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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—Peter Wagner, Executive DirectorDonate

Madison County, Ohio

According to the 2000 Census, Madison County, Ohio has a population of 40,213 people. Of those, 36,896 (92%) are White, 2,511 (6%) are Black, and 294 (1%) are Latino[1]. However, 4,036 (or 10% of the 40,213 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 Madison County a population of 36,177 with a demographic that is 96% White, 2% Black, and 1% Latino.

Reported in
Census 2000		 Incarcerated
population		 Actual
population
Total 40,213 4,036 36,177
White 36,896 2,187 34,709
Black 2,511 1,792 719
Latino 294 40 254


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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