Jails and prisons differ in their purpose and populations. Jails house individuals awaiting trial or serving short sentences locally, dealing with a transient population. Prisons incarcerate individuals convicted of state or federal crimes requiring longer sentences. While jails focus on transporting inmates to court, prisons emphasize rehabilitation through education and counseling programs due to longer incarceration periods. Both aim to prevent crime through punishment and rehabilitation.

1. 250 words each Question
Question 1. Fundamentally jails and prisons are the same in
that most are secure facilities that house individuals who are
thought to have committed a crime or convicted of a crime.
Locally, most jails are county jails with some municipalities
having a jail as well. Prisons are state or federal facilities.
While jails and prisons are similar, their purposes differ
significantly.
Local jails house individuals arrested for committing a crime(s).
They are transported to jail by an area law enforcement agency
where they are booked and confined in lieu of a bond. Just
about all those arrested are allowed to post bail while some of
the more serious offenders and those unable to post a bond must
go before a judge for arraignment within a determinant amount
of time typically 48 hours. During the appearance, the judge
will advise the offender of the charges they are accused of and
those that do not have a bond will be provided one by the judge.
Those that have the ability to post bail will do so while those
that cannot stay in jail awaiting trial. Local jails are meant to
house individuals who are awaiting trial or are serving a short
sentence that does not require incarceration in prison. There are
many more people in prisons on any given day, but there are 18
times more individuals that pass-through jails in a year’s time
Copp and Bales (2018). With an often-changing population,
jails are routinely faced with issues that most prisons are not.
Jails are faced with transporting those incarcerated to and from
court proceedings, medical facilities, and assessing new arrivals
on a moment’s notice. Jails have programs aimed at addressing
an inmate’s needs, but most are not very extensive due to the
relatively short stay. Pretrial incarceration is often thought
unfair as those without the means to post a bond remain in jail
awaiting trial while those with money are released pretrial after

2. posting a bond.
Prisons are either state or federal. They house individuals who
have been convicted of a crime that is worthy of the punishment
of imprisonment usually longer than a year. Offenders are
delivered to prison after conviction and sentencing by a court.
State prisons house those convicted of state crimes in state
courts while federal prisons house federal prisoners sentenced
in federal courts. Prisons consist of the most secure maximum-
security federal prison to a relatively insecure state facility that
houses nonviolent prisoners that are nearing the end of their
sentence. Prisons are better able to assess the individual needs
of an inmate and then provide programs that are aimed at
rehabilitation primarily because of the longer term of
incarceration. Over the years, prisons have evolved from
establishments of punishment to institutions with an investment
in programming relating to academics and reentry Phelps
(2011). Prison employees consist of correctional officers tasked
with overseeing the daily activities of the inmates to program
staff that offer the services aimed at rehabilitation.
In considering all of the differences between jails and prisons,
both are thought to provide crime prevention, punishment, and
rehabilitation by incarcerating individuals prone to commit
crimes then rehabilitate them.
References:
Copp, J., & Bales, W. (2018). Jails and Local Justice System
Reform: Overview and Recommendations.
Future of Children
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(1), 103–124. https://doi.org/10.13/foc.2018.0005
Phelps, M. S. (2011). Rehabilitation in the punitive era: The gap

3. between rhetoric and reality in U.S. prison programs.
Law & Society Review, 45
(1), 33-68.
doi:http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy2.apus.edu/10.1111/j.1540-
5893.2011.00427.x
Question 2. All across America citizens move in and out of
jails every day. For most their stay in a jail is short lived. Jails
are designed as a type of holding facility for citizens working
their way through the court process. When a law is violated and
there is probable cause to make an arrest a law enforcement
officer can opt to take the violator to jail. Once at jail they are
processed and they could be release on their own recognizance
with a court date to appear before a judge at a later time. If
their crime is serious enough or if there are other pending
criminal matters such as probation or parole holds then they
many have to stay in jail until an arraignment hearing, which is
when a judge first looks at the basics of the probable cause and
decides if the case has merit or if the citizen can be release until
their preliminary hearing. If they judge orders they citizen be
held in jail till the preliminary hearing, which could take years
some times, then it becomes the responsibility of the jail staff to
accommodate their stay. A preliminary hearing is the citizens
first ability to truly defend themselves with witnesses and
evidence. The prosecution also presents their case for the guilt
of the citizen.
The judge again decides if the case against the citizen will go
forward and if they are to be remanded into custody i.e. jail.
The wait for a trial may take some time so the remanded citizen
will have to again, spend time in jail. Once the trail is
concluded the citizen is either found innocent or guilty. If
found guilty then they must await sentencing, which usually
happens in a relatively short period of time, to see if they will

4. be sent to a prison or serve their sentence in a local jail.
Depending on the severity of the crime will often determine
where the convict spends their sentence (Luallen, Gaes, &
Cutler, 2019). Jails are increasingly used for convicts serving
sentences for lesser crimes or shorter sentences. Prisons are
used for convicts serving sentences for more serious crimes
where safety and security are a concern. The convicts history
as it relates to gang involvement, or sexual assault, and more
violent felonies are considered. Within the jail setting the staff
must daily move all the incarcerated citizens around for their
court appointments, visitation, and medical appointments. The
buildings used for jails are often located near or attached to the
court house for ease of movement.
When a convict arrives at prison there is a distinctly different
tone set. Prisons are usually setup with high fences surrounding
them to keep citizens out and convicts inside. The prison staff
are generally more professional and career oriented toward the
profession. There is an emphasis on rehabilitation inside
prisons with classes geared toward higher education and
substance abuse counseling (Davis & Carr, 2019). A new
convict at a prison will be evaluated and housed based on needs
and history. A federal prison is somewhat different, but also
the same in many ways. The federal prison system has more
drug related convicts whereas state prisons have more violent
crimes. This is related to state crime statutes that organize how
violent crimes are charged at the state level verses the federal
level. All levels of jails are prisons must deal with different
demographics. Different genders must be kept separate
References
Davis, C., & Carr, D. (2019). Legal and policy changes urgently
needed to increase access to opioid agonist therapy in the
United States.
International Journal of Drug Policy

5. ,
73
, 42–48. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.drugpo.2019.07.006
Luallen, J., Gaes, G., & Cutler, C. (2019). Estimating Prison
Stays Among Current Prison Populations.
Criminal Justice Review
,
44
(2), 119–147. https://doi.org/10.1177/0734016818769705