In Section I, only statistics from facilities that provided demographic information are considered. For a more complete, but less detailed picture about total jail population refer to Section II.
On the average, there were 57,768 inmates in Florida's county detention facilities during 2009 for facilities that provided demographic information. To compare with last year’s figures, this year’s count of 57,768 inmates represents a 6.1% decrease in the inmate population from that reported for the previous year. The decrease in population this year is remarkable for several reasons. This year’s decrease follows last years 3.0% decrease, marking the first time Florida’s jail population dropped for two consecutive years (a combined 8.9% drop) since the inception of this report in 1986, and the 6.1% drop is the largest yearly drop in population since 1986. The last largest change, up or down, to Florida’s jail population was a 10.0% increase between the years 2001 and 2002.
2009 Jail Population Recap
The percentage of jailed inmates awaiting trial in Florida fell during 2009, but on average, 60.3% of offenders in county detention facilities in 2009 were pretrial. See chart below for 2009 average pretrial percentages.