Mortality in Correctional Institutions: Local Jails, 2000-2017 (ICPSR 37878)

Version Date: Apr 27, 2021 View help for published

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Principal Investigator(s): View help for Principal Investigator(s)
United States. Bureau of Justice Statistics

Series:

https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR37878.v1

Version V1

Alternate Title View help for Alternate Title

MCI Local Jails, 2000-2017

Summary View help for Summary

The Mortality in Correctional Institutions series (MCI), formerly Deaths in Custody Reporting Program (DCRP), is an annual data collection conducted by the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS). The MCI began in 2000 under the Death in Custody Reporting Act of 2000 (P.L. 106-297). It is the only national statistical collection that obtains detailed information about deaths in adult correctional facilities.

The local jail portion began in 2000 after the passage of the Deaths in Custody Reporting Act of 2000 in October of 2000. The jails component of MCI collects data on inmate deaths occurring in local jail facilities while inmates are in the physical custody of jail facility officials.

Citation View help for Citation

United States. Bureau of Justice Statistics. Mortality in Correctional Institutions: Local Jails, 2000-2017. Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2021-04-27. https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR37878.v1

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Funding View help for Funding

United States Department of Justice. Office of Justice Programs. Bureau of Justice Statistics

Subject Terms View help for Subject Terms

Geographic Coverage View help for Geographic Coverage

Smallest Geographic Unit View help for Smallest Geographic Unit

City

Restrictions View help for Restrictions

Due to the sensitive nature of the data and to protect respondent confidentiality, the data are restricted from general dissemination. These data are enclave-only and may only be accessed at ICPSR's location in Ann Arbor, MI. Users wishing to view these data must first contact NACJD, complete an Application for use of the ICPSR Data Enclave (available as part of the documentation for this study), and receive permission to analyze the files before traveling to Ann Arbor. More information may be found at ICPSR's Enclave Data Web site.

Completed forms should be returned to: Director, National Archive of Criminal Justice Data, Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research, Institute for Social Research, P.O. Box 1248, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48106-1248, or by fax: 734-647-8200.

Distributor(s) View help for Distributor(s)

Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research
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Time Period(s) View help for Time Period(s)

2000 -- 2017

Date of Collection View help for Date of Collection

2000 -- 2017
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Study Purpose View help for Study Purpose

The MCI is the only national statistical collection that obtains comprehensive information about deaths among prisoners and jail inmates in the custody of adult correctional facilities. Starting in 2000, BJS has annually collected data directly from the approximately 2,800 jail jurisdictions in the U.S. and maintained an average annual response rate of 98%. BJS uses these data to track national trends in the number and causes or manners of deaths occurring in local jails. In 2017, BJS changed the name from the DCRP to MCI to more accurately describe the data collection.

Study Design View help for Study Design

Data collections covering these populations were developed in annual phases: Annual collection of individual death records from local jail facilities began in 2000, followed by a separate collection for state prison facilities in 2001. Collection of state juvenile correctional agencies began in 2002 but was discontinued in 2006, and collection of arrest-related death records began in 2003. Due to concerns regarding data quality and coverage issues, BJS temporarily suspended the arrest-related death (ARD) portion of the DCRP in 2014. Datasets are produced in an annual format.

Sample View help for Sample

Individual-level death data are collected from local jail facilities in the United States.

Time Method View help for Time Method

Cross-sectional

Universe View help for Universe

Deaths of individuals incarcerated in local jail facilities.

Unit(s) of Observation View help for Unit(s) of Observation

Individuals

Data Source View help for Data Source

Local jail facilities

Data Type(s) View help for Data Type(s)

Mode of Data Collection View help for Mode of Data Collection

Description of Variables View help for Description of Variables

Mortality data measured by the MCI include the location and type of facility where the inmate died, decedent characteristics (sex, race or ethnicity, and age), admission date, conviction status, and admission offense. MCI also collects data on the circumstances surrounding the death (the cause, time, and location of death), whether an autopsy was conducted, and the availability of autopsy results to the respondent.

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Original Release Date View help for Original Release Date

2021-04-27

Version History View help for Version History

2021-04-27 ICPSR data undergo a confidentiality review and are altered when necessary to limit the risk of disclosure. ICPSR also routinely creates ready-to-go data files along with setups in the major statistical software formats as well as standard codebooks to accompany the data. In addition to these procedures, ICPSR performed the following processing steps for this data collection:

  • Created variable labels and/or value labels.
  • Standardized missing values.
  • Performed recodes and/or calculated derived variables.
  • Checked for undocumented or out-of-range codes.
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Notes

  • The public-use data files in this collection are available for access by the general public. Access does not require affiliation with an ICPSR member institution.

  • One or more files in this data collection have special restrictions. Restricted data files are not available for direct download from the website; click on the Restricted Data button to learn more.