Kentucky American Veteran Alliance

Incarcerated Veterans

Oct 24, 2003

In January 2000, The Bureau of Justice Statistics released a special report on incarcerated veterans. Following are highlights of the report: Veterans in Prison or Jail.

Over 225,000 veterans held in Nation?’s prisons or jails in 1998.

Among adult males in 1998, there were 937 incarcerated veterans per 100,000 veteran residents.
1 in every 6 incarcerated veterans was not honorably discharged from the military.
About 20% of veterans in prison reported seeing combat duty during their military service.
In 1998, an estimated 56,500 Vietnam War-era veterans and 18,500 Persian Gulf War veterans were held in State and Federal prisons.
Nearly 60% of incarcerated veterans had served in the Army.
Among state prisoners, over half (53%) of veterans were white non-hispanics, compared to nearly a third (31%) of non-veterans; Among Federal prisoners, the percentage of veterans who were white (50%) was nearly double that of non-veterans (26%).
Among State prisoners, the median age of veterans was 10 years older than other prison and jail inmates.
Among State prisoners, veterans (32%) were about 3 times more likely than non-veterans (11%) to have attended college.
Veterans are more likely than others to be in prison for a violent offense but less likely to be serving a sentence for drugs.

About 35% of veterans in State prison, compared to 20% of non-veterans, were convicted of homicide or sexual assault.
Veterans (30%) were more likely than other State prisoners (23%) to be first-time offenders.
Among violent State prisoners, the average sentence of veterans was 50 months longer than the average of non-veterans.
At year-end 1997, sex offenders accounted for 1 in 3 prisoners held in military correctional facilities.
Combat veterans were no more likely to be violent offenders than other veterans.
Veterans in State prison reported higher levels of alcohol abuse, lower levels of drug abuse, than other prisoners.

Veterans in State prison were less likely (26%) than other State prisoners (34%) to report having used drugs at the time of their offense.
Nearly 60% of veterans in State prison had driven drunk in the past, compared to 45% of other inmates.
About 70% of veterans, compared to 54% of other State prisoners, had been working full-time before arrest.
Incarcerated veterans were as likely as non-veterans to have been homeless when arrested.