NACo released its research findings on county government jail systems in its 2015 publication entitled County Jails at a Crossroads. Eighty-seven percent of all U.S. jails are county-owned. The publication discusses the need for reform in the justice process and then offers up leading solutions, many of which are already being implemented by some counties.

Facts and findings:

• Two thirds of the jail population is pretrial
• Approximately 40% of jails use a risk assessment process and find that 60% of their inmates are low risk
• Spending on corrections increased 74% between 2002 and 2012

The report, including additional findings and the data methods can be found here on the new NACo website.