Script for Telephone Survey on Citizenship Data

Appendix A: Script for Telephone Survey on Citizenship Data¹

Intro: I would now like to ask you a few questions about your ability to report the number of non-U.S. citizens held in your facilities. BJS is collecting this information from a selected group of jails across the United States to find the best way to accurately count non-U.S. citizen inmates in local jails. Please note that BJS is interested specifically in current U.S. citizenship status, not immigrant status or place of birth.

Q1	First, do you record if an inmate is a U.S. citizen?
	 Yes Q2	 No Q1a	 Don’t Know End

Q1a	Why does your agency not record this information?
	[open-ended response]

End after question

Q2	I’m going to read a few methods for determining if an inmate is a U.S. citizen. Please indicate yes if this is a method you use at your agency. (You may answer “yes” to more than one method.)
	Asking the inmate if he or she is a U.S. citizen.
	 Yes	 No	 Don’t Know
	Using available law enforcement or court documents that accompany the inmate upon admission to jail.
	 Yes	 No	 Don’t Know
	Using external sources, such as from the Department of Homeland Security or the Social Security Administration.
	 Yes	 No	 Don’t Know
	Are there any other methods that you use to determine if an inmate is a U.S. citizen?
	 Yes [open-ended response]	 No	 Don’t Know

Q3	Are you able to generate a one-day count of non-U.S. citizens confined in your facilities?
	 Yes Q4	 No Q3a	 Don’t Know Q4

Q3a	I’m going to read a few reasons why you may not be able to generate this count. Please indicate yes if this reason applies. (You may answer “yes” to more than one reason.)
	Data system limitations
	 Yes	 No	 Don’t Know
	Burden, or high level of effort needed by staff
	 Yes	 No	 Don’t Know
	Jail policy that forbids providing this information
	 Yes	 No	 Don’t Know
	Legal restrictions
	 Yes (Please cite)	 No	 Don’t Know
	Are there other reasons you could not generate this count?
	 Yes [open-ended response]	 No	 Don’t Know

End after question

Q4	More specifically, are you able to generate a one-day count of non-U.S. citizens by conviction status, such as convicted and unconvicted?
	 Yes Q5	 No Q4a	 Don’t Know Q5

Q4a	I’m going to read a few reasons why you may not be able to generate this count. Please indicate yes if this reason applies. (You may answer “yes” to more than one reason.)
	Data system limitations
	 Yes	 No	 Don’t Know
	Burden, or high level of effort needed by staff
	 Yes	 No	 Don’t Know
	Jail policy that forbids providing this information
	 Yes	 No	 Don’t Know
	Legal restrictions
	 Yes (Please cite)	 No	 Don’t Know
	Are there other reasons you would not provide this data?
	 Yes [open-ended response]	 No	 Don’t Know

Go to Q6

Q5	I’d like to ask you about more specific categories of conviction status. Are you able to generate a one-day count of non-U.S. citizens who are:
	Convicted but unsentenced or awaiting sentencing?
	 Yes	 No	 Don’t Know
	Convicted and sentenced?
	 Yes	 No	 Don’t Know
	Unconvicted and awaiting arraignment?
	 Yes	 No	 Don’t Know
	Unconvicted and awaiting trial after arraignment?
	 Yes	 No	 Don’t Know
	Awaiting transfer/hold for other authorities?
	 Yes	 No	 Don’t Know

Q6	If BJS were to ask your agency to provide a one-day count of non-U.S. citizens in its annual survey, would you provide it?
	 Yes End	 No Q6a	 Don’t Know End

Q6a	I’m going to read a few reasons why you might choose not to provide this count. Please indicate yes if this reason applies. (You may answer “yes” to more than one reason.)
	Burden, or high level of effort needed by staff
	 Yes	 No	 Don’t Know
	Jail policy that forbids providing this information
	 Yes	 No	 Don’t Know
	Legal restrictions
	 Yes (Please cite)	 No	 Don’t Know
	Are there other reasons you would not provide this data?
	 Yes [open-ended response]	 No	 Don’t Know

End after question

End

End: Thank you for your help.

Interviewer proceeds to next DCRP verification screen.

1 This telephone survey will be administered to a sample of 450 jails during the Deaths in Custody Reporting Program-Jails (DCRP-Jails) verification calls, planned for November 2017. Before each DCRP collection, the data collection agent makes calls to jail respondents (about 3,000) to notify them of the upcoming data collection and verify jail operational status and respondent information. The questions on citizenship data will be asked towards the end of the verification call.

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