary holding place for
detainment of up to 72 hours
Detention facility with authority to
hold for more than 72 hours
Correctional facility for felons with
sentences of more than 1 year
Jail functionb
General adult confinement
Confinement of persons returned
to custody
Work release/prerelease
Reception/diagnosis/classification
Juvenile confinement
Medical treatment/hospitalization
Mental health/psychiatric care
Alcohol treatment
Drug treatment
Boot camp
Protective custody
Capacityb
Jail facilities operating at 100%
capacity or less
Jail facilities operating at more
than 100% capacity
Median rated capacity
Mean rated capacity

Number of
jail facilities
3,116

Total
3,116

No suicides
2,834

2,693
310
79
34

100%
100%
100%
100%

90.8%
93.1
89.3
87.7

7.4%
5.3
10.7
3.4

1.8%
1.7
0.0
8.9

2,763
10
276

100%
100%
100%

90.5%
90.5
95.0

7.7%
9.6
3.9

1.9%
0.0
1.1

1,659

100%

91.3%

7.0%

1.8%

2,864

100%

90.7

7.4

1.9

1,027

100%

88.2

9.3

2.5

3,032

100%

90.8%

7.4%

1.8%

2,897
1,603
1,627
339
655
794
472
513
9
1,152

100%
100%
100%
100%
100%
100%
100%
100%
100%
100%

90.5
91.4
88.5
83.5
83.1
83.8
85.4
84.9
77.8
86.4

2,646

100%

91.5%

6.9%

470

100%

87.3
110 beds
244.4

9.5
305 beds
561.5

1 suicide
226

7.6
6.8
8.8
10.5
11.9
11.6
10.3
11.0
0.0
10.3

2 or more suicides
56

1.9
1.8
2.7
6.0
5.0
4.5
4.2
4.1
22.2
3.3
1.6%
3.2
1,296 beds
1,540.4

Note: See Terms and defnitions for the distinctions between jail jurisdictions, jail reporting units, and jail facilities. Includes jails with a suicide in their
facilities, single-jail jurisdictions with a suicide whose location of death was at an outside medical facility or hospital, and multiple-jail jurisdictions
with a suicide whose location of death was outside the facility but whose death record specified a facility associated with that death. Excludes one
facility and seven jurisdictions for which the suicide could not be linked to a specific jail facility in the 2019 Census of Local Jails. Excludes deaths in the
combined jail and prison systems in Alaska, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Rhode Island, and Vermont. Details may not sum to totals due to rounding
and missing data. Data may have been revised from previously published statistics. See Methodology.
aJail facilities can have multiple purposes and functions.
bAs of midyear (last weekday in June). Facilities operating above 100% capacity held more inmates than their rated or design capacity. See Terms
and defnitions.
Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, Census of Local Jails, 2019; and Mortality in Correctional Institutions, 2019.

Suicide in Local Jails and State and Federal Prisons, 2000–2019 – Statistical Tables | October 2021

■

TabLE 9
Percent of local jail jurisdictions, by number of suicides and population characteristics, 2019
Population characteristic
Total
Average daily population
49 or fewer inmates
50–99
100–249
250–499
500–999
1,000–2,499
2,500 or more
Felony status
50% or more are felons
Less than 50% are felons
Conviction status
50% or more are unconvicted
Less than 50% are unconvicted
Inmates per correctional staf member
Inmates per any staf member
Annual admissions per inmate in custody
on June 30, 2019*

Number of
jail jurisdictions
2,845

Total
2,845

No suicides
2,566

1 suicide
217

2 or more suicides
61

1,002
514
643
348
202
113
23

100%
100%
100%
100%
100%
100%
100%

97.2%
95.0
91.3
84.4
77.6
49.1
46.1

2.8%
4.8
7.5
13.2
19.7
23.1
18.1

<0.1%
0.2
1.1
1.2
2.7
27.8
35.8

2,026
819

100%
100%

89.5%
92.0

8.0%
6.9

2.6%
1.1

2,105
740

100%
100%

89.2%
93.0
3.8 inmates
3.0 inmates

8.3%
5.9
4.4 inmates
3.4 inmates

2.5%
1.1
4.6 inmates
3.6 inmates

15 admissions

14 admissions

11 admissions

Note: See Terms and defnitions for the distinctions between jail jurisdictions, jail reporting units, and jail facilities. Details may not sum to totals due
to rounding and missing data. Excludes deaths in the combined jail and prison systems in Alaska, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Rhode Island, and
Vermont. Data may have been revised from previously published statistics. See Methodology.
*Includes persons officially booked into jail facilities by a formal legal document and the authority of the courts or some other official agency, repeat
offenders booked on new charges, and persons serving weekend sentences when they come into jail for the first weekend.
Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, Census of Local Jails, 2019; and Mortality in Correctional Institutions, 2019.

Suicide in Local Jails and State and Federal Prisons, 2000–2019 – Statistical Tables | October 2021

■

TabLE 10
Aggregated number of suicides in state and federal prisons, by state and region,
2001–19
U.S. total
Federal
State total
Northeast
Connecticut
Delaware
Maine
Massachusetts
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New York
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
Vermont
Midwest
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas
Michigan
Minnesota
Missouri
Nebraska
North Dakota
Ohio
South Dakota
Wisconsin
South
Alabama
Arkansas
Florida
Georgia
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maryland
Mississippi
North Carolina
Oklahoma
South Carolina
Tennessee
Texas
Virginia
West Virginia
West
Alaska
Arizona
California
Colorado
Hawaii
Idaho
Montana

2001–04
786
52
734
124
22
6
1
4
7
10
43
19
7
5
162
32
14
10
9
26
7
10
1
1
24
5
23
232
4
11
19
22
4
3
19
8
12
6
7
8
91
15
3
216
6
16
114
13
8
8
5

2005–09
1,131
85
1,046
183
20
9
1
21
1
20
64
41
6
0
196
33
25
6
3
34
8
26
2
0
30
3
26
371
6
13
43
30
7
12
29
12
14
26
13
20
133
13
0
296
7
32
172
17
7
7
4

2010–14
1,131
85
1,046
194
18
10
1
22
3
16
71
43
8
2
202
37
18
9
6
48
7
16
10
0
35
5
11
343
10
8
39
19
6
11
16
10
11
30
20
14
133
14
2
307
9
40
162
23
7
11
5

2015–19
1,477
120
1,357
196
20
8
1
14
1
7
69
66
6
4
225
35
30
9
13
26
5
20
7
3
45
4
28
631
26
31
96
74
8
16
18
28
31
30
39
35
170
23
6
305
14
35
148
26
6
13
5

2001–19
4,525
342
4,183
697
80
33
4
61
12
53
247
169
27
11
785
137
87
34
31
134
27
72
20
4
134
17
88
1,577
46
63
197
145
25
42
82
58
68
92
79
77
527
65
11
1,124
36
123
596
79
28
39
19

