Annual data show early impact of COVID-19 on tribal jail population

The Annual Survey of Jails in Indian Country (SJIC) Series of studies is distributed by the National Archive of Criminal Justice Data (NACJD). As of August 4, NACJD has made each of the 19 SJIC studies in the series available in a public-use version with some variables masked, as well as in a restricted-use version where users can access all variables. Collected by the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) since 1998 as a component of the Annual Survey of Jails, the purpose of the SJIC is to gather data on all adult and juvenile jail facilities and detention centers in Native American and Alaska Native communities throughout the United States. Beyond inmate and staffing counts, each annual survey collects data about the characteristics and operations of all confinement facilities operated by tribal authorities or the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA). The most recent study in the series, the Annual Survey of Jails in Indian Country, 2020 (ICPSR 38112), contains data collected in a special addendum to the annual survey. It was created in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, in an effort to measure the impact of this public health emergency on Indian country jails in the first half of 2020, when COVID-19 became prevalent. According to Todd D. Minton, who authored the BJS Bulletin titled, “Jails in Indian Country, 2019–2020 and the Impact of COVID-19 on the Tribal Jail Population,” key questions in the addendum included items to measure the health of inmates and staff, as well as the size of the inmate population during the pandemic. Minton’s report states, “The impact of COVID-19 on Indian country jails began in March 2020, with a drop of 30% in the inmate population between the end of February and the end of March. By the last weekday in April 2020, the number of jail inmates dropped to a low of 1,950.” Indeed, admissions to Indian country jails decreased 45% from June 2019 to June 2020. Minton concluded that, “The decline in the inmate population since midyear 2019 resulted from both a reduction in admissions to Indian country jails and expedited releases from March to June of 2020.” In fact, 11% (2,300) of inmates received expedited release in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite the lowered inmate population numbers–the lowest since 2004–from March to June of 2020, about 9% of prisoners and 5% of staff tested positive with COVID-19.