The Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) administers the CCF to collect and report information on the characteristics of correctional facilities and the conditions in which inmates are held. BJS collects data that informs issues related to the operations of facilities and the conditions of confinement, including facility capacity and crowding, safety and security within prisons, security staff-to-inmate ratios, overall facility function, programming, work assignments, and special housing.
The CCF has been administered to gather critical information on facilities, leading to understanding the characteristics of correctional facilities and the conditions in which inmates are being held. It is the only collection that provides a complete enumeration of state and federal correctional facilities across the country. Prison administrators, researchers and policy makers will use findings from the CCF to evaluate policies and practices throughout the nation and assess trends and patterns. Future collections will also rely on comprehensive CCF data to draw representative survey samples. Your participation is critical to ensure BJS captures accurate information.
The CCF is a survey an enumeration of every state and federal adult correctional facility in the country. The CCF has two types of respondents, central and individual reporters. Central data reporters at state departments of corrections (DOCs), the BOP, and private corporations are responsible for coordinating, compiling, and submitting facility-level data, while individual reporters provide data for a single facility, usually operated by a private contractor.
The census includes all correctional facilities administered by state departments of corrections (DOC) or the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) or operated by private companies contracted to primarily house inmates for state correctional authorities or the BOP. These facilities are intended for adults but sometimes hold juveniles. For this data collection, each individual correctional facility or unit holding inmates under your jurisdiction is included, even if that facility shares budget or staff with other facilities.
Facilities should be INCLUDED in this collection if…
Examples include prisons, penitentiaries, and correctional institutions; youthful offender facilities (except in California); forestry and conservation camps; boot camps; road camps; reception, diagnostic, and classification centers; prison hospitals; drug and alcohol treatment facilities for prisoners; halfway houses; residential community correction centers; pre-release centers; vocational training facilities; or state-authorized parolee return-to-custody facilities.
Facilities should be EXCLUDED from this collection if…
BJS will protect the privacy and confidentiality of the data provided to the fullest extent under federal law [Title 34 U.S.C. Section 10231 and 28 C.F.R. Part 22]. Any person who violates these provisions may be punished by a fine up to $10,000, plus other penalties. Per the Federal Cybersecurity Enhancement Act of 2015 (6 U.S.C. § 151), data are further protected from cybersecurity risks through screening of the systems that transmits BJS data. More information about the various authorities that govern BJS is available in the BJS Data Protection Guidelines on the BJS website.
By law, BJS may only use the data provided for statistical or research purposes [34 U.S.C. Section 10134]. BJS is not permitted to publicly release your responses in a way that could reasonably identify a specific private person. This collection provides key information on facility characterisics and conditions of confinement. BJS will publish aggregate-level CCF data in statistical reports, tables, and charts. Examples of BJS statistical products are available on www.bjs.gov. Consistent with its statistical mission, BJS will make CCF microdata available for secondary analysis purposes, subject to strong confidentiality protections and applicable federal law. BJS archives its published data at its official criminal justice data archive, currently the National Archive of Criminal Justice Data, to facilitate and encourage criminal justice research. BJS and its archive operate strict controls and apply robust safeguards to protect respondent confidentiality and mitigate potential privacy risks. BJS adheres to the Standard Application Process to accept and review applications for its restricted data [OMB Memorandum M-23-04].
Your participation is completely voluntary. There is no penalty if you choose to not participate, or you may omit any data fields you do not wish to provide. This collection has been approved by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB #: 1121-0147; 07/31/2027).
BJS is authorized by law to conduct this data collection (Title 34 U.S.C. Section 10132). BJS awarded funds to the RTI Research Triangle (RTI) to operate as BJS’s data collection agent and administer the CCF under BJS’s direction. As a condition of funding, RTI is required to comply with all applicable federal laws related to data use, confidentiality, and security.
Your username and password are provided in your invitation to participate in the CCF. If you have lost this information, please email bjs-prisoncensus@rti.org or call (877) 254-1806.
If you are experiencing errors related to your survey data and you cannot resolve them on your own, please explain the situation in the text box that appears under the error messages. Then proceed to the next question.
If you are experiencing technical errors or would like further assistance, please email bjs-prisoncensus@rti.org or call (877) 254-1806.
Yes. Data will save when you click the “Save and Continue” button at the bottom of each page of the survey. To return to the survey, log back in with your username and password.
You can download the appropriate form(s) from the website (https://bjs-prisoncensus.org/) and mail your completed form(s) to:
RTI International
Cox Building (Data Capture: 0219262.000.001.004)
PO Box 12194
Research Triangle Park, NC 27709-2194
Please scan your completed paper form(s) and send it/them as an attachment to bjs-prisoncensus@rti.org. Please include your name, phone number, and organization name in your email.
Please contact RTI at bjs-prisoncensus@rti.org or (877) 254-1806 to request an Excel template on which you can record data for multiple facilities.
Once the survey for a facility has been submitted, it is no longer possible to use the “Enter Data” button to re-open and modify a facility’s data. RTI may contact you to adjust survey responses to address issues discovered during data review. At that point, the “Enter Data” button will be re-enabled to allow these adjustments. If you are unsure about changes that need to be made to a survey’s data, please contact RTI at bjs-prisoncensus@rti.org or (877) 254-1806.
Yes. You can view, print and save a copy of your forms online. Blank reference forms for each version of the survey are available on the “Reference Forms” page. Forms containing completed survey data will be available using the “View PDF” button on the “Facility Surveys” page approximately 24 hours after a facility's data is submitted.
The CCF is sponsored by the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS), a federal government agency under the U.S. Department of Justice and a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System. BJS's principal function is to collect criminal justice data and to disseminate information for statistical purposes.
RTI International is a nonprofit research institute, headquartered in the Research Triangle Park in North Carolina, that provides research and technical services. RTI is the data collection agent for the CCF. For more information about RTI, please visit http://www.rti.org.
If you have questions about providing your data to the CCF, please contact the RTI data collection team at bjs-prisoncensus@rti.org or (877) 254-1806. If you have additional questions about the CCF, please contact the BJS CCF manager, Laura Maruschak, at 202-598-0802 or Laura.Maruschak@usdoj.gov.
After forms are submitted, they will be reviewed for completeness and clarity. To ensure that your information is as accurate as possible, RTI staff may follow up with you with clarifying questions.