From the Washington Times.
Prison populations have historically been included in national head counts, but now census officials will make data on inmate populations available to states earlier than in the past.
This change will allow states to decide whether to count inmates for purposes of redistricting. If a state makes that choice, it would have to decide where inmates should be considered residents – in rural towns, where prisons are often built, or in cities, where many prisoners come from.
Small tweaks in census figures can have large consequences, determining, for instance, which states get or lose an extra seat in the House of Representatives and how tax money is doled out between jurisdictions within a state.
Until now, the U.S. Census Bureau provided breakdowns on group quarters, like prisons, only after states had finished their redistricting. That resulted in districts with prisons getting extra representation in their legislatures, despite laws in some states that say a prison cell is not a residence.
The jockeying is all part of a decennial rite – counting the population. The federal government relies on the census not only to learn about Americans and their lives but also to parcel out federal dollars. As required by the Constitution, the census also is used to determine the number of House seats representing each state.
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