Many people use the termsjailandprisoninterchangeably , and while both footing refer to region where people are withstand , there ’s asubstantial differencebetween the two method of incarceration . Where a person who is impeach of a law-breaking is held , and for how long , is a factor in square off the difference between the two — and whether a individual is restrain in a jail or a prison is largely determined by the severeness of the crime they have put .
Prison vs. Jail
A jail refers to a small , temporary holding facility — execute by local authorities and supervised by county sheriff department — that is designed to confine late arrested people who have committed a minor offense or infringement . A person can also beheld in jailfor an extended period of metre if the sentence for their offense is less than a year . As of 2007 , there arenearly 3000 local pokey facilitiesin the United States .
A jail is unlike from the likewise temporary “ lockup”—sort of like “ pre - jail”—which is located in local police force departments and holds offender unable to post bond , people hold back for public drunkenness who are keep until they are drab , or , most importantly , offenders waitress to be processed into the jail system .
A prison , on the other mitt , is usually a with child state- or federal - persist facility signify to domiciliate mass convicted of aserious crime or felony , and whose sentence for those crimes surpass 365 days . A prison house could also be called a “ penitentiary , ” among other names .
To be put in astate prison house , a person must be convicted of breaking a state practice of law . To be put in a Union prison , a someone must be convict of give out federal practice of law . Basic amenities in a prison house are more extensive than in a jail because , obviously , an yardbird is potential to spend more than a class of his or her life confined inside a prison house . As of 2012 , there were 4575 operating prison in the U.S.—the most in the world . The state with the second gamey number of operating prison is Russia .
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A version of this story in the beginning run in 2018 ; it has been update for 2023 .
