Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics Correctional Surveys

(The Annual Probation Survey, National Prisoner Statistics,
Survey of Jails, and The Annual Parole Survey) as presented
in Correctional Populations in the United States, Annual, Prisoners in 2002 and Probation and Parole in the United States, 2002.

In 2002, 6.7 million people were under some form of correctional supervision including:

Probation - court ordered community supervision of convicted offenders by a probation agency. In many instances, the supervision requires adherence to specific rules of conduct while in the community.

Prison - confinement in a State or Federal correctional facility to serve a sentence of more than 1 year, although in some jurisdictions the length of sentence which results in prison confinement is longer.

Jail - confinement in a local jail while pending trial, awaiting sentencing, serving a sentence that is usually less than 1 year, or awaiting transfer to other facilities after conviction.

Parole - community supervision after a period of incarceration. These data include only adults who are on active or inactive parole supervision or some other form of conditional release, including mandatory release, following a term of incarceration.