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INFOGRAPHIC: Accountability Letter Banks

100-PO026 (R 02/2018)

infographic with US Map with mail icons indicating which states have accountability letter banks

(Rachel Friederich , DOC Communications)

Text Version

Accountability Letter Banks

Twelve states run “accountability letter banks,” also known as “apology letter banks.”

Inmates write letters for their victims to acknowledge their responsibility for their crime, as well as to express remorse. The letters stay in the banks indefinitely, or until a victim requests to read them.

Accountability Bank Data by State

The Washington State Department of Corrections conducted an informal survey among states that had letter banks about the number of letters it receives.

Data collected from state letter banks as of September 30, 2017:

Colorado

  • Year Established: 2012
  • Number of Inmates Who Submitted Letters: 385
  • Number of Letters Submitted: 400
  • Number of Letters Delivered: 15

Indiana

  • Year Established: Did not respond to survey
  • Number of Inmates Who Submitted Letters: Did not respond to survey
  • Number of Letters Submitted: Did not respond to survey
  • Number of Letters Delivered: Did not respond to survey

Mississippi

  • Year Established: Did not respond to survey
  • Number of Inmates Who Submitted Letters: Did not respond to survey
  • Number of Letters Submitted: Did not respond to survey
  • Number of Letters Delivered: Did not respond to survey

Montana

  • Year Established: 2005
  • Number of Inmates Who Submitted Letters: 187
  • Number of Letters Submitted: 187
  • Number of Letters Delivered: 90

Minnesota

  • Year Established: Did not respond to survey
  • Number of Inmates Who Submitted Letters: Did not respond to survey
  • Number of Letters Submitted: Did not respond to survey
  • Number of Letters Delivered: Did not respond to survey

Kansas

  • Year Established: 2002
  • Number of Inmates Who Submitted Letters: 205
  • Number of Letters Submitted: 207
  • Number of Letters Delivered: 22

Texas

  • Year Established: 2007
  • Number of Inmates Who Submitted Letters: 317
  • Number of Letters Submitted: 356
  • Number of Letters Delivered: 50

Oklahoma

  • Year Established: Did not respond to survey
  • Number of Inmates Who Submitted Letters: Did not respond to survey
  • Number of Letters Submitted: Did not respond to survey
  • Number of Letters Delivered: Did not respond to survey

Pennsylvania

  • Year Established: 2012
  • Number of Inmates Who Submitted Letters: 3,709
  • Number of Letters Submitted: 3,709
  • Number of Letters Delivered: 250

New York

  • Year Established: Does not track data
  • Number of Inmates Who Submitted Letters: Does not track data
  • Number of Letters Submitted: Does not track data
  • Number of Letters Delivered: Does not track data

Vermont

  • Year Established: Does not track data
  • Number of Inmates Who Submitted Letters: Does not track data
  • Number of Letters Submitted: Does not track data
  • Number of Letters Delivered: Does not track data

Washington

  • Year Established: 2015
  • Number of Inmates Who Submitted Letters: 43
  • Number of Letters Submitted: 50
  • Number of Letters Delivered: 0

Notes: Not every state responded to the survey. Of those that did, some indicated they did not track the volume of letters it receives or delivers. In some cases, the number of inmates who submitted letters is greater than the total number of letters submitted, indicating an inmate may have written a letter to more than one victim.

Sources

  1. Washington State Department of Corrections
  2. Montana Department of Corrections
  3. Colorado Department of Corrections
  4. Kansas Department of Corrections
  5. Pennsylvania Department of Corrections
  6. Texas Department of Criminal Justice