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.

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Holmes County, Florida

According to the 2000 Census, Holmes County, Florida has a population of 18,564 people. Of those, 16,669 (90%) are White, 1,208 (7%) are Black, and 358 (2%) are Latino[1]. However, 1,435 (or 8% of the 18,564 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 Holmes County a population of 17,129 with a demographic that is 94% White, 2% Black, and 2% Latino.

Reported in
Census 2000		 Incarcerated
population		 Actual
population
Total 18,564 1,435 17,129
White 16,669 540 16,129
Black 1,208 791 417
Latino 358 100 258


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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