Jail populations dropped by 25% from 2019 to 2020, according to data from the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS). Most of the reduction came at the start of the pandemic, between March and June. A BJS report on COVID-19 in jails cited a drop in arrests during the early months of the pandemic and an increase in expedited releases to prevent crowding as causes for the drop.
Jails are different from prisons in some key ways. Generally, jails are for people awaiting trial or convicted and given a sentence of less than a year. Jails can also hold people for federal law enforcement agencies. Seventy percent of people in local jails are awaiting trials. About 20% of the jail population is held for federal and tribal authorities. Otherwise, convicted persons serve their sentences in prison.
