The relationship of jail population to operating costs in southern county jails

The cost of providing correctional services has been soaring in recent years, reaching a figure of $72.9 million for counties in eight southern states in 1974. Prisoner populations in these county jails ranged from one to 653. Such large outlays by small and often poorly financed governmental bodies combined with the apparent variations in jail size suggest that evidence concerning the relationship between scale of operation and average variable cost might be of significant value to local decision-makers.This paper begins with a review of previous work related to economies of scale in the public sector to provide a basis for understanding the costs associated with local jails. It proceeds to the development of a theory of the factors which affect operating costs in southern county jails—including scale of operation. These factors are then incorporated in a multiple-regression model of average variable cost. The findings indicate that approximately 90 percent of the variation in operating cost per prisoner is explained by the several independent variables of which wages, security and technology are statistically significant. Since jail size has no significant effect on operating cost per prisoner, a horizontal average variable cost curve is implied and no net economies of scale are revealed.     

Impact of Juror Attitudes about the Death Penalty on Juror Evaluations of Guilt and Punishment: A Meta-Analysis

This literature review summarizes the existing research examining how the attitude a potential juror has toward the death penalty impacts on the probability of favoring conviction. The summary of 14 investigations indicates that a favorable attitude toward the death penalty is associated with an increased willingness to convict (average r = .174). Using the binomial effect size display, this favorable attitude towards the death penalty translates into a 44% increase in the probability of a juror favoring conviction.     

Constant costs in the public provision of judicial services

The nature of the cost conditions surrounding the provision of judicial services by state and local governments is examined. It is suggested that these services fit Werner Hirsch’s category of horizontally integrated public services and a priori arguments are presented to support the kypothesis that judicial services are provided under conditions approximating constant costs. Empirical tests for the existence. of scale economies are made which yield results consistent with the constant cost kypothesis. Hence, the conclusion is drawn that differences across states per capita expenditures on count systems ane due primarily to variations in demand factors rather than differences in the sizes of judicial systems. This paper was partially prepared under Grant Number 75-NI-99-0037 from the National Institute of Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice, Law Enforcement Assistance Administration, U. S. Department of Justice. Points of view or opinions stated in this document are the author’s and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice.