The Cost of Locking People Up vs. Community Supervision

The Administrative Office of the United States Courts is an official agency which, as a part of its duties, publishes reports for the federal judiciary.  Today, it issued a report summarizing data compiled from the 2024 fiscal year.  Bottom line: the cost of detention of an individual followed by post-conviction incarceration is approximately ten times more costly than supervised release in the community.  The annual costs in the federal system based on the 2024 data:

$40,716 to detain a person prior to trial vs. $4,696 to supervise in the community pretrial;

$51,711 to imprison a person after sentencing vs. $4,742 to supervise in the community after sentencing.

The data for federal incarceration pales in comparison to the state.  The Legislative Analyst’s Office of the State of California, based on the 2024-2025 Budget, found that the cost of incarcerating a person at the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation is $133,110.

But, it is not all about money. As the federal report notes, supervision in the community “presents a second chance at a productive life.”  So, that too.