National Prisoner Statistics, [United States], 1978-2021

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 U.S. 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. From 1979 to 2013, the Census Bureau was the NPS data collection agent. In 2014, the collection was competitively bid in conjunction with the National Corrections Reporting Program (NCRP), since many of the respondents for NPS and NCRP are the same. The contract was awarded to Abt Associates, Inc. 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.

国家囚犯统计数据（NPS）收集工作始于1926年，此举源于国会要求收集关于被州和联邦监狱监禁人员的资料。最初由美国人口普查局负责，1950年移交至监狱管理局，1971年再转至国家刑事司法信息和统计数据服务局，该局是1979年成立的司法统计局（BJS）的前身。自1979年至2013年，美国人口普查局一直担任NPS数据收集的代理机构。2014年，NPS的收集工作与国家矫正报告计划（NCRP）一起进行公开招标，因为NPS和NCRP的许多受访者是相同的。该合同由Abt Associates, Inc. 获得承揽。NPS针对51个受访者进行管理。在2001年之前，哥伦比亚特区也是一个受访者，但负责容纳哥伦比亚特区的服刑囚犯的责任转交给了联邦监狱管理局，到2001年底，哥伦比亚特区不再运营监狱系统。NPS对州和联邦监狱中的人员进行详细统计，并收集关于全国监狱人口的关键特征数据。随着时间的推移，NPS不断完善，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。