Continued on next page

Suicide in Local Jails and State and Federal Prisons, 2000–2019 – Statistical Tables | October 2021

■

TabLE 10 (continued)
Aggregated number of suicides in state and federal prisons, by state and region,
2001–19
Nevada
New Mexico
Oregon
Utah
Washington
Wyoming

2001–04
6
6
10
11
11
2

2005–09
11
9
11
10
8
1

2010–14
11
6
9
10
12
2

2015–19
12
8
7
10
17
4

2001–19
40
29
37
41
48
9

Note: For details on regions, see U.S. Census Bureau. (n.d.). Census regions and divisions of the United States.
https://www2.census.gov/geo/pdfs/maps-data/maps/reference/us_regdiv.pdf. State counts include deaths in
publicly and privately operated state facilities and in the combined jail and prison systems in Alaska, Connecticut,
Delaware, Hawaii, Rhode Island, and Vermont. Federal counts include deaths in Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP)
facilities and exclude deaths in privately operated federal facilities. As of December 30, 2001, sentenced felons
from the District of Columbia were the responsibility of the BOP. Data may have been revised from previously
published statistics. See Methodology.
Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, Federal Law Enforcement Agency Deaths in Custody Reporting Program,
2015–19; Mortality in Correctional Institutions, 2001–19; and National Prisoner Statistics program, 2001–14.

Suicide in Local Jails and State and Federal Prisons, 2000–2019 – Statistical Tables | October 2021

■

TabLE 11
Average rate of suicides per 100,000 prisoners in state and federal prisons, by state and
region, 2001–19
U.S. total
Federal
State total
Northeast
Connecticut
Delaware
Maine
Massachusetts
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New York
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
Vermont
Midwest
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas
Michigan
Minnesota
Missouri
Nebraska
North Dakota
Ohio
South Dakota
Wisconsin
South
Alabama
Arkansas
Florida
Georgia
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maryland
Mississippi
North Carolina
Oklahoma
South Carolina
Tennessee
Texas
Virginia
West Virginia
West
Alaska
Arizona
California
Colorado
Hawaii
Idaho
Montana

2001–04
14
8
15
18
30
22 !
13 !
10 !
72 !
10 !
16
12
52 !
80 !
17
18
17
30 !
25 !
13
24 !
8!
6!
23 !
13
42 !
27
11
4!
23
6
11
8
4
20
13 !
9
7!
8!
11 !
15
12
20 !
19
33 !
13
18
17
38 !
36 !
44 !

2005–09
15
9
16
20
21
26 !
10 !
39
7!
16
21
18
33 !
0
15
15
20
14 !
7!
14
18 !
17
9!
0
12
18 !
23
13
5!
20
9
11
9
12
26
14
7
22
11
21
17
8
0
19
27 !
17
20
15
26 !
20 !
27 !

2010–14
15
8
16
23
21
30 !
10 !
40
23 !
14
26
17
51 !
20 !
15
15
13
20 !
13 !
22
15 !
10
41 !
0
14
28 !
10
12
7!
11
8
8
9
12
14
13 !
6
24
18
14
17
9
7!
22
31 !
20
23
22
26 !
30
32 !

2015–19
21
13
22
26
28
27 !
9!
32
8!
7!
29
28
44 !
49 !
18
17
22
20 !
27
13
11 !
13
27 !
36 !
18
21 !
24
24
23
39
20
31
13
20
18
41
17
22
40
34
23
15
20 !
23
61
17
23
26
23 !
34
29 !

2001–19
16
9
18
22
25
27
10 !
32
24
12
23
19
44 !
31 !
16
16
18
20
18
16
16
12
23
15 !
14
26
21
15
10
24
11
15
10
12
20
20
10
20
19
21
18
11
12
21
38
17
21
20
28
30
32

Continued on next page

Suicide in Local Jails and State and Federal Prisons, 2000–2019 – Statistical Tables | October 2021

■

TabLE 11 (continued)
Average rate of suicides per 100,000 prisoners in state and federal prisons, by state and
region, 2001–19
Nevada
New Mexico
Oregon
Utah
Washington
Wyoming

2001–04
14 !
25 !
21 !
62
17
31 !

2005–09
17
28 !
16
39 !
9!
11 !

2010–14
18
18 !
13 !
37 !
14
18 !

2015–19
18
23 !
10 !
41 !
19
33 !

2001–19
17
23
14
43
15
23 !

Note: For details on regions, see U.S. Census Bureau. (n.d.). Census regions and divisions of the United States. https://
www2.census.gov/geo/pdfs/maps-data/maps/reference/us_regdiv.pdf. Rates are based on the annual number
of suicides and the December 31 custody population in state or federal prisons. State rates include deaths and
populations in publicly and privately operated state facilities and in the combined jail and prison systems in
Alaska, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Rhode Island, and Vermont. Federal rates include deaths and populations
in Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) facilities and exclude deaths and populations in privately operated federal
facilities. As of December 30, 2001, sentenced felons from the District of Columbia were the responsibility of the
BOP. Data may have been revised from previously published statistics. See Methodology.
! Interpret with caution. Estimate is based on 10 or fewer cases.
Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, Federal Law Enforcement Agency Deaths in Custody Reporting Program,
2015–19; Mortality in Correctional Institutions, 2001–19; and National Prisoner Statistics program, 2001–19.

Suicide in Local Jails and State and Federal Prisons, 2000–2019 – Statistical Tables | October 2021

■

TabLE 12
Percent of suicides in state prisons, by demographic characteristics of prisoners, 2001–19
Prisoner characteristic
Total suicides
Sex
Male
Female
Race/ethnicity
Whitea
Blacka
Hispanic
American Indian/Alaska Nativea
Asian/Native Hawaiian/Other
Pacific Islandera
Othera,b
Age
24 or younger
25–34
35–44
45–54
55 or older

2001–04
734
100%
94.7
5.3
100%
57.4
23.2
15.0
1.2

2005–09
1,046
100%
95.5
4.5
100%
59.3
19.5
17.6
1.1

2010–14
1,046
100%
93.8
6.2
100%
60.1
18.7
15.6
2.3

2015–19
1,357
100%
95.1
4.9
100%
57.0
23.7
14.7
1.8

2001–19
4,183
100%
94.8
5.2
100%
58.4
21.3
15.7
1.7

2.2
0.7
100%
16.9
35.6
29.0
13.8
4.8

1.9
0.3
100%
13.6
31.7
29.9
18.4
6.4

2.6
0.2
100%
11.1
31.1
25.9
21.5
10.4

1.9
0.4
100%
10.5
31.0
29.7
17.5
11.2

2.1
0.4
100%
12.5
32.0
28.7
18.1
8.7

Note: Includes deaths in publicly and privately operated state facilities and in the combined jail and prison systems in Alaska, Connecticut, Delaware,
Hawaii, Rhode Island, and Vermont. Details may not sum to totals due to rounding and missing data. As of December 30, 2001, sentenced felons from
the District of Columbia were the responsibility of the Federal Bureau of Prisons. Data may have been revised from previously published statistics.
See Methodology.
aExcludes persons of Hispanic origin (e.g., “white” refers to non-Hispanic whites and “black” refers to non-Hispanic blacks).
bIncludes persons of two or more races or other unspecified races.
Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, Mortality in Correctional Institutions, 2001–19.

