Prison, Jail Spending Climbs 50.9%

WASHINGTON —  Spending for prisons and jails rose 50.9% during the first part of the decade as federal, state and local governments tried to cope with bulging inmate populations, a report released Sunday shows.

In 1983, $10.4 billion was spent on corrections, up from $6.9 billion in 1980, the study by the Justice Department’s Bureau of Justice Statistics said.

The report also found that spending for police, courts and prisons amounted to $39.7 billion in 1983, or $170 per American. All told, such spending accounted for 2.9% of all government expenditures. No statistics were available for years since 1983.

Spending for carrying out criminal and civil justice functions rose 10.7% in 1983, compared with the previous year, growing at a slightly faster pace than government spending as a whole, which went up 9.5% to $1.35 trillion.

Corrections costs rose by 50.9% from 1980 to 1983, outpacing a 36.2% increase in spending for police during that time.

The study said local police spending accounted for 38.5% of the nation’s expenditure for justice. State corrections systems accounted for 15.9%.