Within common law, the sheriff's duty to conserve the peace goes beyond the mandate to enforce criminal law. It also includes the responsibility to control, maintain, and care for inmates committed to their custody. Of the 3300 jails in the United States, 2700 have a county-level jurisdiction, and most of them are administered by an elected sheriff. Only in six states: Alaska, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Rhode Island, and Vermont are jails for adults administered by state government. With 79% of the nation's sheriff's having direct supervisory responsibility over the county jail functions, corrections becomes a substantial piece within the context of sheriff's responsibilities.¹⁵⁹

By mid-year 1996, there were 591,469 adult persons held in local jails. This represents a 2.3% increase from the previous year. However, this represents a very small proportionate increase in comparison to the increases in the prior decade when the amounts grew at a staggering rate. In a ten year period between 1985 and 1994, jail populations doubled and have placed a colossal responsibility on sheriffs operating these facilities. Though it has been a burden, it has also created a demand that has transformed many sheriff's departments into large correctional maintenance centers. Construction of jails, hiring of personnel, purchase of equipment, diversion programs, and training have translated into immense growth for sheriff's departments.¹⁶⁰

Male inmates make up 89% of the local jail inmate census. On average, the female jail inmate population has grown at a greater rate than male counterparts. The female rate has increased on average 10.2% per year since 1985, while the male population has increased at a lesser 6.1% per year since 1985. The majority of local jail inmates are black or hispanic. White non-hispanics made up 41.6% of jail populations in 1996. Relative to the total number of United States residents, blacks are 6 times more likely than whites to be committed to a local jail. As of June 1996, 92% of the local jail capacity was occupied; which is substantially less than the previous historic record of 1989 when local jails were at 108% capacity. The decrease is due, in part, to the 173,000 bed increase at local jails since 1990.¹⁶¹

Issues of overcrowding and race have presented substantial dilemmas in jail management. Other pressures, like the prevalence of infectious disease and blood borne pathogens within correctional facilities have required sheriffs to strive for continuous improvements. Aids and HIV contagion in county jails has grown about 38% between 1991 and 1995. Based upon personal interviews conducted from October 1995 through March 1996 in the "Survey of Inmates at Local Jails", almost 6 in 10 jail inmates reported being tested for HIV. Of those tested, 2.2% of the population reported being positive. Jail officials in the last national "Census of Jails" (1993) reported that 6711 inmates were known to be HIV positive and 1888 had confirmed AIDS. The infection rates were highest in the jurisdictions servicing metropolitan areas. The disease predicament was yet another serious problem in corrections that jail administrators had to adapt to.¹⁶²