Incarceration Trends in

California

This fact sheet provides at-a-glance information about how many people are locked up in both state prisons and county jails and shows where the state stands on a variety of metrics, so that policymakers and the public can better determine where to target reforms.

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Key Facts

Total Number of People in County Jails and State Prisons, 2015
Explore your state's use of local jails and state prisons.

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The U.S. criminal justice system is vast and opaque; imagining new ways of doing things­—and knowing where to start­—can be a daunting task. The Vera Institute of Justice (Vera)’s Justice Scholars program is a paid summer internship for rising high school juniors and seniors interested in the history of policing, prosecution, and corrections. But t ...

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September 11, 2026
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