RECORD 4.1 MILLION AMERICANS ON PAROLE OR PROBATION

Americans on parole or probation at the end of 1998 numbered more than 4
million for the first time ever last year, but differences in policies made
for wide variations among the states, the Justice Department reports.

There were large declines in the number of adults on parole in several
states, including Virginia, down 37 percent, and North Carolina, down 30
percent, the department's Bureau of Justice Statistics said Sunday. In
contrast, Ohio had a 66 percent increase in parolees and Idaho reported a
55 percent jump. A change in Ohio law contributed to its increase, said
Thomas P. Bonczar, a bureau statistician. "A lot of states are passing
mandatory parole," he explained.

At the same time, the increase in the number of parolees was balanced by
states that have toughened their laws to keep offenders in prison longer.

The national release rate declined from 37 per 100 prisoners in 1990 to 31
in 1997, while average time served increased from 22 months in 1990 to 27
months in 1997, Bonczar said.

Overall, 3,417,613 people were on probation and 704,964 were on parole at
the end of 1998, up from 3,296,768 and 694,787, respectively, a year
earlier. Adding those in prisons or jails, the U.S. correctional population
totaled 5,890,300 last Dec. 31, up from 5,726,500 when 1997 ended.

Idaho and Vermont each reported a 21 percent increase in their probation
populations, the largest among the states, while 11 states reported declines.

Bonczar noted that while violent crime has declined in recent years, there
have been increases in drug abuse violations and convictions for fraud and
forgery, which tend to be the types of crimes for which people are
sentenced to probation.

Some 96 percent of parolees had been convicted of a felony. Fifty-seven
percent of those on probation had committed a felony, 40 percent were
convicted of misdemeanors and the rest were found guilty of other infractions.

The 1998 parolee population was 55 percent white, 44 percent black, 21
percent Hispanic -- who can be of any race -- and 88 percent male. In 1990,
52 percent of parolees were white, 47 percent black, 18 percent Hispanic
and 92 percent male.

Among those on probation, 79 percent were male, down from 82 percent in
1990. Whites made up 64 percent of probationers, down from 68 percent,
while the share of blacks grew from 31 percent to 35 percent. Hispanics
made up 15 percent of probationers, down from 18 percent in 1990.