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.

Can you help us continue the fight? Thank you.

—Peter Wagner, Executive DirectorDonate
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Importing Constituents:
Prisoners and Political Clout in Wisconsin

By John Hejduk and Peter Wagner
Prison Policy Initiative
March 2008
Section:

Appendix C. Percent of Wisconsin counties' Census population that is in a state or federal prison.
CountyPrisoners (state and federal)Black prisonersLatino prisonersTotal populationWhite populationBlack populationLatino populationPercent county population incarceratedPercent Black population incarceratedPercent Latino population incarcerated
Adams00018,64318,201502680%0%0%
Ashland00016,86614,690361880%0%0%
Barron00044,96343,924634300%0%0%
Bayfield00015,01313,28020910%0%0%
Brown2,05670650226,778206,6882,6418,6980.9%26.7%0.6%
Buffalo00013,80413,62316850%0%0%
Burnett00015,67414,616561200%0%0%
Calumet00040,63139,2821244350%0%0%
Chippewa00055,19554,006892890%0%0%
Clark00033,55732,904434040%0%0%
Columbia77533611352,46850,9904608271.5%73.0%13.7%
Crawford2921561617,24316,7802331291.7%67.0%12.4%
Dane82045234426,526379,44717,06914,3870.2%2.6%0.2%
Dodge4,0791,91126785,89781,8432,1422,1884.7%89.2%12.2%
Door00027,96127,356532670%0%0%
Douglas7229143,28741,2732463150.2%11.8%0.3%
Dunn00039,85838,2941353350%0%0%
Eau Claire00093,14288,4434828790%0%0%
Florence0005,0884,9958230%0%0%
Fond du Lac9794264297,29693,5628761,9871.0%48.6%2.1%
Forest00010,0248,6071181080%0%0%
Grant1671041249,59748,7192592800.3%40.2%4.3%
Green00033,64733,021863270%0%0%
Green Lake00019,10518,687293930%0%0%
Iowa00022,78022,48438750%0%0%
Iron0006,8616,7436450%0%0%
Jackson8883383919,10017,1094333574.6%78.1%10.9%
Jefferson00074,02171,3092103,0310%0%0%
Juneau00024,31623,491813470%0%0%
Kenosha1086110149,577132,1937,60010,7570.1%0.8%0.1%
Kewaunee00020,18719,897311530%0%0%
La Crosse000107,120100,8831,0169900%0%0%
Lafayette00016,13715,98017920%0%0%
Langlade00020,74020,311311710%0%0%
Lincoln00029,64128,9771232430%0%0%
Manitowoc00082,88779,4852451,3430%0%0%
Marathon000125,834118,0793479790%0%0%
Marinette00043,38442,5501003250%0%0%
Marquette[1]1,27749820615,83214,8285454218.1%91.4%48.9%
Menominee0004,56252831220%0%0%
Milwaukee1811378940,164616,973231,15782,4060%0.1%0%
Monroe00040,89939,4741887400%0%0%
Oconto00035,63434,836482400%0%0%
Oneida12447536,77635,9341212440.3%38.8%2.0%
Outagamie000160,971151,1018673,2070%0%0%
Ozaukee00082,31779,6217651,0730%0%0%
Pepin0007,2137,1346250%0%0%
Pierce00036,80436,071913010%0%0%
Polk00041,31940,342633290%0%0%
Portage00067,18264,3162159670%0%0%
Price00015,82215,541161160%0%0%
Racine2,0601,050256188,831156,79619,77714,9901.1%5.3%1.7%
Richland00017,92417,636271670%0%0%
Rock000152,307138,6107,0485,9530%0%0%
Rusk00015,34714,992791160%0%0%
Sauk00055,22553,7751429380%0%0%
Sawyer7237016,19613,236511450.4%72.5%0%
Shawano00040,66437,251914070%0%0%
Sheboygan1,24063799112,646104,4381,2243,7891.1%52.0%2.6%
St. Croix10342563,15561,7961774830.2%23.7%1.0%
Taylor00019,68019,427171270%0%0%
Trempealeau00027,01026,688352400%0%0%
Vernon00028,05627,723181860%0%0%
Vilas00021,03318,865431810%0%0%
Walworth00093,75988,5977906,1360%0%0%
Washburn00016,03615,599271430%0%0%
Washington000117,493114,7784651,5290%0%0%
Waukesha000360,767345,5062,6469,5030%0%0%
Waupaca00051,73150,660877140%0%0%
Waushara00023,15422,413628480%0%0%
Winnebago2,52485750156,763148,7951,7563,0651.6%48.8%1.6%
Wood00075,55572,8552017090%0%0%

[1] The figures for Marquette County include the Federal Oxford prison which the Census Bureau mistakenly counted at its mailing address in Marquette County and not its actual location in Adams County.

Sources and methodology

Prisoners (state and federal)
This is the number of state and federal prisoners incarcerated in the county. The Census publishes the number of incarcerated people in each block in Summary File 1, Table P37. We then identified which incarcerated populations in each block were state or federal prisoners.
Black prisoners
The Census publishes the race of the correctional population at the tract level in Summary File 1, Table PCT17B and at the block level for the total population in Table P7. We used these two data sources to identify the number of Black prisoners incarcerated in state or federal prisons in blocks in each county.
Latino prisoners
The Census publishes the ethnicity of the correctional population at the tract level in Summary File 1, Table PCT17H and at the block level for the total population in Table P11. We used these two data sources to identify the number of Latino prisoners incarcerated in state or federal prisons in blocks in this county.
Total population
This is the total county population reported in the Census, Summary File 1, Table P1.
White population
This is the number of people in each county reporting "White Alone" to the Census, as published in Summary File 1, Table P7.
Black population
This is the number of people in each county reporting "Black Alone" to the Census, as published in Summary File 1, Table P7.
Latino population
This is the number of people in each county reporting "Hispanic or Latino" to the Census, as published in Summary File 1, Table P11.
Percent county population incarcerated
This is the number of state and federal prisoners divided by the population of the county.
Percent Black population incarcerated
This is the number of Blacks in state or federal prison divided by the number of Blacks in the county.
Percent Latino population incarcerated
This is the number of Latinos in state or federal prison divided by the number of Latinos in the county.

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