PROFILE OF MISSOURI PRISON POPULATION

As of June 6, 18,346 men and women were housed in Missouri's 18 correctional institutions.

Of the number, 94.1 percent was male and 5.9 percent female.

The typical convict: A white, Anglo-Saxon Protestant; never married; living in one of the state's two metropolitan areas; and serving time for a violent crime.

Average sentence

Nine years and five months.

Prisoner age

*Average prisoner entered when he was 28.4 years old.

*Average today, 33.3 years old.

Prisoner race

White, 51.4%

Black, 48.2

Native American, 0.3

Asian, 0.1

Marital status

Married, 18.4%

Never married, 58.4

Divorced, 16.7

Separated, 5.2

Widowed, 1.2

Widowed and rewed, 0.1

Common law, 0.1

Education

No education, 1.8%

Special ed, 0.1

Eighth grade, 8.2

Ninth grade, 11.0

10th grade, 15.1

11th grade, 14.7

12th grade, 17.9

GED, 20.5

College, 1 year, 2.1

2 years, 2.5

3 years, 0.5

4 years, 0.8

Graduate degree, 0.3

Religion

Protestant, 33.6%

+Baptist, 29.0

No preference, 18.5

Catholic, 11.0

Muslim, 4.3

Moorish, 2.7

Jewish, 0.1

Other beliefs, 0.4

+Department of Corrections spokesman was unable to explain the reason for separate categories of Protestant and Baptist, saying this is how the profile was always done.

Sentencing counties

Just three urban areas provide 51.8 percent of the corrections population.

Counties sentencing most prisoners

St. Louis City, 20.4%

Jackson County, 16.1

St. Louis County, 15.3

Boone County, 3.3

Greene County, 3.0

Clay County, 2.6

Buchanan, 2.3

Jefferson, 2.0

St. Charles, 2.0

Jasper, 1.6

Cole, 1.3

Pemiscot, 1.2

Cape Girardeau, 1.2

Scott, 1.0

St. Francois, 1.0

Franklin, 1.0

The remaining 99 counties send 24.6 percent of prisoners while 0.3 percent comes from out of state.

Offenses

Violent offenses account for 51.4 percent of all offenses

Homicide, 12.7%

Robbery, 14.8

Sexual assault, 11.8

Assault, 8.0

Kidnapping, 3.2

Negligent manslaughter, 1.1

Non-violent offenses account for 48.6 percent of all offenses

Dangerous drugs, 14.1%

Burglary, 13.3

Larceny, 8.7

Traffic offenses, 2.5

Forgery, 2.3

Property damage, 1.8

Weapon offense, 1.1

Sex offense, 1.0

Stolen property, 0.9

Fraud, 0.7

Arson, 0.5

Stolen vehicles, 0.5

All others, 0.7

(Southeast Missourian graphic/Information compiled by Jack Stapleton)