The portion of local budgets devoted to correctional institutions is rising, according to a new report from the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS).
The report analyzed data on local government expenditures between fiscal years 2005 and 2011.
“Between 2005 and 2011, local governments annually spent over a third (34.4 percent to 37.0 percent) of all funds spent by state and local governments on correctional institutions,” researchers wrote.
Corrections account for 1.6 percent of total local government expenditures in 2011.
Of those expenditures, about 84 percent was devoted to correctional institutions, up from 80 percent in 2005.
The remaining expenses were devoted to correctional services, including offender supervision in the community and halfway houses.
Read the full report HERE.