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New
Mexico
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IMPRISONMENT
AT A GLANCE
Imprisonment
Rate 1977: 126 (15th) Female Imprisonment Rate 1977:
9 (22nd)
Imprisonment Rate 2004: 318 (37th) Female Imprisonment
Rate 2004: 56 (24th)
Total
Female Sentenced Prisoners 1977: 53
Total Female Sentenced Prisoners 2004: 546
Percent
Increase 1977-2004: 930%
Average Annual Percent Increase 1977-2004: 12%
Percent Increase 1999-2004: 81%
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IMPRISONMENT
IN NEW MEXICO
At
year-end 2004, New Mexico's prisons housed 6,111 inmates serving
sentences of more than one year. Of these inmates, 5,565 were
male and 546 were female. New Mexico ranked 24th in its 2004
female imprisonment rate with 56 female prisoners per 100,000
female residents, and 37th in its 2004 overall imprisonment
rate with 318 prisoners per 100,000 residents.
In
1977, New Mexico prisons housed 53 female inmates; by 2004,
the female prison population had reached 546. New Mexico's
female prison population was at its lowest with 40 female
prisoners in 1979 and peaked at 546 female inmates in 2004.
GROWTH
IN FEMALE IMPRISONMENT RATE
Between
1977 and 2004, New Mexico's female prison population grew
by 930% with an average annual percent change of 12.0% per
year.
Throughout
the period from 1977 to 2004, New Mexico's female imprisonment
rate was at or below the average female imprisonment rate
across the states. While many states experienced consistent
and steady growth in female imprisonment, New Mexico's female
imprisonment rate varied quite erratically (particularly through
the 1990s). With a female imprisonment rate of 56, New Mexico's
female imprisonment rate in 2004 was average.
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. New Mexico's 1977
ratio was equivalent to the average across states with 26
male prisoners for every female prisoner. In 2004, New Mexico's
male to female imprisonment ratio (10:1) was substantially
lower than the average across states.
CORRECTIONAL
FACILITIES
According
to the 2000 Census of State and Federal Correctional Facilities,
New Mexico has 10 correctional facilities. Of New Mexico's
10 correctional facilities, nine house male prisoners only
and one houses female prisoners only. No facilities house
both male and female prisoners.
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