TabLE 13
Average rate of suicides per 100,000 prisoners in state prisons, by demographic characteristics of prisoners,
2001–19
Prisoner characteristic
Total
Sex
Male
Female
Race/ethnicity
Whitea
Blacka
Hispanic
American Indian/Alaska Nativea
Asian/Native Hawaiian/Other
Pacific Islandera
Othera,b
Age
24 or younger
25–34
35–44
45–54
55 or older

2001–04
15

2005–09
16

2010–14
16

2015–19
22

2001–19
18

15
12

16
10

16
15

23
15

18
13

25
8
12
11 !

28
8
15
11

30
9
13
28

41
16
15
29

31
10
14
19

33
3!

32
1!

40
<0.5 !

36
1!

35
1!

14
16
15
15
16

14
7
18
27
48

13
15
17
19
19

23
21
25
22
20

15
17
18
18
19

Note: Rates are based on the annual number of suicides and the December 31 custody population in state prisons. Includes deaths and populations
in publicly and privately operated state facilities and in the combined jail and prison systems in Alaska, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Rhode Island,
and Vermont. As of December 30, 2001, sentenced felons from the District of Columbia were the responsibility of the Federal Bureau of Prisons. Data
may have been revised from previously published statistics. See Methodology.
! Interpret with caution. Estimate is based on 10 or fewer cases.
aExcludes persons of Hispanic origin (e.g., “white” refers to non-Hispanic whites and “black” refers to non-Hispanic blacks).
bIncludes persons of two or more races or other unspecified races.
Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, Mortality in Correctional Institutions, 2001–19; and National Prisoner Statistics program, 2001–19.

Suicide in Local Jails and State and Federal Prisons, 2000–2019 – Statistical Tables | October 2021

■

TabLE 14
Percent of suicides in state prisons, by criminal justice characteristics of prisoners, 2001–19
Prisoner characteristic
Total suicides
Most serious ofensea
Violent
Murderb
Kidnapping
Rape/sexual assault
Robbery
Assault
Other
Property
Burglary
Larceny/theft
Motor vehicle theft
Arson
Fraud
Drugs
Possession
Trafficking
Other/unknown
Public order
Weapons offense
Obstruction of justice
DUI/DWI
Traffic offense excluding DUI/DWI
Probation/parole violation and escape
Other
Other offenses/unknown
Time served in prison on current sentence
1 week or less
1.1 weeks–1 month
1.1–6 months
6.1 months–1 year
1.1–5 years
5.1–10 years
10.1 years or more

2001–04
734
100%
69.1
26.3
3.5
15.0
11.0
11.2
2.0
16.9
9.1
3.4
1.2
0.8
2.3
8.5
2.7
4.8
1.0
4.0
1.2
0.7
0.7
0.4
0.4
0.5
1.6
100%
4.1
4.2
16.4
12.5
31.6
17.7
13.2

2005–09
1,046
100%
71.4
29.3
2.7
14.9
9.8
13.1
1.7
14.5
8.0
2.5
1.0
1.4
1.6
5.8
2.6
2.4
0.9
5.9
1.4
0.8
1.2
0.2
1.4
1.0
2.3
100%
3.6
4.8
13.6
10.7
29.3
18.3
19.5

2010–14
1,046
100%
74.3
32.9
3.0
14.3
11.5
11.5
1.2
15.0
7.9
3.4
0.8
1.4
1.5
4.3
2.2
1.4
0.7
4.7
1.7
0.7
0.7
0.1
0.6
1.0
1.7
100%
2.9
4.8
11.7
8.6
30.4
17.1
24.2

2015–19
1,357
100%
71.9
29.0
3.7
13.5
11.9
12.2
1.6
14.1
7.7
3.8
0.7
1.0
1.0
4.4
2.1
2.0
0.3
7.7
2.1
1.6
1.0
0.2
1.0
1.8
2.0
100%
3.2
3.7
10.8
7.0
32.0
18.3
24.6

2001–19
4,183
100%
71.9
29.6
3.2
14.3
11.1
12.1
1.6
14.9
8.1
3.3
0.9
1.2
1.5
5.4
2.3
2.4
0.7
5.9
1.7
1.0
0.9
0.2
0.9
1.2
1.9
100%
3.4
4.3
12.7
9.3
30.8
17.9
21.2

Suicide in Local Jails and State and Federal Prisons, 2000–2019 – Statistical Tables | October 2021

■

TabLE 15
Percent of suicides in state prisons, by circumstances of death, 2001–19
Circumstance of death
Total suicides
Time of death
Morning (6 a.m.–12 p.m.)
Afternoon (12 p.m.–6 p.m.)
Evening (6 p.m.–12 a.m.)
Overnight (12 a.m.–6 a.m.)
Method of suicide
Suffocationa
Exsanguinationb
Poisoningc
Firearm
Otherd
Location of suicide evente
Prisoner's cell/room
Special medical/mental health services unit
Segregation unitf
Elsewhere within prison facilityg
Outside of prison facilityh
Otheri
Prisoner had an overnight stay in a mental
health facility after prison admission
Yes
No
Unknown

2001–04
734
100%
19.6
27.1
24.5
23.2
/
/
/
/
/
/
100%
78.6
/
/
7.1
1.9
4.5

2005–09
1,046
100%
22.8
27.9
25.3
20.6
/
/
/
/
/
/
100%
79.9
/
/
6.4
1.9
3.1

2010–14
1,046
100%
24.4
28.0
25.1
20.9
100%
86.4
3.6
4.6
0.2
4.9
100%
74.8
5.9
9.4
5.2
1.6
0.8

2015–19
1,357
100%
24.8
29.6
25.9
18.3
100%
88.2
3.9
3.5
0.0
4.0
100%
75.7
4.4
10.8
6.8
0.2
0.7

2001–19
4,183
100%
23.3
28.4
25.3
20.4
100%
87.4
3.8
4.0
0.1
4.4
100%
75.3
5.1
10.2
6.1
0.8
0.7

/
/
/
/

100%
18.6
47.1
30.6

100%
12.4
54.6
32.4

100%
15.1
51.4
31.6

Note: Includes deaths in publicly and privately operated state facilities and in the combined jail and prison systems in Alaska, Connecticut, Delaware,
Hawaii, Rhode Island, and Vermont. As of December 30, 2001, sentenced felons from the District of Columbia were the responsibility of the Federal
Bureau of Prisons. Details may not sum to totals due to rounding and missing data. Data may have been revised from previously published statistics.
The 2001–19 category reflects 2010–19 percentages because data were first collected in 2010. See Methodology.
/Not collected.
aIncludes hanging, strangulation, asphyxia, anoxia, and other methods of reducing oxygen intake.
bIncludes all types of sharp force trauma or other injuries that cause acute loss of blood.
cIncludes drug overdoses and ingestion or use of other poisonous substances.
dIncludes self-inflicted blunt force trauma, dehydration, and unknown or unreported causes.
eLocation where prisoner attempted to commit suicide. May not reflect actual location of death.
fIncludes prisoners on death row.
gIncludes temporary holding areas or lockups and common areas within the facility, such as prison yards, cafeterias, or kitchens.
hIncludes community medical or mental health facilities not associated with the prison.
iIncludes deaths that occurred while in transit to an external medical or mental health center.
Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, Mortality in Correctional Institutions, 2001–19.

