2024 NCRP Part A

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National Corrections Reporting Program

OMB: 1121-0065

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OMB #1121-0065


SUPPORTING STATEMENT


2025-2027 National Corrections Reporting Program (NCRP)


  1. JUSTIFICATION


Overview

The Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) is requesting clearance be continued to conduct the National Corrections Reporting Program (NCRP) from current expiration of November 30, 2024, through November 30, 2027, which covers three data collection years (2024, 2025, and 2026). The current NCRP collection is approved under OMB Control Number 1121-0065. Through the NCRP, BJS collects administrative records on annual offender movement through state correctional systems in five cohorts: persons admitted into prison, released from prison, held in prison at year-end, and entered and discharged from post-custody community supervision (PCCS, formerly known as parole). BJS has reported annually from the NCRP since the collection began in 1983. These statistics are part of BJS’s core corrections statistics and contribute fundamentally to BJS’s mission of describing transitions and movements of people through the criminal justice system.


BJS uses NCRP data to describe changes in the composition of and factors affecting the size of state prison and PCCS populations as well as examine recidivism pattern of persons who leave and reenter prison. For example, over the last 15 years BJS has used NCRP data to inform on the number and types of crimes previously imprisoned people commit after release. Data collected from this population include characteristics, commitment offense, whether the arrest was within or outside the state of release, and whether released prisoners had no subsequent arrests during the follow up period.


BJS has used the NCRP to help define the factors behind changes in the population, including decreases in the number of PCCS violators returning to prison, state-specific and federally funded initiatives to cut prison populations, and a renewed emphasis by legislators and prosecutors to focus on imprisoning violent offenders. BJS has further explored issues concerning prison and PCCS populations, including post-incarceration employment outcomes, by linking the NCRP data to other federal administrative datasets through the Center for Economic Studies at the U.S. Census Bureau.


State departments of corrections (DOCs) submit individual-level records for each prisoner in their system to the NCRP using standardized definitions provided by BJS (Appendix A). Most DOCs submit five files, one for each cohort that BJS requests. The cohorts requested are admissions to state prisons during a year, releases from state prisons during a year, persons held in state prisons on December 31 each year, admissions to post-custody community supervision in the 50 states during a year, and releases from post-custody community supervision in the 50 states during a year. The data in each cohort contain a common core of variables. Each cohort, other than admissions to prison, includes additional variables pertaining to the particular stage in the corrections system process represented by that cohort. The core variables collected for all five cohorts include:


  • date of admission,

  • type of commitment (e.g., a new court commitment stemming from a felony conviction, entry as a parole or conditional release violator, transfer, or unsentenced commitment),

  • offenses for which persons have been sentenced to prison,

  • length and type of sentence imposed,

  • demographic attributes, including date of birth (to calculate age), race, sex, and educational attainment,

  • entity responsible for individuals (the state maintaining jurisdiction over an individual),

  • identification variables, including first and last name of each person, and identification numbers used by the state to designate individuals (BJS requests that states provide fingerprint-based IDs, including state ID and FBI ID, if possible.)


In addition, the measures of the year-end prison population (stock) cohort include expected (or projected) dates of release from prison. The data in the prison release cohort also include actual dates of release, actual time served, and method of release from prison (e.g., conditional release onto parole or unconditional release). The PCCS entry and exit datasets—which pertain only to persons released from prison conditionally—also include data on the type of entry and discharge from PCCS (e.g., success or failure) and dates of entry and exit from community supervision.


Over the years, BJS has worked to increase state participation in the NCRP. For 2022, 47 states submitted at least one type of NCRP record to BJS. While some data may be delivered several years after the reference period, BJS obtained data from all 50 states for 2011-2014 and 2017-2018. NCRP data quality has remained high over the last 3 years. For the 2019-2022 data collections, 47 states1 reported despite the COVID-19 pandemic occurring during the collection period.


BJS has also implemented enhancements focused on improving the reliability of NCRP records by linking records internally. Linking records within the NCRP strengthens BJS’s ability to track movements from prison admission to release from PCCS programs both within and across states, enhancing the scope of substantive issues that can be addressed with the NCRP. Linked record cohorts, first attempted in 2011, have been constructed for 43 states while twenty-six states have PCCS term records linked for at least 2 years. The ability to link records with internal and external sources has been enhanced by the collection of the FBI fingerprint-based identification and Social Security numbers. The focus of the NCRP in the future is to increase the utility of the data collected by publishing reports and tables and supporting public access to the data while maintaining data security.


BJS is requesting a 3-year clearance for the NCRP.


1. Explain the circumstances that make the collection of information necessary. Identify any legal or administrative requirements that necessitate the collection. Attach a copy of the appropriate section of each statute and regulation mandating or authorizing the collection of information.


The Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Street Act of 1968 (see Appendix B), as amended, (Title 34 § 10132) authorizes BJS to compile data on the movement and characteristics of state and federal prison populations. BJS is authorized to collect the NCRP data under 34 § 10132. BJS may only use the information it collects for statistical or research purposes, consistent with 34 U.S.C. § 10134. BJS is required to protect information identifiable to a private person from unauthorized disclosure and may not publicly release data in a way that could reasonably identify a specific private person [34 U.S.C. § 10231]. NCRP data will be maintained under the security provisions outlined in U.S. Department of Justice regulations 28 CFR §22.23. The BJS Data Protection Guidelines provide more detailed information on how BJS and its data collection agents will use and protect data collected under BJS’s authority.


