Suicide Accounted For 31% Of Jail Deaths & 6% Of Prison Deaths In 2016

In 2016, suicide accounted for 30.7% of all deaths in local jails (333 of 1,071 deaths), and 6.2% of all deaths in state and federal jails (255 of 4,117 deaths). Between 2015 and 2016, the trend in overall deaths and suicide deaths differed by incarceration setting. Overall jail deaths declined as did suicide deaths. State prison deaths rose as did suicide deaths. Federal prison deaths declined while suicide deaths remained static. 

Additional findings about the trends between 2015 and 2016 were as follows for each setting:

Overall, jail deaths due to any cause declined by 1 . . .