Suicide in Local Jails and State and Federal Prisons, 2000–2019 – Statistical Tables | October 2021

■

TabLE 16
Percent of suicides in federal prisons, by demographic
characteristics of prisoners, 2015–19
Prisoner characteristic
Total suicides
Sex
Male
Female
Race/ethnicity
Whitea
Blacka
Hispanic
American Indian/Alaska Nativea
Asian/Native Hawaiian/Other
Pacific Islandera
Othera,b
Age
24 or younger
25–34
35–44
45–54
55 or older

2015–19
120
100%
98.3
1.7
100%
59.2
17.5
11.7
9.2
2.5
0.0
100%
2.5
20.0
35.8
25.8
15.8

TabLE 17
Average rate of suicides per 100,000 prisoners in
federal prisons, by demographic characteristics of
prisoners, 2015–19
Prisoner characteristic
Total
Sex
Male
Female
Race/ethnicity
Whitea
Blacka
Hispanic
American Indian/Alaska Nativea
Asian/Native Hawaiian/Other
Pacific Islandera
Othera,b
Age
24 or younger
25–34
35–44
45–54
55 or older

2015–19
16
17
4
43
9
5
77
26 !
0
9!
11
16
19
21

Note: Rates are based on the annual number of suicides and the
December 31 custody population in federal prisons. Includes deaths and
populations in Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) facilities and excludes
deaths and populations in privately operated federal facilities. As of
December 30, 2001, sentenced felons from the District of Columbia
were the responsibility of the BOP. Data may have been revised from
previously published statistics. See Methodology.
! Interpret with caution. Estimate is based on 10 or fewer cases.
aExcludes persons of Hispanic origin (e.g., “white” refers to non-Hispanic
whites and “black” refers to non-Hispanic blacks).
bIncludes persons of two or more races or other unspecified races.
Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, Federal Law Enforcement Agency
Deaths in Custody Reporting Program, 2015–19; and National Prisoner
Statistics program, 2015–19.

Suicide in Local Jails and State and Federal Prisons, 2000–2019 – Statistical Tables | October 2021

■

TabLE 18
Percent of suicides in federal prisons, by criminal
justice characteristics of prisoners, 2015–19

TabLE 19
Percent of suicides in federal prisons, by circumstances
of death, 2015–19

Prisoner characteristic
Total suicides
Most serious ofensea
Homicide/aggravated assault
Sex offense
Robbery
Drugs
Burglary/larceny
Fraud/bribery/extortion
Weapons/explosives
Immigration
Court charge
Time served in prison on current sentence
1 week or less
1.1 weeks–1 month
1.1–6 months
6.1 months–1 year
1.1–5 years
5.1–10 years
10.1 years or more
Hold status
Federal prison
Other authorityb

Circumstance of death
Total suicides
Time of deatha
Morning (6 a.m.–12 p.m.)
Afternoon (12 p.m.–6 p.m.)
Evening (6 p.m.–12 a.m.)
Overnight (12 a.m.–6 a.m.)
Method of suicide
Suffocationb
Exsanguinationc
Poisoningd
Firearm
Othere
Location of deathf
General housing within prison facility/on
prison grounds
Segregation unit
Medical/nursing care services unit within
prison facility
Medical/urgent care center outside of
prison facility
Other/unspecified/unknown

2015–19
120
100%
10.0
19.2
10.8
13.3
6.7
3.3
20.0
3.3
0.8
100%
0.8
3.3
9.2
7.5
33.3
18.3
12.5
100%
76.7
10.8

Note: Includes deaths in Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) facilities
and excludes deaths in privately operated federal facilities. As of
December 30, 2001, sentenced felons from the District of Columbia
were the responsibility of the BOP. Details may not sum to totals due to
rounding and missing data. Data may have been revised from previously
published statistics. See Methodology.
aFor prisoners convicted of more than one crime, the most serious
offense is the one that carries the longest sentence.
bIncludes persons held for states, the U.S. military, or the District of
Columbia; under treatment or hospital care; or on supervised release in
a federal community corrections center.
Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, Federal Law Enforcement Agency
Deaths in Custody Reporting Program, 2015–19.

2015–19
120
100%
29.6
18.5
25.9
25.9
100%
80.8
5.8
6.7
3.3
3.3
100%
13.3
13.3
3.3
57.5
12.5

Note: Includes deaths in Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) facilities
and excludes deaths in privately operated federal facilities. As of
December 30, 2001, sentenced felons from the District of Columbia
were the responsibility of the BOP. Details may not sum to totals due to
rounding and missing data. Data may have been revised from previously
published statistics. See Methodology.
aThe 2015–19 category reflects 2019 percentages because these data
were collected only in 2019.
bIncludes hanging, strangulation, asphyxia, anoxia, and other methods
of reducing oxygen intake.
cIncludes all types of sharp force trauma or other injuries that cause
acute loss of blood.
dIncludes drug overdoses and ingestion or use of other poisonous
substances.
eIncludes self-inflicted blunt force trauma, dehydration, and unknown
or unreported causes.
fThe BOP reported only the actual location of death, not where the
suicide event occurred.
Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, Federal Law Enforcement Agency
Deaths in Custody Reporting Program, 2015–19.

Suicide in Local Jails and State and Federal Prisons, 2000–2019 – Statistical Tables | October 2021

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TabLE 20
Percent of state and federal prisons, by number of suicides and facility characteristics, 2019
Facility characteristic
Total
Prison operator
Federal
State/joint state and local
Private
Prison main functionb
General adult housing
Alcohol/drug treatment
Reception/diagnostic
Medical treatment
Mental health/psychiatric treatment
Work facility/boot campc
Otherd
Programs oferedb,e
Drug treatment
Alcohol treatment
Psychiatric care
Anger management
Employment training
Life skills
Parenting skills
Capacityb,f
Prison facilities operating at 100%
capacity or less
Prison facilities operating at more than
100% capacity
Median rated/design capacity
Mean rated/design capacity

