State correctional facility populations

Select from the following years and age groups. Choose multiple years by holding down the Ctrl key. 

Source: Minnesota Department of Corrections 

Terms

admissions Includes offenders newly committeed to state correctional facilities; offenders returning to state correctional facilities after committing a new offense while on supervised release or parole for another offense; and offenders returning to state correctional facilities as a result of violating the conditions of supervised release or parole.

adult Any individual age 18 or older, including juveniles certified as adults, incarcerated in an adult correctional facility.

certified at commitment Describes juveniles who were certified by a court to stand trial as an adult and were sentenced to incarceration in adult correctional facilities. 

commitments Includes offender totals only for new commitments to state correctional facilities and offenders returning to a state correctional facility after committing a new offense while on supervised release or parole for another offense. This category does not include offenders who return to a state correctional facility as a result of violating the conditions of their supervised release or parole.

discharge Occurs when an offender is released from a state correctional facility at the expiration of his or her sentence.

Intensive community supervision A period of incarceration in a state correctional facility that is intended to shock the offender, followed by highly restrictive community supervision. Supervision elements can include house arrest, random drug testing, frequent face-to-face contact with specially trained agents, mandatory work or school, curfews and mandatory restitution to victims.

juvenile Any offender between the ages of 12 and 19 incarcerated in state juvenile facilities. 

lifers Since 1989, adults sentenced to serve at least 30 years’ imprisonment with the possibility of parole after that time. Before 1989, this category included adults sentenced to serve at least 17 years’ imprisonment with the possibility of parole after that time. Adults sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole also are included. 

other offenses All offenses that cannot be classified as person, property or drug offenses. Unknown offense types also are included in this category. 

per diem Average operating cost to house an offender in a state correctional facility for one day. 

person offenses Assault, homicide, kidnapping and false imprisonment, criminal sexual conduct, robbery and criminal vehicular homicide.

property offenses Burglary, forgery and counterfeiting, arson and negligent fires, property damage, stolen property, theft and vehicle-related theft. 

release return with new sentence Occurs when an offender commits a new offense while on supervised release or parole and subsequently returns to a state correctional facility. 

release return without new sentence Occurs when an offender violates the conditions of supervised release or parole and subsequently returns to a state correctional facility. 

supervised release or parole A process of surveillance and supervision of offenders in the community who have served their term of incarceration. Supervision elements may include house arrest, face-to-face contacts and drug testing. For an adult who was sentenced to life imprisonment and released, supervision in the community is called parole. Juveniles also are supervised in the community on parole status. 

 Caveats 

• Education-level categories are not consistent throughout all years of adult inmate profiles due to changes in collection methods. 
• Offenses listed on adult offender profiles are felonies only, while those listed on juvenile offender profiles include some gross misdemeanors as well as felonies. 
• All offense types are defined according to Minnesota statutes. Assault includes both aggravated and simple assaults. Sex offenses include rape. 
• Due to rounding, missing or unknown data, population breakouts may not always add to the total listed. 
• Race information may be self-identified or classified by an observer. The Department of Corrections categorizes Hispanic ethnicity as a race group on both adult and juvenile offender profiles. The “other” race category primarily includes counts for Asian inmates; however, any person not identified as white, African American, American Indian or Hispanic is recorded as “other.” 
• Yearly commitment numbers may vary from one offender profile to another due to estimating made at the time of publication. 
• Some Wisconsin prisoners are included in the adult inmate totals: 165 in 1983, 195 in 1984 and 206 in 1985. 
• While the numbers of offenders newly committed and those returning to prison after committing a new offense while on supervised release or parole for another offense should add to the total number of commitments, this is not always the case. This discrepancy occurs due to data entry errors and other changes in data recording. 

 Additional Information

For more information on corrections and criminal statutory codes, contact: 

Legislative Revisor of Statutes
100 Constitution Ave. 
St. Paul, MN 55155
651-296-2868
Fax 651-296-0569 
http://www.leg.state.mn.us/leg/statutes.htm 

Minnesota Department of Corrections
1450 Energy Park Dr., Suite 200
St. Paul, MN 55108-5219
651-642-0200
Fax 651-642-0223
http://www.corr.state.mn.us/