The size, costs, and social impacts of corrections, in particular prison populations, in the United States are of ongoing national interest and have national policy implications. Imprisonment is one of the nation’s most serious punishments for crime and one of the most costly.2 State governments spent over $53 billion on corrections in 2019.3 The investments by states in managing prison populations have led to discussions about the use of incarceration to balance public safety, justice for victims, and costs. These debates have intensified as competing demands on states’ budgets have increased during the past several decades due to demographic shifts, natural disasters, climate, and public health issues.4


Media attention on prison conditions and hidden costs of incarceration may have contributed to changes in legislation over the last several years aimed at improving prison conditions, especially for imprisoned women and an aging prison population.5 The number of incarcerated women increased by nearly 750% between 1980 and 2017.6 Incarcerated women are more likely than men to have experienced violence, other victimizations, and traumatic experiences prior to imprisonment.7 Furthermore, women are more likely to be victimized while they are incarcerated. Research has also shown that incarcerated females are more likely to receive harsher punishments than their male counterparts.8 Additionally, the prison population is rapidly aging.9 The proportion of state and federal prisoners who are 55 or older is about 5 times that of what it was 30 years ago. This poses a challenge for prison systems because they have a constitutional obligation to provide adequate health care for individuals housed in their facilities. Research indicates that unhealthy lifestyles of incarcerated individuals and inadequate healthcare resources in prisons contribute to the earlier onset and more rapid progression of chronic health conditions that are prevalent among older adults in the community.10 Additionally, older incarcerated individuals oftentimes have lengthier criminal histories that can make them eligible for enhanced sentences under the multiple strikes laws adopted by some states.11 Given that an estimated 95% of incarcerated individuals return to the community,12 little attention has been given to reentry planning for older incarcerated individuals who, like their counterparts, are often released into urban communities with a higher prevalence of health inequities and inadequate health resources.13


The total correctional population in the United States is comprised of the prison, jail, and community correctional populations. Those serving in the community under supervision of probation or parole make up almost 70% of the total correctional population.14 For this reason, the NCRP is invaluable in its ability to track trends not only in imprisonment practices, but increasingly in the use of community corrections and the reintegration of former prisoners into the community. In 2014, the NCRP was able to collect PCCS data from only 14 states. In each of the last three years, 35 states have provided PCCS data to the NCRP collection.


BJS provides statistics on changes in the size and composition of the prison population, changes in flows (admissions and releases), in length of stay, and in returns to prison (parole recidivism). These statistics are central to understanding changes in practices by state courts and parole supervising agencies about prison placement. BJS’s descriptive accounts of changes in the prison population inform the debate and provide data to stakeholders to address some of the evaluative issues on the scope and purpose of prison policy.


NCRP data also provide a basis for some of BJS’s recidivism studies. This includes the most recent report describing recidivism patterns of state prisoners released in 2008, for 10 years following release (see Recidivism of Prisoners Released in 24 States in 2008: A 10-Year Follow-Up Period (2008–2018), NCJ 256094).


BJS uses NCRP data to respond to media requests on the demographic characteristics of state prison populations. Some of the most common questions asked of BJS by the media and public deal with racial disparities in rates of imprisonment. While data collected by the National Prisoner Statistics (NPS) data collection (OMB Control No. 1121-0102, expires 01/31/2026) provides an aggregate count of prisoners by race, Hispanic origin, and sex, NCRP provides the individual-level data required to give details of the cross between age, race and ethnicity, and sex. Additionally, BJS often receives requests for state-specific data that can only be answered with NCRP data.


In 2011, BJS and its data collection agent began linking prison admission, year-end custody, and release records across years in states for which individual identifiers had been shown to be unique and consistent. A number of variables are collected on all three record types, including date and type of prison admission, date of birth, sex, race and ethnicity, offense, and sentencing information. These additional variables allow BJS to verify that a prison release record from 2011 and year-end custody records from 2009 and 2010 belong to the same individual who had an admission record from 2009 and that the offender had not been released and re-incarcerated during the interim.


The linked records form prison “terms,” with one term record for each stay an individual had in prison. Multiple term records for the same individual are organized in term histories, which can be used to show recidivism within state prisons. The addition of PCCS entry records in 2012 allowed BJS to construct PCCS terms and, in states where the departments of corrections administer both institutional and community corrections, the entire penalty served can be observed in the NCRP. Some states have retroactively been able to report on this data back to 2000 allowing for even longer-term records.


The longitudinal nature of the NCRP collection allows BJS to describe and explain changes in the size and composition of state prison populations, and the transition from incarceration to community corrections and release into the general community. Analysis of NCRP data over time can document changes in the age distribution, racial and/or ethnic composition, and sentenced offense profile of prison admissions, prison releases, prison stock population, and post-custody supervision population. These changes, in relation to other demographics and characteristics, are impossible to describe with only aggregate counts of these populations. The NCRP is the only national database that provides in-depth data on these issues. The NCRP data is available at the National Archive of Criminal Justice Data (NACJD).


2. Indicate how, by whom, and for what purpose the information is to be used. Except for a new collection, indicate the actual use the agency has made of the information received from the current collection.


BJS Uses


BJS uses the NCRP to generate statistics to help understand changes in the composition of prison populations. NCRP allows BJS to accurately describe the age, race and ethnicity, sex, and offense distributions of state prison populations. These estimates are published in the annual Prisoners bulletin, which uses data from both NPS and NCRP. 15 NCRP is the base dataset from which samples are drawn for some BJS recidivism studies. See the most recent report on the recidivism of former prisoners released from 24 states (NCJ 256094).


