Differences between jails and prisons in the criminal justice system

¶ … jail and a prison. What types of criminals are held in each facility? Is it local, state or federal government that funds and maintains a jail? What about a prison? Can jails ever be used to hold defendants more appropriately incarcerated in a prison?

Traditionally, jails are locally run and funded facilities that confine individuals before or after their adjudication. Inmates who are sentenced to actual jail time usually have a sentence of one year or less, although this can vary by state, and thus jails can be certainly be used to hold defendants who might otherwise be more appropriately confined to a prison. Jails also can hold prisoners who are being held pending their arraignment, trial, conviction, or sentencing, prisoners who have recently been returned to custody if they have violated their probation or parole agreement, and prisoners being transferred to the custody of other criminal justice or correctional authorities. (What is the Difference Between a Jail and Prison, 2006, Public Health and Criminal Justice)

Either a state or the federal government operates a prison, in contrast to a jail. Prisons can confine only those individuals who have been sentenced to one year or more of incarceration. Generally, persons sentenced to prison have been convicted of a felony offense. There are both state-run and federally run prisons. Whether a prisoner is confined to a state or a federally run prison determines on whether he or she was convicted in a federal or a state court. (What is the Difference Between a Jail and Prison, 2006, Public Health and Criminal Justice) prisoner may begin his or her movement through the criminal justice system in a jail.