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North Carolina Report

North Carolina

IMPRISONMENT IN NORTH CAROLINA

At year-end 2004, North Carolina prisons housed 30,583 inmates serving sentences of more than one year. Of these inmates, 28,925 were male and 1,758 were female. North Carolina ranked 39th in its 2004 female imprisonment rate with 40 female prisoners per 100,000 female residents, and 31st in its 2004 overall imprisonment rate with 357 prisoners per 100,000 residents.

In 1977, North Carolina prisons housed 460 female inmates; by 2004, the female prison population had reached 1,758. North Carolina's female prison population was at its lowest with 446 female prisoners in 1978 and peaked at 1,758 female inmates in 2004.

GROWTH IN FEMALE IMPRISONMENT RATE

Between 1977 and 2004, North Carolina's female prison population grew by 282% with an average annual percent change of 5.6% per year.

Through the mid-to-late 1980s, North Carolina was quite punitive in both its overall imprisonment rate and its female imprisonment rate. In 1977, for example, North Carolina's overall imprisonment rate was the 5th highest in the country, and its female imprisonment rate the second highest (at 16 female prisoners per 100,000 female residents, North Carolina's female imprisonment rate was twice the average across states). Over time, as most states grew progressively more punitive, North Carolina experienced a much slower rate of growth. By the late 1980s North Carolina was average in its imprisonment rates. In the mid-1990s, as many states experienced an acceleration in imprisonment rate, North Carolina began to reverse its path. By 2004, with a female imprisonment rate of 40 female prisoners per 100,000 female residents, North Carolina was among the 15 least punitive states in its imprisonment of female offenders (ranked 39th).

MALE TO FEMALE IMPRISONMENT RATIO

The male to female imprisonment ratio indicates the number of male inmates for every female inmate. Although both female and male imprisonment rates have increased over the period of study, a shrinking ratio suggests that the number of female prisoners has increased at a faster pace. In 1977, across the states, there were an average of 26 male prisoners for every female prisoner; by 2004, this ratio had fallen to 13 male prisoners for every female prisoner. North Carolina's 1977 ratio was slightly higher than average with 27 male prisoners for every female prisoner. In 2004, North Carolina's male to female imprisonment ratio (16:1) remained slightly higher than the average across states.

CORRECTIONAL FACILITIES

According to the 2000 Census of State and Federal Correctional Facilities, North Carolina has 80 correctional facilities. Of North Carolina's 80 correctional facilities, 72 house male prisoners only, seven house female prisoners only, and one houses both male and female prisoners.