BJS regularly uses NCRP data to respond to questions from state legislators, Congress, the press, researchers, and the general public on issues related to corrections in the United States. NCRP data are used to show trends in demographic and offense distributions over time. BJS introduced a data analysis tool with crosstabulation capabilities to encourage the use of NCRP by persons who do not wish to obtain access to the entire dataset while making all prisoner data available in a central location for ease of use. (See the online data dissemination tools section of this application.)


Previous BJS publications using NCRP data include—


BJS uses NCRP data as the basis for some of its national studies of recidivism of released prisoners. The NCRP data are used to draw the sample for these studies and to provide information about inmates’ demographic attributes, offenses, sentences, time served, admission type, release methods, parole supervision, and additional variables that might be associated with recidivism.

The construction of prison term records from the NCRP data in most states allows BJS to identify within-state reimprisonment. This is a less burdensome and less expensive method to provide more timely information on certain aspects of recidivism compared to relying on each of the NCRP cohorts separately or asking the DOCs for their independent collection of recidivism statistics.


The NCRP term records also allow researchers to account for variations in demography, geography, and criminal justice characteristics (including time served, sentencing, and offense information) in recidivism studies. NCRP enables recidivism rates to be calculated for individuals, even if the same individual returns to prison multiple times during a follow-up period. The linkage of prison admission, year-end custody, and release records in NCRP allows BJS to follow unique individuals over an extended time frame and make observations regarding their recidivism patterns by sex, age, race and ethnicity, offense category, or state, regardless of their year of release.


BJS is also linking NCRP with other administrative data to better understand factors that could contribute to successful reentry into the community by formerly incarcerated persons. Linking the NCRP data to other federal datasets permits BJS to address a wide range of questions about post-prison reentry and recidivism. Starting in 2014, BJS funded and executed an interagency agreement with the U.S. Census Bureau’s Center for Economic Studies (CES) to link NCRP data to the Social Security Administration’s (SSA) Numident records, housed behind the U.S. Census Bureau’s secure firewall.16 Once linked, CES analysts assign a personal identification key (PIK) to each individual and delete all personal identifying information. These de-identified records can be used to link NCRP data to other federal and state datasets, including—

  • SSA Numident records and Death Master File (DMF)

  • Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services’ (CMS) health care enrollment

  • Internal Revenue Service’s (IRS) W-2 forms and tax returns

  • U.S. Postal Service’s (USPS) change of address file

  • U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) federally backed mortgage and housing assistance files

  • Unemployment insurance (UI) earnings data from the Longitudinal Employer-Household Dynamics (LEHD)

  • State Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) data

  • U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) files

  • State Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture


NCRP term records have shed new light on the calculation of time served in prison. Time served from admission to release is of critical importance to understanding how prison populations grow and for understanding the impact of sentencing reforms on prison populations. Most commonly, time served is measured by those released from prison, that is, time served by a release cohort. This measure is useful for some purposes—such as assessing the impacts of time served on recidivism—but it is not useful for other purposes, such as assessing the impacts of sentencing reforms on the severity of punishment, or for forecasting prison populations.


To assess the impacts of sentencing reforms on the severity of punishment, time served needs to be associated with the admissions cohorts at time T and subsequent periods. For example, if a sentencing reform is implemented at time T, time served by release cohorts would not provide good measures of the impacts of the reform as the release cohorts consist of a mixture of admissions cohorts, many of whom entered prior to T.


The PCCS term records can inform policymakers about the movement of released prisoners into post-custody supervision programs. By linking the prison and PCCS terms in NCRP, BJS can make statements about the characteristics of persons who succeed or fail under community supervision and examine the balance of sentence time served in prison versus in the community. As states attempt to reduce the costs of incarceration, this ratio of prison time to PCCS time may change and can now be captured by NCRP in 25 states.


As previously noted, BJS is actively engaging other federal agencies to link NCRP with non-criminal justice databases in the interest of learning about barriers to successful reentry into the community. This would extend the longitudinal reach of NCRP to better address contributing causes to recidivism.


In 2024, BJS and the National Institute of Corrections (NIC) hosted the first in-person Institutional Correction Research Network (ICRN) meeting since 2019. ICRN/NCRP is an annual event that brings together state and federal corrections researchers to encourage networking and information sharing across departments, inform the national research agenda, increase the application of existing research, and improve data quality. With funding from BJS through NIC, the Crime and Justice Institute (CJI) facilitated in-person and virtual events during ICRN/NCRP to foster the building of a collaborative network of corrections researchers who are using data to drive decisions in their local jurisdictions. This network provided BJS with insights and feedback on data collections and uses.


External Research Uses of NCRP


Annually, the NCRP data are used by the Bureau of Justice Assistance to assess the progress of the Second Chance Act programs as well as in a congressionally requested report on human trafficking.


As state participation in NCRP has increased and the data have become more useful through the construction of term records, so has interest in using the data for research purposes. BJS makes the NCRP data set available to the public through restricted use files located at the National Archive of Criminal Justice Data Archive (NACJD) at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI (https://www.icpsr.umich.edu/icpsrweb/ICPSR/series/38). Researchers are required to apply for access through the Standard Application Process (SAP) at ResearchDataGov.org. Through this review process applicants specify the reasons for the request and obtain IRB approval or notice of exemption for their research. Over the past 3 years, there were almost 350 downloads of the restricted file documentation, and 24 unique persons were granted access to the NCRP data.


