NPS8-07 Part B.wpd

B. Collection of Information Employing Statistical Methods

1. Universe and Respondent Descriptions

The NPS-8 data collection is a complete enumeration of persons under sentence of death and a review of the status of capital statutes in the United States.

a. NPS-8/NPS-8A respondents

Respondents are comprised of staff from the Department of Corrections in each State that authorizes capital punishment and from the Federal Bureau of Prisons. The appropriate respondents are designated by the individual agency. While some respondents are in the records office of the Department of Corrections, others are in the facilities which actually hold the inmates under sentence of death. For the 2005 reference year, there were 44 NPS-8/NPS-8A respondents in the 39 jurisdictions which authorized capital punishment.

b. NPS8-B/NPS-8C respondents

Respondents are comprised of legal staff from the Office of Attorney General in each State, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the District of Columbia, and the Office of General Counsel at the Federal Bureau of Prisons. Each respondent is sent a form to update changes to the capital statutes during the reference year. Based on the status of death penalty statutes in the jurisdiction on December 31 of the previous year, a respondent will be asked to fill out the NPS-8B form (No Statute in Force for the previous year) or the NPS-8C form (Statute in Force for the previous year). During 2005, 13 NPS-8B forms were submitted by respondents and 39 NPS-8C forms were submitted by respondents.

Universe and response rate
	Universe	Expected response rate
Departments of Correction	44	100%
Attorneys General	52	100%

It is expected that 100% of respondents from both the offices of the Attorneys General and the Departments of Corrections will participate in the survey. In 2005, as in previous years, no respondents refused to participate.

2. Procedures for Collecting Information

In late November each respondent from the previous year is contacted by phone to verify the accuracy of contact information. NPS-8 respondents are asked for an estimate of the number of inmates sentenced to death during the year so that we can ensure that an ample supply of NPS-8 forms are provided. Forms are mailed out to all respondents around December 28.

a. Departments of Correction

Each respondent receives an NPS-8A for for all inmates reported as being under sentence of death on December 31 of the prior year. They are asked to update the status of each of these inmates. Based on the initial contact in November, the respondent also is sent a supply of sent NPS-8 forms to report any inmates received under sentence of death between January 1 and December 31 of the current report year.

b. Attorneys General

Each respondent is sent a form to update changes to the capital statutes during the reference year. Based on the status of death penalty statutes in the jurisdiction on December 31 of the previous year, a respondent will be asked to fill out the NPS-8B form (No Statute in Force for the previous year) or the NPS-8C form (Statue in Force for the previous year). During 2005, 13 NPS-8B forms were submitted by respondents and 39 NPS-8C forms were submitted by respondents.

3. Methods to Maximize Response

As forms are received (mid-January to late April), calls are made to clarify any inconsistencies in the information submitted. As necessary, follow-up phone calls are made to the respondents who have not returned forms.

4. Testing Procedures

N/A.

5. Contacts for Statistical Aspects of the Data Collection

The Corrections Statistics Unit at BJS takes responsibility for the overall design and management of the survey, including the development of the questionnaires, and the analysis and publication of the data. BJS contacts include:

William J. Sabol, Chief

Corrections Statistics Unit

Bureau of Justice Statistics

810 7^th Street, NW

Washington, D.C. 20531

(202) 514-1062

Tracy L. Snell, Statistician

Corrections Unit

Bureau of Justice Statistics

810 7^th Street, NW

Washington, D.C. 20531

(202) 616-3288

The Crime Surveys Branch of the Demographic Surveys Division, U.S. Bureau of the Census manages and coordinates the collection of all data. Contacts at the Census Bureau include:

Marilyn M. Monahan, Chief

Crime Surveys Branch

Demographic Surveys Division

U.S. Bureau of the Census

Washington, DC 20233

(301) 763-3925

Steve Bittner, Supervisory Statistician

Crime Surveys Branch

Demographic Surveys Division

U.S. Bureau of the Census

Washington, DC 20233

(301) 763-3926

Nicole Butler, Survey Statistician

Crime Surveys Branch

Demographic Surveys Division

U.S. Bureau of the Census

Washington, DC 20233

(301) 763-3928