Prison management throughout the world demands sound structure, strict policies, and a big budget. The cost of housing and providing programs for inmates is overwhelming, so decreasing crime rates is the goal of every state.
South Carolina
housed a daily average of 21,712 inmates in 2014. These included persons with special management needs, those requiring close supervision, such as the crisis intervention hospital and when in protective custody, and those enrolled in special programs like addiction treatment and assisted living facilities, and those who are Educational Finance Act eligible.
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Convicted criminals in South Carolina can be housed in four levels of institutions. Three levels apply to men, who are placed according to security levels, and a fourth level is dedicated to female inmates, with security specifications handled within the level designation.
The
incarceration rates were reported by the South Carolina Department of Corrections, and published statistics in July 2015 included the following: Total inmates within the South Carolina prison system included: Level I (minimum security): 2,490, Level II (medium security): 9,515, Level III (maximum security): 7,437, and Level IV (female inmates): 1,331.
According to a survey conducted by the Bureau of Justice Statistics, Corrections Statistics Analysis Tool, and
published by the Prison Policy Initiative, South Carolina's incarceration rate has more than doubled since 1978. The study, conducted by Peter Wagner in May 2014 looked at people incarcerated for more than a year, per 100,000 people in the state.
The rate in 1978 was about 240/100,000 people and steadily climbed to 320 in 1987. Big changes were seen in 1990 when the rate topped 490, an increase of about 170, or 53 percent in a short period of three years. The rates continued to climb slowly for about eight years, reaching 515 in 2008, then saw another drastic jump to 570/100,000 in 2011, the last year studied (more than 10 percent in three years).
The state of South Carolina annually ranks about eighth overall in prison rates among the nation's states, and highest incarceration rates in general are seen in the South.
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