Starting in 2015, BJS made access to the NCRP data easier by releasing unrestricted files with limited variables. The public-use dataset includes selected variables by state for 1991-2021. These annual files allow researchers and the public to perform analyses to get basic crosstabulations of age, sex, race, Hispanic origin, major offense category, and aggregated time served and sentence lengths by state. These files have proven to be popular. Over the past 3 years, there were more than 2,200 instances in which the data or documentation were downloaded.


BJS found a total of over 50 published uses of the NCRP data over the past 3 years, with most researchers using age, sex, race, Hispanic origin, offense, types of admission and release, and sentence length variables in their analyses. For example, the Sentencing Project published a policy brief describing how many people are spending over 10 years in prison. This articles and examples of additional uses of the NCRP data by policy organizations, academics, and media personnel for the past 3 years are listed in Appendix C.



3. Describe whether, and to what extent, the collection of information involves the use of automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or other forms of information technology, e.g., permitting electronic submission of responses, and the basis for the decision for adopting this means of collection. Also, describe any consideration of using information technology to reduce burden.


State DOCs provide electronic data sets extracted from correctional resource management systems. The files are uploaded by state data providers to a secure Confirmit upload site customized for NCRP. States are provided a link to the secure site, then files uploaded to the site are automatically downloaded to a secure server operated by the data collection agent. This secure file upload site was first implemented in April 2024. The site is compliant with Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) 140-3 and meets all the requirements of the Federal Information Security Modernization Act (FISMA) and the Privacy Act. Most participating states provide data on an annual basis, allowing them to use existing computer extraction programs with very minor alterations. Through technical assistance, BJS staff has worked with states to develop these programs, as well as update them when the states migrate to new information technology systems or database management software packages.


BJS provides respondents with technical assistance as needed to minimize respondents’ efforts in data collection and to improve data quality. In addition, BJS accepts NCRP data in any file format, and standardizes state data to BJS definitions, if provided with state documentation. BJS staff recode state statutes and other offense codes to standard BJS codes, which significantly reduces the burden on participating jurisdictions. BJS has developed quality control protocols that provide quick identification of out-of-range data values, identify abnormally high rates of missing data, and compare the current year’s data to available previous years’ data to ensure that large changes in the variable-specific and total number of data submitted can be explained by the state data providers. Rapid processing and quality control of the data results in reduced burden for states since any discrepancies can be immediately addressed.


4. Describe efforts to identify duplication. Show specifically why any similar information already available cannot be used or modified for use for the purposes described in Item A.2 above.


NCRP is not duplicated by any other federal agency. BJS is the only government agency that collects national-level data on sentencing, time served in prison and on PCCS, and offense composition for prison admissions, releases, and offenders in the custody of state prisons at year-end.


Similar data are collected by Appriss as part of the JusticeXchange database (justicexchange.com). JusticeXchange grew out of the Victim Information and Notification Everyday (VINE) program (VINELink - Empowering Victims of Crime) to notify victims when an offender has additional interactions with the criminal justice system. The collection consists of individual-level movements of offenders in and out of local jails and 35 state DOCs that are updated on a daily, or even hourly basis. The Appriss data, however, are highly variable in completeness for sentencing, offense, type of admission and release, education, and state or federal fingerprint IDs. More than half of the state DOC records are missing values for these items. Appriss data also lack date of release for many of the DOC records, which limits their use in calculating time served in prison. The data also lack PCCS information. BJS explored the use of Appriss data to improve its understanding of jail inmates starting in 2015 but found extensive data quality and completeness limitations and decided not to replace the statistics currently obtained from BJS’s jails collections.


BJS’s NPS and Annual Surveys of Probation and Parole (ASPP) (OMB Control No. 1121-0064, expires 09/30/2026) obtain aggregate counts on admissions to and releases from state prisons, probation and parole programs, year-end stock populations, and some demographic data. These aggregate counts serve as the official counts of people who are incarcerated and on probation and parole. They are also used as control totals for weighting when calculating subnational estimates. A more detailed disaggregation of the populations, such as racial differences in time served on parole or changes in offense distribution by age groups over time, cannot be performed using ASPP data and requires NCRP individual-level data.


5. If the collection of information impacts small businesses or other small entities, describe any methods used to minimize burden.


Not applicable. The NCRP data collection does not involve small businesses or other small entities. The respondents are state DOCs.

6. Describe the consequence to federal program or policy activities if the collection is not conducted or is conducted less frequently, as well as any technical or legal obstacles to reducing burden.


Less frequent collection of NCRP would greatly limit BJS’s capability to measure changes in prison populations, assess recidivism and reentry issues, enhance linkage of records to expand coverage of key issues related to prison populations, and measure transitions between stages of the correctional system. Less frequent collection would limit BJS’s ability to regularly report measures of change in sex, race, Hispanic origin, age, and offense (and cross-classifications across these groups) of prison populations. It would also limit BJS’s ability to weight or generate annual estimates of these characteristics. In addition, as NCRP is the only national data set that contains comparative data for monitoring trends in sentence length and time served. Delaying or collecting data less frequently would impact BJS’s and other researchers’ ability to detect changes in sentencing practice that affect prison populations. Additionally, less frequent collection would hinder BJS’s ability to create the term files that include important entry and exit dates that are used in recidivism studies.


Less frequent data collection would impose more burden on respondents who have set up computerized methods to generate NCRP data. In some states, data on admissions to and releases from prison are updated in real time. Some states are only able to provide records for those prisoners being admitted or released for the most recent twelve months.


