Sustain offenders’ use of government assistance programs.
Offender Reentry Plan March 2011
Page 16 of 28
Appendix A: King County Jail Population As seen in Table 3, the large majority of inmates in KCCF are male, comprising 87 percent of the jail population. At 36 percent of the inmate population and only 6 percent of the general population in King County, African-American individuals are vastly over-represented in KCCF. Similarly, Native American individuals are present in jail at three times their rate in the general public. This data suggests that improving systems to reduce recidivism is not just a financial issue, but an issue of equity as well.
The majority of the KCCF population is incarcerated for non-violent offenses. Sixty-five percent of the population is being held for non-compliance, drugs, property crime or ‘other’ offense (King County, 2008). Table 4 lists the offenses for which KCCF inmates are being held.
Table 3: Percentage Average Daily Population by race and gender in KCCF and general county population, 2008
Male
Female
Total
General Population in King County
White / Caucasian 48% 7% 55% 75%
Black / African American 32% 4% 36% 6%
Asian-American 5% 1% 6% 13%
Native American 2% 1% 3% 1%
Total 87% 13%
(King County Department of Adult and Juvenile Detention) (US Census Bureau, 2008) *Data on percentage of Latina/o inmates not available from KC Department of Adult and Juvenile Detention