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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Oldham County, Kentucky

According to the 2000 Census, Oldham County, Kentucky has a population of 46,178 people. Of those, 43,230 (94%) are White, 1,943 (4%) are Black, and 602 (1%) are Latino[1]. However, 3,490 (or 8% of the 46,178 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 Oldham County a population of 42,688 with a demographic that is 96% White, 2% Black, and 1% Latino.

Reported in
Census 2000		 Incarcerated
population		 Actual
population
Total 46,178 3,490 42,688
White 43,230 2,405 40,825
Black 1,943 1,025 918
Latino 602 33 569


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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