National Prisoner Statistics, 1978-2016

The National Prisoner Statistics (NPS) data collection began in 1926 in response to a congressional mandate to gather information on persons incarcerated in state and federal prisons. Originally under the auspices of the United States Census Bureau, the collection moved to the Bureau of Prisons in 1950, and then in 1971 to the National Criminal Justice Information and Statistics Service, the precursor to the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) which was established in 1979. Since 1979, the Census Bureau has been the NPS data collection agent. The NPS is administered to 51 respondents. Before 2001, the District of Columbia was also a respondent, but responsibility for housing the District of Columbia's sentenced prisoners was transferred to the federal Bureau of Prisons, and by yearend 2001 the District of Columbia no longer operated a prison system. The NPS provides an enumeration of persons in state and federal prisons and collects data on key characteristics of the nation's prison population. NPS has been adapted over time to keep pace with the changing information needs of the public, researchers, and federal, state, and local governments.

国家囚犯统计（NPS）数据收集始于1926年，响应于国会关于收集州和联邦监狱囚犯信息的指令。最初由美国人口普查局负责，1950年转至联邦监狱局，1971年再移交至国家刑事司法信息和统计服务局，该局为1979年成立的司法统计局（BJS）的前身。自1979年以来，人口普查局一直担任NPS数据收集的代理机构。NPS针对51个受访者进行管理。在2001年之前，哥伦比亚特区也是受访者之一，但负责关押哥伦比亚特区的服刑囚犯的责任转移至联邦监狱局，到2001年底，哥伦比亚特区不再运营监狱系统。NPS提供了州和联邦监狱中人员的详细清单，并收集关于全国监狱人口关键特征的资料。随着时间的推移，NPS已被调整以适应公众、研究人员以及联邦、州和地方政府不断变化的信息需求。