Number of
prison facilities
1,161

Total
1,161

No suicides
944

1 suicidea
146

2 or more suicides
71

111
968
82

100%
100%
100%

82.9%
80.6
87.8

14.4%
12.7
8.5

2.7%
6.7
3.7

979
49
41
19
21
8
44

100%
100%
100%
100%
100%
100%
100%

80.8%
95.9
70.7
68.4
81.0
100
88.6

12.8%
4.1
19.5
21.1
19.1
0.0
6.8

6.4%
0.0
9.8
10.5
0.0
0.0
4.5

918
915
721
774
795
856
669

100%
100%
100%
100%
100%
100%
100%

80.3%
79.7
77.1
78.6
79.0
79.0
81.2

13.7%
14.1
15.5
14.2
14.3
14.5
13.2

6.0%
6.2
7.4
7.2
6.7
6.5
5.7

715

100%

84.1%

10.6%

5.3%

216

100%

76.9
927 beds
1,004.9

16.7
1,365 beds
1,598.0

6.5
1,738 beds
1,998.4

Note: Includes state and federal confinement facilities. Excludes state and federal community corrections facilities where offenders spend 50% or
more of the day outside of confinement. Includes deaths in publicly and privately operated state facilities and in the combined jail and prison systems
in Alaska, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Rhode Island, and Vermont. Includes deaths in Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) facilities and excludes deaths
in privately operated federal facilities. As of December 30, 2001, sentenced felons from the District of Columbia were the responsibility of the BOP.
Details may not sum to totals due to rounding and missing data. Data may have been revised from previously published statistics. See appendix
table 1 for number of facilities by type and operator. See Methodology.
aExcludes three suicides reported to BJS’s Mortality in Correctional Institutions collection by facilities that were not considered confinement facilities
in the Census of State and Federal Correctional Facilities.
bAs of midyear (last weekday in June).
cIncludes facilities that primarily hold probation and parole violators, prerelease facilities, and other facilities that may allow movement in the
community for less than 50% of the day.
dIncludes housing for specific populations, such as juvenile offenders, sex offenders, or low security non-U.S. citizens; vocational and work camps;
faith-based facilities; and geriatric care facilities.
ePrison facilities can offer multiple programs. The 2019 Census of State and Federal Correctional Facilities did not measure whether prisoners who
died by suicide had participated in or had access to the programs.
fFacilities operating above 100% capacity held more prisoners than their rated or design capacity. A total of 275 facilities did not report either type of
capacity. See Terms and defnitions.
Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, Census of State and Federal Correctional Facilities, 2019; Federal Law Enforcement Agency Deaths in Custody
Reporting Program, 2019; and Mortality in Correctional Institutions, 2019.

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TabLE 21
Percent of state and federal prisons, by number of suicides and population characteristics, 2019
Population characteristic
Total
Prisoners in facilityb
499 or fewer
500–999
1,000–1,499
1,500–1,999
2,000–2,499
2,500 or more
Security level
Maximumc
Mediumd
Minimum
Uncategorized
Prisoners in restricted housingb,e
Facility staf with security responsibilitiesb
Prisoners per security staf memberb,f
Daytime shift
Nighttime shift
Overnight shift
Total security staff

Number of
prison facilities
1,161

Total
1,161

315
280
281
137
65
83

100%
100%
100%
100%
100%
100%

97.1%
87.9
79.0
61.3
61.5
55.4

2.2%
9.3
15.3
26.3
21.5
24.1

0.6%
2.9
5.7
12.4
16.9
20.5

376
451
289
47

100%
100%
100%
100%

64.6%
84.7
96.2
91.5
5.5%
72.8%

21.3%
11.8
3.5
6.4
6.5%
68.0%

14.1%
3.6
0.4
2.1
11.5%
68.0%

16.9 prisoners
24.0
51.4
4.9

16.5 prisoners
24.1
53.8
4.7

17.2 prisoners
24.6
61.9
4.8

No suicides
944

1 suicidea
146

2 or more suicides
71

Note: Includes state and federal confinement facilities. Excludes state and federal community corrections facilities where offenders spend 50% or
more of the day outside of confinement. Includes deaths in publicly and privately operated state facilities and in the combined jail and prison systems
in Alaska, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Rhode Island, and Vermont. Includes deaths in Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) facilities and excludes deaths
in privately operated federal facilities. As of December 30, 2001, sentenced felons from the District of Columbia were the responsibility of the BOP.
Details may not sum to totals due to rounding and missing data. Data may have been revised from previously published statistics. See appendix
table 1 for number of facilities by type and operator. See Methodology.
aExcludes three suicides reported to BJS’s Mortality in Correctional Institutions collection by facilities that were not considered confinement facilities
in the Census of State and Federal Correctional Facilities.
bAs of midyear (last weekday in June).
cIncludes super maximum facilities, administrative facilities, and facilities reporting a range of security levels with the highest level being maximum.
dIncludes facilities that reported multilevel physical security in which the closest security level was medium.
eIncludes prisoners held in protective custody, in administrative segregation, for disciplinary reasons, on death row, on suicide watch, or in other
types of housing apart from the facility’s general population. Percentages are based on the total number of prisoners in facilities with restricted
housing programs.
fRatios are based on prison facilities that reported staffing levels for all shifts.
Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, Census of State and Federal Correctional Facilities, 2019; Federal Law Enforcement Agency Deaths in Custody
Reporting Program, 2019; and Mortality in Correctional Institutions, 2019.

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Methodology
Data sources
Mortality in Correctional Institutions, 2000-2019
Te Mortality in Correctional Institutions (MCI),
formerly the Deaths in Custody Reporting Program
(DCRP), was an annual Bureau of Justice Statistics
(BJS) data collection from 2000 to 2019. Te MCI
obtained national-, state-, and incident-level data on
adults who died while in the physical custody of the
50 state departments of corrections (DOCs) or in the
physical custody of the approximately 2,800 local jail
jurisdictions with adult populations nationwide. BJS
defnes a jail as a locally operated correctional facility
that confnes persons before or afer adjudication for
more than 72 hours, excluding temporary lockups.
Te DCRP began in 2000 in response to the Death in
Custody Reporting Act of 2000 (DICRA; P.L. 106-297)
and was the only national statistical collection
providing comprehensive information about deaths
in adult correctional facilities. Starting in 2000,
BJS collected data directly from the approximately
2,800 jail jurisdictions in the U.S. and maintained
an average annual response rate of 98%. Te jail
universe for the MCI included all jails operating at
the time of data collection each year. BJS updated the
jail frame annually to document jails that had closed,
consolidated, or otherwise eliminated operations. Te
most recent jail universe identifed 2,925 jurisdictions
that represented 3,130 jail facilities. Of these,
2,858 jurisdictions (98%) participated in the MCI in
2019. A jail jurisdiction is a legal entity that manages
jail facilities. Jail jurisdictions typically operate at the
county level, and a sherif ’s ofce or jail administrator
usually manages the local facilities. MCI data identify
the jail facility where an inmate died, but data are
summarized at the jail jurisdiction level.
Collection of data from state DOCs began in 2001,
and BJS maintained a 100% response rate over all
years. Until 2015, the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP)
submitted aggregate counts of the number of male
and female deaths to BJS, by cause of death. Te BOP
started reporting decedent-level data to BJS in 2015,
including individual demographic and criminal justice
characteristics through the Federal Law Enforcement
Agency Deaths in Custody Reporting Program. In
2017, BJS changed the name from the DCRP to MCI to
more accurately describe the data collection.

