What’s the difference – Jail and Prison

A lot of people that I talk to interchange the terms jail and prison.  But these are two distinct places.  So, what is the difference?

Jail

Jail is used for three main purposes.  First, jail is a holding facility for a person who is awaiting resolution to their pending criminal case.  Only about 30% of people are sitting in jail have been convicted.[1]  Most of the people in jail are waiting a court date.  This is because they either can’t afford a bond or don’t have a bond set.

The second use of a county jail is a transition between one place to another.  If a person is sentenced to prison, it can take anywhere from a few days to a couple of weeks to be sent to a Texas Department of Corrections facility.  Some other people are sentenced to in custody rehabilitation facilities.  It is common that the person will have to wait in custody at a local jail until a bed becomes available at one of these places.

The third reason is a person is serving a conviction.  This is what most people think of what the jail is used for.  The county jail is where a person is sent sentenced to a misdemeanor level offense. 

Jails are usually run by local sheriff’s departments.

Prison

Prison is where a person is sent who is convicted of a felony level offense.  Anyone who has been sent to prison has been finally convicted. It is designed to be a more long-term holding facility opposed to a local jail.  Prisons are located all over the state, and an inmate has no say on which facility he or she will be sent to. An inmate must remain in prison until their sentence has expired or granted parole or mandatory supervision.

Prisons are run by Texas Department of Criminal Justice.


[1] https://www.ojp.gov/files/archives/pressreleases/2023/bjs-releases-preliminary-statistics-incarcerated-populations-2022#:~:text=About%2030%25%20(197%2C000)%20of,convicted%20and%2071%25%20were%20unconvicted.