Help End Prison Gerrymandering Prison gerrymandering funnels political power away from urban communities to legislators who have prisons in their (often white, rural) districts. More than two decades ago, the Prison Policy Initiative put numbers on the problem and sparked the movement to end prison gerrymandering.

Can you help us continue the fight? Thank you.

—Peter Wagner, Executive DirectorDonate

Hamilton County, Florida

According to the 2000 Census, Hamilton County, Florida has a population of 13,327 people. Of those, 7,835 (59%) are White, 5,027 (38%) are Black, and 847 (6%) are Latino[1]. However, 2,356 (or 18% of the 13,327 people) are not residents by choice but are people in prison.

Even though prisoners cannot participate in the local community, the Census Bureau nevertheless counts them as residents of the county where they are incarcerated.

A more accurate description would not include the prisoners. This would give Hamilton County a population of 10,971 with a demographic that is 62% White, 34% Black, and 5% Latino.

Reported in
Census 2000		 Incarcerated
population		 Actual
population
Total 13,327 2,356 10,971
White 7,835 985 6,850
Black 5,027 1,243 3,784
Latino 847 327 520


Notes:

[1]The numbers for Whites, Blacks and Latinos may not add up to the total number because we have not included racial groups other than Whites and Blacks and because the Census Bureau considers "Latino" to be an ethnicity, not a race. Most of the people reported as being Latino are also counted as being White or Black.



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