In the MCI, custody refers to the physical holding of
a person in a facility or to the period during which a
correctional authority maintains a chain of custody
over an inmate. For instance, if a jail transports an
ill inmate to a hospital for medical services and that
inmate dies in the hospital while in the chain of
custody of the jail, then that death is counted as a death
in custody. A death that occurs when an inmate is not
in the custody of a correctional authority is considered
beyond the scope of the MCI. Deaths were considered
out of scope for inmates who were on escape status
or under the supervision of community corrections,
such as on probation, parole, or home electronic
monitoring. Local jail and state correctional ofcials
were asked to determine whether the inmate was in
the physical custody of the jurisdiction at the time of
death, regardless of the reason the inmate was being
held. Some local jails hold state prisoners, but if a
prisoner dies in the custody of the local jail, the death
is attributed to the jail, not the state DOC.
Custody is further complicated by the functions of
some sherif ’s ofces, including dual responsibilities for
law enforcement and jail administration. As a result,
some deaths that respondents reported as jail deaths
occurred before the jail had custody of the decedent.
Deaths that occurred in the process of arrest were
identifed by BJS and excluded by using information
about the circumstances surrounding the death.
Mortality data measured by the MCI included the
location and type of facility where the inmate died,
decedent characteristics (sex, race or ethnicity, and
age), admission date, conviction status, and admission
ofense. MCI respondents were instructed to report on
the cause of death as determined by autopsy or another
ofcial medical investigation. For the MCI, deaths due
to accidental intoxication, other accidents, suicides,
and homicides were considered discrete causes of
death. Although the manner and cause of death are
distinct from one another, no such distinction was
made in the MCI. When reporting a death due to
illness, accident, suicide, intoxication, or homicide,
BJS requested that respondents describe the events
surrounding these deaths. Clinical data specialists
converted text entries that described illness-related
deaths into standard medical codes from the World
Health Organization’s International Statistical
Classifcation of Diseases and Related Health Problems,
Tenth Revision (ICD-10).

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Te MCI also collected data on the circumstances
surrounding the death (the cause, time, and location
of death), whether an autopsy was conducted, and
the availability of autopsy results to the respondent.
Specifcally for suicide deaths, from 2008 to 2019,
BJS asked respondents to briefy describe the event
in the MCI and to report whether the decedent had
spent at least one night in a mental health facility since
admission to prison or jail.
BJS ceased collection of mortality data in state and
local correctional facilities afer the 2019 reference year.
When DICRA was reauthorized in 2014 (P.L. 113-242),
it included additional enforcement and reporting
compliance requirements that are incompatible with
BJS’s authorizing statute as a federal statistical agency.
Te U.S Department of Justice (DOJ) determined
it would be more appropriate for the Bureau of
Justice Assistance (BJA) to administer the program
and collect mortality data for the DOJ starting with
quarter 1 of fscal year 2019 (October to December
2019). State departments of corrections and local jails
now report their death information on a quarterly
basis to centralized state agencies, which compile and
submit these data to BJA to comply with all applicable
requirements in P.L. 113-242.
Census of Jails, 2019
BJS conducts the Census of Jails (COJ) periodically
to collect jail data through a complete enumeration
of local jail facilities and BOP detention facilities.
Te 2019 COJ was the eleventh administration since
1970. Data were collected through a web-based survey
during the fall of 2019, with a reference date of June
30, 2019.
Te COJ gathers data from jails holding inmates
beyond arraignment, usually for a period exceeding
72 hours. Jail facilities are intended to hold adults,
but some also hold juveniles (persons age 17 or
younger). Te universe of the COJ consists of all local
jail jurisdictions (including county, city, regional, and
privately operated jail facilities) and BOP detention
facilities that function as jails.1 Te COJ universe
excludes separate temporary holding facilities (such
as drunk tanks and police lockups) that do not hold
persons afer they have been formally charged in court.
However, temporary holding facilities that are operated
as part of a local jail are included. Te combined jail
1Regional jail jurisdictions are created by two or more local

governing bodies through cooperative agreements.

and prison systems in Alaska, Connecticut, Delaware,
Hawaii, Rhode Island, and Vermont are excluded
from the COJ, as they are operated by state DOCs,
and included in BJS’s Census of State and Federal
Correctional Facilities.
Te COJ uses two data collection forms for
multiple-facility jail jurisdictions. Te CJ-3A obtains
information on the count, race or ethnicity, conviction
status, citizenship, holding agency, and average daily
population (ADP) for jurisdictions that have multiple
facilities under a single legal authority and have
one or more reporting units. Te jurisdictions also
submit one CJ-3A Addendum form for each facility
under their legal authority. Te CJ-3A Addendum
requests information on the purposes and functions
of each jail, the rated capacity, and the existence of any
consent decrees placed on the facilities. Single-facility
jurisdictions received a CJ-3 form in the 2019 COJ,
which combined the questions from the CJ-3A and
CJ-3A Addendum forms.
MCI data on suicides that occurred in 2019 were
linked to the 2019 COJ at both the jurisdiction and
facility levels. Jurisdiction matching was based on the
common jurisdiction identifcation number that BJS
uses in jail collections. One suicide reported to the
MCI occurred in a single-facility jurisdiction that did
not respond to the 2019 COJ. Tis suicide was excluded
from analyses of the linked collections at both the
jurisdiction and facility levels.
COJ facility-level data were linked to MCI suicides
from 2019 using the facility name, city, and state. Two
jurisdictions reported suicides to the MCI but did not
indicate the facilities or cities where they occurred.
Tese deaths were excluded from the analysis of linked
COJ-MCI data at the facility level. Additionally, a
medical facility outside of the jail was reported as the
location of death for multiple suicides in 2019. When
these occurred in single-jail jurisdictions, BJS could
attribute the suicide to their jail facility. However,
fve multiple-jail jurisdictions had suicides whose
locations of death were community medical facilities
not associated with the jails. Because these suicides
could not be attributed to any particular jail, they were
excluded from the facility-level analysis of the linked
COJ-MCI data.
Because the 2019 COJ represents a complete
enumeration of local jails in the U.S., the results are
not subject to sampling error. However, the results
were afected by unit and item nonresponse, and
adjustments were made to account for nonresponse.

