State Correctional Population

State Correctional Population

Mississippi

Mississippi ranks #1 nationally for having 55 percent of its total correctional population in prison or jail. While Mississippi paid $18.06 per offender per day in 1983, it spent $35.69 per offender per day in FY 2008. The $266 million Mississippi spent on corrections amounted to 6.4 percent of the general fund, a share equal to that of Louisiana. For every dollar it spent on corrections, Mississippi spent 39 cents on probation and parole.

The Sentencing Project reports that in 2008 Mississippi amended parole release policy by allowing persons convicted of nonviolent offenses after June 30, 1995 to ...