7. Explain any special circumstances that would cause an information collection to be conducted in a manner:


  • requiring respondents to report information to the agency more often than quarterly;

  • requiring respondents to prepare a written response to a collection of information in fewer than 30 days after receipt of it;

  • requiring respondents to submit more than an original and two copies of any document;

  • requiring respondents to retain records, other than health, medical, government contract, grant-in-aid, or tax records for more than three years;

  • in connection with a statistical survey, that is not designed to produce valid and reliable results that can be generalized to the universe of study;

  • requiring the use of statistical data classification that has not been reviewed and approved by OMB;

  • that includes a pledge of confidentially that is not supported by authority established in statute or regulation, that is not supported by disclosure and data security policies that are consistent with the pledge, or which unnecessarily impedes sharing of data with other agencies for compatible confidential use; or

  • requiring respondents to submit proprietary trade secret, or other confidential information unless the agency can demonstrate that it has instituted procedures to protect the information's confidentially to the extent permitted by law.


There are no special circumstances.


8. If applicable, provide a copy and identify the date and page number of publication in the Federal Register of the agency's notice, required by 5 CFR 1320.8(d), soliciting comments on the information collection prior to submission to OMB. Summarize public comments received in response to that notice and describe actions taken by the agency in response to these comments. Specifically address comments received on cost and hour burden.


Describe efforts to consult with persons outside the agency to obtain their views on the availability of data, frequency of collection, the clarity of instructions and recordkeeping, disclosure, or reporting format (if any), and on the data elements to be recorded, disclosed, or reported.


Consultation with representatives of those from whom information is to be obtained or those who must compile records should occur at least once every 3 years -- even if the collection-of-information activity is the same as in prior periods. There may be circumstances that may preclude consultation in a specific situation. These circumstances should be explained.


The NCRP is consistent with the guidelines in 5 CFR 1320.8(d). BJS published a 60-Day Notice in the Federal Register on July 3, 2024 (FR Vol 89, Number 128, pages 55280-55282; see Appendix D). The comment period ended on September 3, 2024. BJS did not receive any comments (Appendix E). BJS published the 30-day notice for public commentary in the Federal Register on September 16, 2024 (89 FRN 75582).


Outside Consultation


No outside consultation was used for the 2025-2027 NCRP due to minimal changes.


9. Explain any decision to provide any payments or gifts to respondents, other than remuneration of contractors or grantees.


No government funds will be used as payment or for gifts to respondents.


10. Describe any assurance of confidentiality provided to respondents and the basis for the assurance in statute, regulation, or agency policy.


BJS, its employees, and its data collection agents will use the data it collects only for statistical or research purposes, consistent with 34 U.S.C. § 10134, which states “data collected by the Bureau shall be used only for statistical or research purposes, and shall be gathered in a manner that precludes their use for law enforcement or any purpose relating a private person or public agency other than statistical or research purposes.” BJS is required to protect information identifiable to a private person from unauthorized disclosure and may not publicly release data in a way that could reasonably identify a specific private person, consistent with the confidentiality requirements in 34 U.S.C. § 10231 and 28 CFR Part 22. BJS collects NCRP data for statistical purposes only, does not release data pertaining to specific individuals in the NCRP, and has procedures in place to guard against disclosure of personally identifiable information. NCRP data are maintained under the security provisions outlined in U.S. Department of Justice regulation 28 CFR §22.23, which can be reviewed in BJS Data Quality Guidelines. All data collection agent staff working on the NCRP sign the following privacy certificate each year: https://bjs.ojp.gov/sites/g/files/xyckuh236/files/media/document/bjsmpc.pdf.


11. Provide additional justification for any questions of a sensitive nature, such as sexual behavior and attitudes, religious beliefs, and other matters that are commonly considered private. This justification should include the reasons why the agency considers the questions necessary, the specific uses to be made of the information, the explanation to be given to persons from whom the information is requested, and any steps to be taken to obtain their consent.


There are no questions of a sensitive nature included in the NCRP collection.


12. Provide estimates of the hour burden of the collection of information. The statement should:


  • Indicate the number of respondents, frequency of response, annual hour burden, and an explanation of how the burden was estimated. Unless directed to do so, agencies should not conduct special surveys to obtain information on which to base hour burden estimates. Consultation with a sample (fewer than 10) of potential respondents is desirable. If the hour burden on respondents is expected to vary widely because of differences in activity, size, or complexity, show the range of estimated hour burden, and explain the reasons for the variance. General, estimates should not include burden hours for customary and usual business practices.


  • If this request for approval covers more than one form, provide separate hour burden estimates for each form.


  • Provide estimates of annualized cost to respondents for the hour burdens for collections of information, identifying and using appropriate wage rate categories. The cost of contracting out or paying outside parties for information collection activities should not be included here. Instead, this cost should be included in Item 14.



The 56 respondents in the NCRP data collection universe include: the DOC in each of the 50 states, the Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency (CSOSA) for the District of Columbia, and 5 different contacts for parole data in states where the DOC does not keep data on people on parole (Alabama, Georgia, Massachusetts, Nevada, and South Carolina). Data on federal prison inmates are obtained through BJS’s Federal Justice Statistics Program (FJSP), so no burden is placed on the Federal Bureau of Prisons for NCRP.


The costs to respondents incurred as a result of participating in this data collection would be incurred in the normal course of daily operations, except for the hours involved in preparing the data. All states developed computer programs to extract data during their initial participation in NCRP. These computer programs are then re-run to prepare data for submission in subsequent years. Burden hours for the 3 collection years (2025—2027) differ based on whether a state has previously submitted NCRP prison and PCCS data in recent years. All 50 DOCs have recently submitted NCRP prison data, but currently a maximum of 35 DOCs have submitted PCCS admissions and release data in the last 4 years. BJS estimates of burden are derived from discussions with both current and potential contributors to the NCRP.


