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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Bell County, Kentucky

According to the 2000 Census, Bell County, Kentucky has a population of 30,060 people. Of those, 28,864 (96%) are White, 720 (2%) are Black, and 194 (1%) are Latino[1]. However, 322 (or 1% of the 30,060 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 Bell County a population of 29,738 with a demographic that is 96% White, 2% Black, and 1% Latino.

Reported in
Census 2000		 Incarcerated
population		 Actual
population
Total 30,060 322 29,738
White 28,864 255 28,609
Black 720 67 653
Latino 194 0 194


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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