Frequently Asked Questions

To obtain information about or locate sex offenders in a specific area, see the Dru Sjodin National Sex Offender Public Website (NSOPW), a Department of Justice website which allows you to conduct a nationwide search of sex offender registries using a number of different search options. NSOPW enables every citizen to search the latest information from all 50 states, the District of Columbia, U.S. Territories, and participating tribes for the identity and location of known sex offenders.

Also visit the Federal Bureau of Investigation Sex Offender Registry webpage where you can view state-specific registry websites.

See the Capital Punishment section of the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) website.

Statistics on individuals sentenced to death in the United States may be accessed from the Capital Punishment section of the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) website.

Information on tribal justice is available on the Department of Justice's Tribal Justice and Safety and Office of Tribal Justice websites. Visit the Tribal Justice topic page for additional information and resources from the Office of Justice Programs.

The Global Justice Information Sharing Initiative serves as a Federal Advisory Committee (FAC) and advises the U.S. Attorney General on justice information sharing and integration initiatives. It represents more than thirty independent organizations spanning the spectrum of law enforcement, judicial, correctional, and related bodies. For further information, visit the Global Justice Information Sharing Initiative website.

Information about and access to findings from Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) recidivism studies is available on the Recidivism section of the BJS website. Also see BJS's Prisoner Recidivism Data Analysis Tool, which you can use to calculate recidivism rates for persons released from state prisons in 2005.

See the Correctional Healthcare section of the National Institute of Corrections website for information and resources.

The Offender Reentry section of the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) website and the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA)-supported National Reentry Resource Center website capture a number of resources, articles, and more related to offender reentry. Also visit the Reentry/Release section of NIJ's CrimeSolutions website for access to important research on the effectiveness of a variety of reentry programs and practices.

For information about juvenile reentry, see these resources from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention:

• In Focus: Juvenile Reentry
• Reentry Starts Here: A Guide for Youth in Long-Term Juvenile Corrections or Treatment Programs
• Model Programs Guide: Implementation Guide: Juvenile Reentry Programs

You can find additional information and resources in our Reentry Special Feature.

Statistics on the number of juveniles that are incarcerated can be found in the Juveniles in Corrections section of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) Statistical Briefing Book website. For additional information and resources, see the Juvenile Justice topic page.

Additional resources:

• OJJDP's Data Analysis Tool: Easy Access to Juvenile Populations
• Easy Access to the census of Juveniles in Residential Placement: 1997-Present
• Bureau of Justice Statistics: National Survey of Youth in Custody
• OJJDP-sponsored report, Juvenile Offenders and Victims: 2014 National Report

According to Juvenile Offenders and Victims: 2014 National Report, a report funded by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP): "There is no national recidivism rate for juveniles. Each state's juvenile justice system differs in organization, administration, and data capacity. These differences influence how states define, measure, and report recidivism rates. This also makes it challenging to compare recidivism rates across states." In addition, view the report Measuring and Using Juvenile Recidivism Data To Inform Policy, Practice, and Resource Allocation and Core Principles for Reducing Recidivism and Improving Other Outcomes for Youth in the Juvenile Justice System, which are sponsored by OJJDP and the Bureau of Justice Assistance.

Also see Measuring Juvenile Recidivism an online interactive resource from the Pew Charitable Trusts' Public Safety Performance Project.

You may also wish to conduct a search of the Abstracts Database, which contains a number of reports on recidivism at the state level. Also see the recidivism data collection from the Bureau of Justice Statistics.