Burden hours for prison records (NCRP-1A, NCRP-1B, NCRP-1D)


All 50 DOCs have recently submitted NCRP prison data, so the average time needed to continue providing prison data is expected to be 7 hours per respondent for prisoner admissions and releases (NCRP-1A and NCRP-1B) and 7 hours for data on persons in prison at yearend (NCRP-1D) based on conversations with data providers during follow-up calls. The average of 7 hours per respondent considers that some respondents need just 2 hours to make a copy of a research database, while others may need to do additional work, including modifying computer programs, preparing input data, and documenting the record layout.


In 2025—2027, BJS expects to have all 50 DOCs providing NCRP prison data. The burden for provision of the NCRP data will remain at the 2024 level of 14 hours per respondent as the survey is not changing for this approval, for a total of 700 hours annually for the 50 DOCs in 2025, 2026, and 2027.


Burden hours for PCCS records (NCRP-1E, NCRP-1F)


In 2023, there were 35 jurisdictions submitting 2022 PCCS data (31 DOCs and 4 parole supervising agencies), and BJS estimates that extraction and submission of both the PCCS entries and exits takes an average of 8 hours per jurisdiction. In 2025—2027, BJS hopes to recruit an additional 5 jurisdictions (targeting DOCs) to submit NCRP PCCS data. For those 35 supervising agencies currently responding, provision of the PCCS data in 2025—2027 will total 280 hours (8 hours*35 respondents) annually. The total estimate for submission of PCCS for new jurisdictions in 2025—2027 is 120 hours (24 hours*5 respondents). For new agencies, BJS assumes the initial submission will take about 3 times longer than established reporters to account for programming, questions, and submission. The total amount of time for all PCCS submissions annually is 400 hours.


Burden hours for data review/follow-up consultations


Follow-up consultations with respondents are usually necessary while processing the data to verify information regarding the definition, completeness, and accuracy of their report. The duration of these follow-up consultations will vary based on the number of record types submitted. As such, BJS has estimated an average of 1.5 hours of follow-up for prison records and 1.5 hours of follow-up for PCCS data per jurisdiction.


Total burden hours for submitting NCRP data


BJS anticipates that the total annual burden for provision of all NCRP data across the jurisdictions will participate in 2025—2027 is anticipated to be 1,235 hours (700 hours for prison records, 400 hours for PCCS records, and 153 hours for follow-up consultation), or about 25 hours per respondent.


Table 1: Estimated Annualized Respondent Cost and Hour Burden

Activity

Number of Respondents

Freq.

Total Annual Responses

Participation Time (min)

Participation Time (hours)

Total Annual Burden (hours)

Hourly Rate*

Monetized Value of Respondent Time

NCRP Prison (NCRP-1A, 1B, 1D)

50

1

50

840

14





700

$39.43


$27,601

NCRP PCCS (NCRP 1E, 1F)

35

1

35

480

8




280

$39.43

$11,040

NCRP PCCS New

5

1

5

1,440

24


120

$39.43

$4,732

Respondent follow-up (prisons)

50

1

50

90

1.5

75

$39.43

$2,957

Respondent follow-up (PCCS)

40

1

40

90

1.5

60

$39.43

$2,366

Unduplicated Totals

54


54




1,235


$48,696

*Hourly rate for respondents obtained from the Bureau of Labor Statistics 2023 estimates for State Government Social Scientists and Related Workers https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes193099.htm .


13. Provide an estimate of the total annual cost burden to respondents or recordkeepers resulting from the collection of information. (Do not include the cost of any hour burden shown in Items 12 and 14).


  • The cost estimate should be split into two components: (a) a total capital

and start up cost component (annualized over its expected useful life); and (b) a

total operation and maintenance and purchase of service component.

The estimates should take into account costs associated with generating,

maintaining, and disclosing or providing the information. Include descriptions of

methods used to estimate major cost factors including system and technology acquisition, expected useful life of capital equipment, the discount rate(s), and the time period over which costs will be incurred. Capital and start-up costs include, among other items, preparations for collecting information such as purchasing computers and software; monitoring, sampling, drilling and testing equipment; and record storage facilities.


  • If cost estimates are expected to vary widely, agencies should present ranges of cost burdens and explain the reasons for the variance. The cost of purchasing or contracting out information collection services should be a part of this cost burden estimate. In developing cost burden estimates, agencies may consult with a sample of respondents (fewer than 10), utilize the 60-day pre-OMB submission public comment process and use existing economic or regulatory impact analysis associated with the rulemaking containing the information collection, as appropriate.


  • Generally, estimates should not include purchases of equipment or services, or portions thereof, made: (1) prior to October 1, 1995, (2) to achieve regulatory compliance with requirements not associated with the information collection, (3) for reasons other than to provide information or keep records for the government, or (4) as part of customary and usual business or private practices.


There are no anticipated costs to respondents beyond the employee time expended in gathering advance information or completing the data request. Respondents are not being asked to purchase anything or maintain any services as part of this data collection. Furthermore, purchase of outside accounting or information collection services, if performed by the respondent, is part of usual and customary business practices, not specifically required for providing information to BJS.


14. Provide estimates of the annualized cost to the Federal Government. Also, provide a description of the method used to estimate cost, which should include quantification of hours, operational expenses (such as equipment, overhead, printing, and support staff), any other expense that would not have been incurred without this collection of information. Agencies also may aggregate cost estimates from Items 12, 13, and 14 into a single table.


