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This weekly summary produced by the Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice Coordination is a recommendation of the Jail Population Management Subcommittee supported by the work of the Safety and Justice Challenge.
Daily jail population by legal status, Sunday, 10 December – Saturday, 16 December 2023
 For the week ending 16 December 2023, the average daily jail population was 1,193 people, a nearly 2% decrease from last week, when the average was 1,212 people. Note that one person was detained on other matters from 10 -16 December 2023.
On average, 89% of people detained in the jail last week were in custody for open matters. 54% of the average daily population was detained with a violent offense as their most serious charge at booking.
Note that, on average, less than 1% of the average daily population included people with misdemeanor sex offenses, weapons charges, and drug offenses as the most serious charge at booking.
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On average, Black people made up 89% of the average jail population last week. In 2021 (the last year for which we have available Census data), Black people comprised 58% of the estimated parish population. Thus, Black people are overrepresented in our average daily population. Asian-Americans made up less than 1% of the average daily population.
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146 people were booked into the jail from Sunday, 10 December through Saturday, 16 December 2023, decrease of over 6% from the previous week, when 156 people were admitted to the jail.
Jail Admissions by most serious charge at booking
83 people (51% of those booked last week) had a felony as the most serious charge at booking, an 38% decrease compared to last week, when 60 people were admitted to the jail with a felony as the most serious charge at booking. The number of people admitted to the jail with a state misdemeanor as the most serious charge, 35, represented 24% of this week’s admissions, an increase of 35% from last week’s 54 misdemeanor admissions.
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145 people were released from jail custody between 10 December and 16 December, a decrease of nearly 24% from last week, when 190 people were released from jail.
141 people – 97% of those released last week-- left jail custody before the final disposition of their cases. On average, people who were released from jail before the final disposition of their case stayed in custody for 42 days (median = 3 days; minimum = less than one day; maximum = 839 days; standard dev. = 113.3). People who were released after their case’s final disposition stayed in custody an average of 159 days (n = 12; minimum = 5 days; maximum = 511 days; standard dev. = 236.3).
Last week’s jail turnover rate was 24%, a decrease of 5 percentage point from last week. A measure developed by the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the jail turnover rate tells us something about the flow of people into and out of the jail. On average last week, 29% of people detained in the jail on a given day had been newly admitted or very soon to be released.
In 2021 (the most recent year for which we have published data), weekly turnover rate nationwide was 42% (see this BJS report for more details.)
Generally, higher turnover rates indicate larger numbers of jail admissions and releases, relative to the average daily population.
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The average length of stay was 45 days for the 145 people who were released from jail custody between December 10 and December 16, 2023 (min = < 1 day; max = 839 days; standard dev. = 118.0).
Length of jail stay for people released the week ending 12/16/2023, N = 145 releases
The median length of stay was 4 days for all releasees, the same as last week’s median.
47%, or 68 people, were released after staying in jail for two days or fewer. The 77 people who were released after 2 or more days in jail stayed in jail for an average of 84 days (median = 26 days; standard dev. = 152.5).
We calculate the average daily jail population as the mean of all daily counts during the week.
We calculate length of stay as the difference, in days, between booking date and release date, for people released from the jail during the week.
We determine the most serious charge at booking using a hierarchy of charges, with all felonies being more serious than all misdemeanors.
As a stakeholder, have you noticed something and wondered if data exists to confirm your observations? At OCJC, we are interested in your observations and data questions. Please reach out to Adrienne Tobler at adrienne.tobler@nola.gov to further discuss the possibility of exploring your questions.
For technical questions, contact Theresa McKinney at theresa.mckinney@nola.gov.
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