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Te 2019 COJ had a response rate of 94%. Seventy-four
jail jurisdictions did not respond to the census. To
reduce nonresponse bias, nonresponse weighting was
implemented. To calculate the nonresponse weight,
missing data were frst imputed for two variables
(confned inmate population and the number of
juveniles), using a carry-forward cold-deck procedure.
Te missing data were replaced with the most recent
prior-year data that the same jail jurisdictions reported
to the 2016, 2017, or 2018 Annual Survey of Jails (ASJ)
or the MCI Annual Summary File. For cases with
no prior-year data, a weighted sequential hot-deck
procedure was implemented to impute missing data,
where the donor for each missing item was randomly
selected from a set of similar jails, sorted by related
auxiliary population values (e.g., jail size, inmate sex
distribution, state or region, and county classifcation).
Next, all jail jurisdictions were classifed into 10 strata
based on their reported or imputed values of confned
population, the presence of juveniles, and whether
they were operated as a regional jail in the 2019 COJ.
Te nonresponse weight was calculated as the total
confned population of all active jail jurisdictions
in each state and stratum, divided by the sum of the
confned population of all jail jurisdictions in each
state and stratum that responded to the 2019 COJ—
∑

where—

∑

nsh = number of jail jurisdictions in state s and
stratum h,
pshi = confned population for jail jurisdiction i in
state s and stratum h,
Ashi = active status indicator for jurisdiction i in state s
and stratum h (1 = active, 0 = out of scope), and
Rshi = response indicator of jurisdiction i in state s and
stratum h (1 = respondent, 0 = nonrespondent).
Census of State and Federal Correctional
Facilities, 2019
BJS conducted the Census of State and Federal
Correctional Facilities (CCF) between September
2019 and March 2020, with a reference date of June
30, 2019. Based on the primary function of the facility
and the percentage of prisoners who were allowed to
leave the facility unaccompanied for work or study
release, BJS classifed prisons as confnement or

community corrections facilities. Of the 1,982 prison
facilities in the original universe for CCF, 282 were
deemed ineligible, and 23 did not respond to the
survey. Tis resulted in an overall response rate of
98.6%. In linking CCF data to MCI suicide records, BJS
included only the confnement prisons because these
aligned with the MCI defnition of in-custody deaths.
Tis resulted in a fle of 1,189 confnement facilities,
of which 220 had at least one suicide. Because of the
high response rate, CCF data were not weighted. BJS
combined state and federal facilities in the analysis for
tables 20 and 21 because disaggregation of the smaller
number of federal facilities by count of suicides and
other characteristics could allow for the identifcation
of individuals.
National Prisoner Statistics program, 2001-2019
Data on state and federal prison populations used as
denominators for mortality rates were obtained from
BJS’s National Prisoner Statistics (NPS) program,
which collects information from state DOCs and
the BOP on custody and jurisdiction populations,
admissions to and releases from prison, the capacity
of state and federal prison systems, and some
demographic characteristics of prisoners. BJS used
the NPS and individual-level data from the National
Corrections Reporting Program (NCRP) and the
Federal Justice Statistics Program (FJSP) to obtain the
age distribution of the prison population.
Te original DICRA legislation did not require
federal law enforcement or correctional authorities
to report deaths in prisons. However, from 2001 to
2014, the BOP reported aggregate counts of deaths
in BOP-operated facilities to the NPS. Ten in 2015,
the reauthorized DICRA legislation made federal
reporting of deaths a requirement, and the BOP began
providing individual-level death records to BJS from
both BOP- and privately operated federal facilities as
part of the Federal Law Enforcement Agency Deaths
in Custody Reporting Program. In the current analysis
of suicides, BJS excluded deaths in private federal
prisons from 2015 to 2019 to allow for comparability
over time. Table 1 in this report shows total deaths
from all causes, as well as the number of suicides per
year in BOP-operated facilities. A total of nine deaths
in private federal prisons in 2015, seven in 2016, seven
in 2017, fve in 2018, and seven in 2019 were excluded.

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Among these deaths, one suicide in 2015, one in 2016,
and none in 2017, 2018, and 2019.
Federal Justice Statistics Program
Te federal prison data from BJS’s FJSP are an annual
collection of administrative records for each prisoner
who was in custody on December 31. BJS obtains
these records from the BOP. Data elements include
demographic, criminal justice, and sentencing
characteristics. For this report, BJS used the age
distributions obtained from the FJSP annual prison
fles as denominators for suicide rates by age in
the BOP.
National Corrections Reporting Program
Similar to FJSP, the NCRP obtains individual-level
administrative records for all persons in the custody of
state- or privately operated prison facilities at yearend. BJS obtained annual age distributions for state
prisoners from the NCRP and used them to calculate
suicide rates by age for this report.
Reported statistics
Mortality data in this report include the number
of deaths by suicide, suicide rates by year, the
cause of death, selected decedent and suicide event
characteristics, the state where the death occurred,
and characteristics of facilities that experienced one or
more suicides in 2019. Te data are separated by type
of facility (local jail, state DOC, or BOP). Te jail and
prison populations difer substantially from the U.S.
resident population in terms of age, race or ethnicity,
and sex distributions. Tese diferences preclude direct
comparison of suicide rates between incarcerated
populations and the U.S. resident population.
Suicide mortality rates are calculated per 100,000
local jail inmates and per 100,000 state or federal
prisoners, with the denominators providing estimates
of the number of person-years of exposure in custody
in institutional corrections (person-years combines
time in a correctional institution with the number of
inmates to measure actual exposure to a correctional
institution setting).
Te mortality rate for local jails is calculated as the
number of deaths per year divided by the average
daily population (ADP), with the resulting quotient
multiplied by 100,000. Te ADP for jails is defned
as the average daily number of inmates held in a jail

jurisdiction during a calendar year, from January
1 through December 31. Te ADP is used as the
denominator for mortality rates to accommodate
the high turnover and daily fuctuation in local jail
populations. Compared to a single-day inmate count,
the ADP is a better indicator of the number of days
per year that an inmate is exposed to the risk of death.
Jail populations have a much higher turnover than
prison populations. Mean length of stay is about 26
days in local jails, compared to 2 years in state prisons.
Te ADP refects the annual number of admissions
and mean length of stay, and it can be expressed as
the product of these two values. When mean length
of stay is expressed in years, the ADP is equivalent to
the number of person-years spent by inmates during a
given year.
ADP data are received directly from jails through the
MCI using the CJ-9A summary form. Starting in 2002,
BJS collected the ADP directly from respondents. Prior
to 2002, the ADP was calculated by taking the average
of the January 1 count from the prior year and the
December 31 count from the reference year.
Te mortality rate for state or federal prisoners is
calculated as the number of deaths per year divided
by the December 31 population of state or federal
prisoners in custody, with the resulting quotient
multiplied by 100,000. Te population of state
prisoners used in rate calculations includes prisoners
held in privately operated facilities, while the
population in federal prisons does not. To improve
comparability between years, this report includes
mortality rates of state prisons that were reestimated
for prior years using updated year-end custody
populations, including privately operated facilities.
Estimating population characteristics of
inmates to calculate mortality rates by
demographic subgroups
Data from several data collections were used to
generate distributions of sex, race or ethnicity, and
age among inmates in local jails and to estimate how
these demographic characteristics were distributed
by ADP. Tese collections were chosen because they
were conducted closest in time to the 2019 reference
year. Tey include two types of data: (1) in-person
survey data, where jail inmates are asked directly
to identify their date of birth, sex at birth, race, and
ethnicity and (2) administrative data, which is derived
from the ofcial operational records maintained by
the jail facility and may difer from how an inmate