The estimated cost to the Federal Government for collection, processing, and dissemination of the NCRP from December 1, 2024-November 30, 2027, is approximately $2.4 million. These costs included $1.85 million paid through a cooperative agreement with a contractor and an estimated $550,000 in BJS personnel costs. The data collection agent, via cooperative agreement, conducts the survey through web-based collection, conducts follow-up, collects the data, and prepares a dataset for BJS use. BJS staff analyze the data, prepare statistical tables, and write reports based on these data. See table 2 for a detailed breakdown of costs to the Federal government.








Table 2. Estimated costs for NCRP


BJS costs

December 1, 2024 – November 30, 2025

December 1, 2025 – November 30, 2026

December 1, 2026 – November 30, 2027 


 

Staff salaries

 

 

 


 

GS-13 Statistician (30%)

$40,110

$40,912

$41,730


 

GS-11 Statistician (30%)

$27,311

$27,857

$28,414


 

GS-15 Supervisory Statistician (3%)

$5,906

$6,024

$6,145


 

GS-15 Chief Editor (2%)

$3,937

$4,016

$4,096


 

GS-13 Editor (5%)

$6,922

$7,060

$7,202


 

Other Editorial Staff (3%)

$3,569

$3,640

$3,713


 

GS-14 Information Technology Specialist (5%)

$8,112

$8,274

$8,440


 

Senior BJS management (GS-15 & Directors)

$6,490

$6,620

$6,752


 

 

$102,357

$104,404

$106,492


 

Fringe benefits (30% of salaries)

$30,707

$31,321

$31,948


 

Subtotal: Salary & fringe

$133,064

$135,725

$138,440


 

Other administrative costs of salary & fringe (15%) 

$19,960

$20,359

$20,766


 

Subtotal: BJS costs

$153,024

$156,084

$159,206


Data collection agent cost

 

 

 


Data collection agent costs (salaries, fringe benefits, data collection, data processing, program management and overhead) 

$620,000

$620,000

$620,000


Total costs

$773,024

$776,084

$779,206




15. Explain the reasons for any program changes or adjustments.


The burden will remain the about the same as the previously OMB approved 2023 collection. Race and ethnicity data collection guidelines have been updated to reflect the 2024 Statistical Policy Directive 15 (SPD15) revisions (see Attachment A) but BJS does not anticipate any increase in burden. BJS will continue to accept the race and ethnicity categories respondents are collecting. BJS is working with our criminal justice partners to assist in their compliance with SPD15 by the OMB deadline.


16. For collections of information whose results will be published, outline plans for tabulations, and publication. Address any complex analytical techniques that will be used. Provide the time schedule for the entire project, including beginning and ending dates of the collection of information, completion of report, publication dates, and other actions.



Table 3. Project timeline (Annual: 2024 Data Collection Example)

Task

Start

End

Data collection

January 2025

September 2025

Notification of impending due dates, nonresponse follow-up, thank you letters


January 2025


October 2025

Verification, final callbacks, and data cleaning


February 2025


December 2025

Deliver datafiles

December 2025

January 2026

Analysis

January 2026

April 2026

BJS data tool/data file and documentation published

May 2026

May 2026


For additional details on the project schedule, see B.2.


Information Dissemination of the NCRP


BJS’s plans for products and publications from NCRP data over the next 3 years fall into 4 broad categories:


BJS Bulletins


BJS bulletins provide the “first cut” from a routine statistical data collection. BJS will use the NCRP to augment data from NPS to report annually on changes in the age, sex, race, and offense composition of the prison population at year-end; prison admissions during the year; prison releases during the year; and expected time served upon admission. BJS will use NCRP data in the production of 3 annual bulletins that are issued from the NPS data collection:


  • Prisoners in 2024 (expected release: end-of-year 2025)

  • Prisoners in 2025 (expected release: end-of-year 2026)

  • Prisoners in 2026 (expected release: end-of-year 2027)


The NCRP age, sex, and race data are used to estimate the demographic distribution of state prisoners in the Correctional Population in the United States bulletins:


  • Correctional Population in the United States, 2024 (expected release: end-of-year 2025)

  • Correctional Population in the United States, 2025 (expected release: end-of-year 2026)

  • Correctional Population in the United States, 2026 (expected release: end-of-year 2027)


Special topic reports


Topics of special interest may include the following:


  • Analysis of admission and release types from state prison by different characteristics like demographics, offense types/severity, or time served in state prison

  • Changes in the patterns of admissions and release types and prison population characteristics pre and post COVID-19 pandemic

  • Recidivism updates


Online data dissemination tools


The Corrections Statistical Analysis Tool (CSAT-Prisoners) https://csat.bjs.ojp.gov/) includes data from NCRP. The tool has both dynamic table-building capabilities and static “quick tables” that allow users to download longitudinal trend data for standard measures (year-end population, admissions, releases, etc.) by sex and state from 1978—2021. BJS updates this tool annually, and it is widely used by the media, students, and researchers to provide answers to routine requests for counts of prison populations and estimates of characteristics of the prison population. This tool has advanced queries with cross-tabulations of data as well as map tools showing population and rates by state for 1978—2021. This data tool combines the functionality of the previous NPS Prisoners tool with the public use NCRP data file incorporating individual level data aggregated to the state level.


