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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Hart County, Kentucky

According to the 2000 Census, Hart County, Kentucky has a population of 17,445 people. Of those, 16,150 (93%) are White, 1,081 (6%) are Black, and 150 (1%) are Latino[1]. However, 106 (or 1% of the 17,445 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 Hart County a population of 17,339 with a demographic that is 93% White, 6% Black, and 1% Latino.

Reported in
Census 2000		 Incarcerated
population		 Actual
population
Total 17,445 106 17,339
White 16,150 82 16,068
Black 1,081 22 1,059
Latino 150 1 149


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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