The Daily Circuit

Minn. inmate time served up 38 percent since 1990

by Tom Weber, Minnesota Public Radio

10:06 AM, June 6, 2012

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Kent Jones, an inmate at the Minnesota Correctional Facility in Stillwater, Minn., on October 14, 2011. Jones was convicted in 2000 of murdering a neighbor in Big Lake, Minn. (MPR Photo/Nikki Tundel)

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  • Adam Gelb: Director of the Pew Center on the States' Public Safety Performance Project

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Inmates in Minnesota are spending more time in prison, according to a new report from the Pew Center on the States.

Nationally, the length of a prison stay is up more than a third over the past two decades.

That applies to both petty offenders and violent criminals and shows Minnesota's time served grew by 38 percent since 1990.

As of Jan. 1, there were 9,300 adult inmates in Minnesota prisons. They spend an average of 2.3 years behind bars. In 1990, there were 5,500 inmates with an average time served of 1.7 years.

During that time, the number of people in prison has doubled nationally, to more than 1.5 million in 2010.

But the Pew Center is also noting that while the number of inmates and time served is up, the impact on public safety might not be worth all that extra cost to taxpayers to house those prisoners.

Adam Gelb, director of the Pew Center on the States' Public Safety Performance Project, joined The Daily Circuit Wednesday to discuss the report.

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