Archived data at NACJD


The NCRP data are archived at NACJD. Researchers who obtain access to the restricted use data can download all records from 2000 to the currently archived year in 4 files: prison term records for those states with records that enabled linkage, unlinked prison records for the states and years where linkage was not possible, PCCS term records, and unlinked PCCS records for states where linkage was not possible. The 4 files are updated annually as new states submit data and new links are formed in the term records. BJS has extensive documentation to guide users, and provides programs in SAS, SPSS, and Stata.


BJS has also created an annual abbreviated version of the NCRP prison data at NACJD that is fully accessible to the public. This dataset includes some demographic information (sex, a combination of the race and ethnicity variables, calculated age in 10-year intervals, and education level), as well as most serious offense collapsed into the standard BJS categories (violent, property, drug, public order, other), sentence length and time served divided into intervals, high level categories of type of admission and release, and the state where the inmate is being held, admitted, or released. This dataset makes NCRP data widely available to users who want to answer simple questions about the state prison system, or who do not need the full complement of NCRP variables to answer their questions.



17. If seeking approval to not display the expiration date for OMB approval of the information collection, explain the reasons that display would be inappropriate.


We are requesting no exemption.


18. Explain each exception to the certification statement.


This collection of information does not include any exceptions to the certificate statement.


B. COLLECTIONS OF INFORMATON EMPLOYING STATISTICAL METHODS.

This collection contains statistical data.


List of Attachments:


Appendix A: Instructions for NCRP data submission, reporting year 2024

Appendix B: The Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Street Act of 1968

Appendix C: List of publications using NCRP data, 2021-2024

Appendix D: Federal Register 60-Day Notice

Appendix E: Comments to the 60-Day Notice

Appendix F: Data Collection Protocol

Appendix G: Example email from data collection agent to data respondents for collection of 2023 NCRP data

Appendix H: Introductory letter from BJS to data respondents for collection of 2023 NCRP data

Appendix I: NCRP frequently asked questions fact sheet

Appendix J: Examples of follow-up emails to 5 states seeking clarification

Appendix K: Item response rates for 2022 NCRP





1 Arizona, Michigan, and New Jersey did not provide data 2019-2022.

2 Capital punishment is the most serious and costly sanction in the U.S.

3 Justice Employment and Expenditure Tool, https://bjs.ojp.gov/jeet

4 Peter Muller, A Range of Emerging Fiscal Risks Could Disrupt State Budgets (Pew Trusts, 2024). https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/articles/2024/04/17/a-range-of-emerging-fiscal-risks-could-disrupt-state-budgets

5 Cindy Reed, Maris Mapolski, Ram Subramanian, Alice Chasan, and Karina Schroeder, The State of Justice Reform 2018 (New York: Vera Institute of Justice, 2019). https://www.vera.org/state-of-justice-reform/2018; Jamiles Lartey, How ‘Cruel and Not Unusual’ Conditions Persist in Many Lockups (The Marshall Project, 2023). https://www.themarshallproject.org/2023/02/18/texas-arizona-alabama-rikers-prison-conditions;

6 Niki Monazzam and Kristen M. Budd, Incarcerated Women and Girls (The Sentencing Project, 2023). https://www.sentencingproject.org/fact-sheet/incarcerated-women-and-girls/

7 Yunsoo Park, Addressing Trauma in Women’s Prisons (Alexandria, VA: American Correctional Association, 2022).

8 Joseph Shapiro, Federal Report Says Women in Prison Receive Harsher Punishments than Men (NPR, 2020). https://www.npr.org/2020/02/26/809269120/federal-report-says-women-in-prison-receive-harsher-punishments-than-men

9 Meg Anderson, The U.S. Prison Population is rapidly graying. Prisons aren’t build for what’s coming (NPR, 2024). https://www.npr.org/2024/03/11/1234655082/prison-elderly-aging-geriatric-population-care#:~:text=The%20proportion%20of%20state%20and,will%20be%20geriatric%20by%202030.

10 Kimberly A. Skarupski, Alden Gross, Jennifer A. Schrack, Jennifer A. Deal, and Gabriel B. Eber. (2018). The health of America’s Aging Prison Population. Epidemiologic Reviews, 40, 157-165. See also, David H. Cloud, Ilana R. Garcia-Grossman, Andrea Armstrong, and Brie Williams. (2023). Public health and prisons: Priorities in the age of mass incarceration. Annual Review of Public Health, 40, 407-428.

11 E. Ann Carson. (2016). Aging of the state prison population, 1993-2013. Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S. Department of Justice: Washington, DC.

12 Richard Freeman. (2003). Can we close the revolving door?: Recidivism vs. Employment of ex-offenders in the U.S. Urban Institute reentry roundtable. New York University Law School, NY.

13 Cyrus Ahalt, Robert L. Trestman, Josiah D. Rich, Robert B. Greifinger, and Brie A. Williams. (2013). Paying the price: The pressing need for quality, cost and outcomes data to improve correctional healthcare for older prisoners. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 61(11), 2013-2019.

14 Emily Buehler, PhD and Rich Kluckow, DSW (2024) Correctional Populations in the United States, 2022, BJS, (cpus22st.pdf (ojp.gov))

15 See, for example Prisoners in 2022; p22st.pdf (ojp.gov) (NCJ 307149), tables 9 and 10 for NCRP data used to show the sex, race, and age distributions of prisoners, and tables 14 and 15 for the state offense distributions. Earlier reports in the Prisoners publication series also show these tables, as well as incorporating NCRP data in estimates of time served by offense, sentence length by admission type, and in-depth analyses of state policy initiatives.

16 Information about the CES is available at https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/ces.html.

17


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