NCJ Number
152049
Journal
Corrections Compendium Volume: 19 Issue: 10 Dated: (October 1994) Pages: 9-22
Date Published
1994
Length
14 pages
Annotation
This article presents information from a survey on prison industries that involved 46 correctional systems from the United States and seven Canadian systems.
Abstract
In the information chart, the correctional systems are listed alphabetically. The information provided for each system includes the total adult prison population (male and female), the number of inmates eligible to work (male and female), the number of inmates employed in prison industries (male and female), the number of inmates waiting to work, eligibility requirements for work, inmate pay, and the current prison industry budget. Fourteen U.S. systems engage in some form of "Free Venture" prison industry, and two more systems are in the process of implementing new private-sector programs. States with Prison Industry Enhancement (PIE) certification may collaborate with the private sector and hit the free market with goods. Inmate employees of PIE industries earn at least the minimum wage. Specified percentages of those wages are allotted to pay for the cost of incarceration, income taxes, Social Security, victim restitution, and family support. Few industries have been cut back or eliminated in recent years. Of 45 U.S. systems, 31 are financed solely by self-sustaining revolving funds, and eight systems are financed by a combination of self-sustaining revolving funds and annual general fund appropriations. The largest Canadian prison industry system, the Correctional Service of Canada, is financed by a self-sustaining revolving fund. The Correctional Service of Canada's annual budget for fiscal year 1994-95 is $53,800,000. The average U.S. State prison industry budget is almost $26 million, and the U.S. prison industry budget for 41 systems is over 1 billion dollars.