NEARLY 1 OF EVERY 25 ADULT TEXANS WAS ON PROBATION OR PAROLE IN '98

Nearly one of every 25 adult Texans last year was on probation or parole,
making Texas the nation's leader in the percentage of state residents
walking the streets under police supervision, the U.S. Justice Department
reported Sunday.

In 1998 -- a record-setting year for the U.S. prison, probation and parole
population -- Texas also led the nation in the number of adult probationers
and parolees with 555,780. That figure represented 3.9 percent of Texas'
adult population last year, the department stated in a census of federal
and state correctional systems.

Nationwide, 5.9 million adults, about one of every 34, were either
incarcerated or on probation or parole last year, an increase of 163,800
from 1997, according to the report, "Probation and Parole in the United
States, 1998."

As of Dec. 31, 1.8 million adults were behind bars. But the federal survey
focused on the 3.4 million on probation and 704,964 on parole, a total of
more than 4.1 million that marked the first time the number of people under
"community supervision" had exceeded 4 million, the department stated.

The report also revealed increases in the percentages of female
probationers and parolees.

In 1998, 21 percent of the adults on probation were women, compared to 18
percent in 1990. Women also accounted for 12 percent of the adults on
parole last year, an increase from 8 percent in 1990.

The report's race-based data showed that whites last year accounted for 64
percent of probationers and 55 percent of parolees. Blacks accounted for 35
percent of probationers and 44 percent of parolees.

Hispanics, who also were included in the racial figures, accounted for 15
percent of probationers and 21 percent of parolees.

As for the states, California was second to Texas in the number of people
on probation or parole, with 435,044. But Delaware and Washington were the
runners-up to Texas in the percentage of adults under community
supervision, with 3.6 percent each.

West Virginia had the lowest rate of people under community supervision. Of
every 100,000 adult West Virginians, 521, or 0.521 percent, were on parole
or probation, the department reported.