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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Polk County, Georgia

According to the 2000 Census, Polk County, Georgia has a population of 38,127 people. Of those, 30,700 (81%) are White, 5,085 (13%) are Black, and 2,921 (8%) are Latino[1]. However, 385 (or 1% of the 38,127 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 Polk County a population of 37,742 with a demographic that is 81% White, 13% Black, and 8% Latino.

Reported in
Census 2000		 Incarcerated
population		 Actual
population
Total 38,127 385 37,742
White 30,700 211 30,489
Black 5,085 169 4,916
Latino 2,921 5 2,916


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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