BJS is the primary statistical agency of the Department of Justice. The mission of BJS is to collect, analyze, publish, and disseminate information on crime, criminal offenders, victims of crime, and the operation of justice systems at all levels of government. BJS also provides financial and technical support to state, local, and tribal governments to improve both their statistical capabilities and the quality and utility of their criminal history records.
The grant aims to support the annual data collection and analysis of jail populations and facility characteristics across approximately 2,900 jails in the United States. The selected data collection agent's responsibilities include developing web survey instruments, updating jail information, and processing and delivering annual Census of Jails (COJ) data. This effort marks a shift from conducting the COJ every 5 to 6 years to an annual basis, beginning in 2025, to produce more frequent county-level and state-level statistics. The initiative covers data collection for the 2025 and 2026 COJ, with potential additional funding for 2027 to 2029, depending on availability and performance.