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would self-identify (especially in terms of race and
ethnicity) if given the chance. BJS’s administrative data
collections on jails include—

the MCI, conducted annually

the ASJ, conducted annually

the COJ, conducted every 5 to 6 years, including in
2013 and 2019.
BJS’s in-person inmate survey data on jails include—

the Survey of Inmates in Local Jails (SILJ), last
conducted in 2002

the National Inmate Survey (NIS), conducted in
2006, 2007 to 2009, and 2012.
Prior to 2010, the ASJ provided estimates of local jail
inmates by sex for each year of the MCI collection.
Te ASJ percentages were applied to each year’s ADP
from the MCI to estimate the ADP of male and female
inmates. Starting in 2010, sex-specifc data on ADP
from the MCI were used to calculate the denominators
for mortality rates for males and females. Data from
the SILJ, NIS, and COJ were used to estimate the
relative distribution of adults by race or ethnicity for
diferent periods. Because the SILJ (2002), NIS (2007
to 2009), and COJ (2013) are not felded annually,
the population estimates were smoothed before being
applied to MCI data for specifc time periods. Te
SILJ estimates were used to cover the period from
2000 to 2004, the NIS estimates to cover years 2005
to 2012, and the COJ estimates to cover years 2013
to 2019. In all cases, the percentages associated with
the distribution of race or ethnicity were applied to
the ADP.
To estimate the distribution of local jail inmates by age,
BJS frst obtained an estimate of the number of inmates
age 17 or younger from the ASJ (2000 to 2012 and 2014
to 2016) and the 2013 COJ. An estimate of the ADP of
inmates age 17 or younger was obtained by applying
the annual percentage of inmates age 17 or younger
from the ASJ and COJ to the annual ADP collected in
the MCI. To estimate the distribution of adult inmates
by age, data from the 2002 SILJ were used to estimate
the relative distribution of adults by age for the years
2000 to 2006, and data from the NIS collections were
used for years 2007 to 2016. Estimates were directly
available from these sources for 2002, 2007, 2009, and
2012. Te age distribution for 2002 (SILJ) was applied
to MCI data for 2000 and 2001, and the distribution

from 2012 (NIS) was used for 2013 to 2018. Estimates
were smoothed to account for gaps in reference years
when age estimates were not available (2003 to 2006,
2008, 2010, and 2011).
Age and sex distributions of the state and federal
prison populations were estimated using the NPS,
NCRP, and FJSP data collections. Rates for race or
ethnicity were also derived from these collections.
Tey have been updated from previous years and may
not match previously reported rates. Race or ethnicity
reported in the NPS, NCRP, and FJSP come from
administrative records of prisoners and may not refect
self-reporting by prisoners. Distributions of race or
ethnicity were adjusted based on self-reported data
collected from interviews with prisoners through BJS’s
national prisoner surveys. Previously, distributions
of race or ethnicity were derived from BJS’s 2004
Survey of Inmates in State and Federal Correctional
Facilities. In 2017, BJS updated estimates of prisoners’
race or ethnicity using new data from the 2016 Survey
of Prison Inmates (formerly the Survey of Inmates
in State and Federal Correctional Facilities). Annual
distributions of race or ethnicity were weighted by
the number of years from the most recent prisoner
survey (2004 or 2016). For complete details on the
methodology used to estimate distributions of race
or ethnicity, see Prisoners in 2016 (NCJ 251149, BJS,
January 2018).
Interpreting rates among small populations
MCI data on deaths in local jails are not subject
to sampling error because the data represent a full
enumeration of deaths. However, according to
Brillinger and NCHS, mortality data from a complete
enumeration may be subject to random error because
“the number of deaths that actually occurred may
be considered as one of a large series of possible
results that could have arisen under the same set of
circumstances.”2,3 Te random variation can be large
when the number of deaths is small. Terefore, caution
is warranted when interpreting statistics that are based
on small numbers of deaths.
Using the NCHS and Brillinger methods, BJS
quantifed random variation by assuming that the
2See Brillinger, D. R. (1986). Te natural variability of vital rates

and associated statistics. Biometrics, 42(4), 693-734.

3See Xu, J., Kochanek, K. D., Murphy, S. L., & Tejada-Vera, B.

(2010). Deaths: Final data for 2007 (National Vital Statistics
Reports, Vol. 58, No. 19). National Center for Health Statistics.
https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr58/nvsr58_19.pdf

Suicide in Local Jails and State and Federal Prisons, 2000–2019 – Statistical Tables | October 2021

■

appropriate underlying probability distribution for
the number of deaths was a Poisson distribution.
Tis provided a simple and reasonable approach for
estimating variances in mortality statistics when the
probability of dying is low. Variances were calculated
based on the assumption of a Poisson process. From
these variances, estimates of relative random error
were calculated. Tese estimates are comparable to the
relative standard error because the relative random
error is the ratio of random error derived from the
Poisson variance to the number of deaths. Following
NCHS practice, when the relative random error
exceeded 30%, estimated mortality rates were fagged
with an “!” symbol to show the instability of the rate.
(i.e., Interpret with caution. Estimate is based on 10 or
fewer cases.)

aPPEndIx TabLE 1
Number of correctional facilities, by type and
operator, 2019
Operator
Total
Public
Federal
State
Private

All facilities* Confnement Community-based
1,677
1,161
516
1,266
1,079
187
111
111
0
1,155
968
187
411
82
329

*There were 139 additional facilities linked to another facility for which
data could not be reported separately. Data from these facilities were
merged with data for 96 facilities.
Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, Census of State and Federal Adult
Correctional Facilities, 2019.

Suicide in Local Jails and State and Federal Prisons, 2000–2019 – Statistical Tables | October 2021

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Te Bureau of Justice Statistics of the U.S. Department of Justice is the
principal federal agency responsible for measuring crime, criminal
victimization, criminal ofenders, victims of crime, correlates of crime,
and the operation of criminal and civil justice systems at the federal, state,
tribal, and local levels. BJS collects, analyzes, and disseminates reliable
statistics on crime and justice systems in the United States, supports
improvements to state and local criminal justice information systems, and
participates with national and international organizations to develop and
recommend national standards for justice statistics. Doris J. James is the
acting director.
Tis report was written by E. Ann Carson. Stephanie Mueller, Lauren
G. Beatty, Emily Buehler, Zhen Zeng, and Laura Maruschak verifed
the report.
Edrienne Su and Eric Hendrixson edited the report. Carrie Epps-Carey
produced the report.
October 2021, NCJ 300731

JS
I II lllllmlll IIll llll
NCJ 30073 1

Office of Justice Programs
Building Solutions • Supporting Communities • Advancing Justice
www.ojp.gov