Open Roads and Overflowing Jails: Addressing High Rates of Rural Pre-Trial Incarceration

The pre-trial population of defendants—particularly in rural areas of the country—has significantly increased, and jails in smaller jurisdictions are responsible for an outsized share of jail population growth. From 1970 to 2014, jail populations grew by almost sevenfold in small counties but only threefold in large counties. This document explores why this growth may have occurred and makes numerous recommendations to reduce pre-trial populations, particularly in rural America.