While most think the term “jail” and the term “prison” are two of the same, they are not. Whereas a jail is often referred to as a local facility, whether county or city.
A jail typically houses people awaiting trial or may be serving short sentences certain offenses. Some people who are convicted of manslaughter may even be sent to jail if the state prison is overcrowded. It all depends on the totality of the charges and the length of the sentence.
Jails v. Prisons: Which is Worse?
It could also be said that innocent people are held in jail – you are innocent until proven guilty. Generally, jail terms are no longer than 2 years, but then this depends on the county or city.
A prison on the other hand would be a state or federal prison facility that store people convicted of felonies for longer periods of time than a county jail. While state prisons are operated by the state DOC (department of corrections) and are generally classified by the levels of security needed to keep the public safe. Prison levels of security are basically maximum, medium and minimum – and sometimes always a mix of the three.
The Difference Between Jails and Prisons
Good information about prisons and jails. I wonder why most states dont just use county lockup to handle their overcrowding problems. I saw a program that most people in prison are in for drug offenses. If its for weed they should just let those people go. When you are high you dont fight, your’e too lazy
My thoughts exactly. I’m glad you enjoy the reading. I’ll soon have the newsletter back up and running so watch for it. In the meantime you can follow the JailGuide RSS Feed
I would definitely rather go to prison than go to jail. When I was in county lockup there were nothing but clowns and wannabe posers trying to act tough. When I got to prison to do my 20 months it was a different atmosphere. There was way more respect in prison and the inmates carried themselves a lot better than the kids in lockup
How is felony jail time calculated? Re: How much time would an inmate serve on a three month felony jail sentence?
Thank you for your time and response to this matter.
This time is figured using the prison sentence calculator. Also the good time people receive is typically 33% of a sentence in most cases.