South Dakota's prison population sees increase for second year

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The U.S. prison population increased for the second consecutive year in 2023, reversing a decade-long decline.

The female prison population is growing at a faster rate than the male population, rising nearly 4% in 2023.

Prisons are also facing a rapidly aging population, with nearly one in four prisoners being 50 or older in 2023.

The nation’s prison population grew for the second consecutive year in 2023, reversing more than a decade of steady decline.

A new prison population report from the federal Bureau of Justice Statistics, released before the federal shutdown, shows that 1,254,224 people were incarcerated in state and federal prisons on the last day of 2023 — an increase of 24,081 people from the year before, or about 2%.

It follows a rise in 2022, whic