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State Reform Profile

North Dakota

North Dakota has a growing prison population and expanded treatment courts.

ALTREFORM COMPOSITE70/100

Key Statistics

Incarceration Rate
329
per 100,000 residents
Annual Cost
$35K
per incarcerated person
3-Year Recidivism
60%
reincarcerated within 3 yrs
Racial Disparity
7.2×
Black vs. White incarceration
Alt. Programs
14
active diversion programs
Reform Initiatives
4
tracked by AltReform

Incarceration by Race

ND Overall329
National Avg568
Black (est.)1,421
White (est.)95

Incarceration rate per 100,000 residents. Racial estimates based on BJS/Sentencing Project methodology.

Recidivism Rate

60%3-year recidivism
This stateNational avg: 67%

Percent of people reincarcerated within 3 years of release. Source: BJS recidivism data series.

Cost vs. Alternatives

$35K
incarceration/yr
vs.
~$5K
diversion/yr

Active & Passed Reforms

2 initiatives

SB 2015 – Drug Policy ReformView full details →

Reduced first-time drug possession penalties and expanded treatment courts.

PassedDrug Policy2019
AltReform Score71/100

Reentry Housing ProgramView full details →

Transitional housing for people leaving ND prisons.

ActiveReentry2021
AltReform Score68/100

Data Sources & Methodology

Reform data sourced from state legislative records, BJS Criminal Justice Statistics, the Vera Institute Incarceration Trends dataset, and The Sentencing Project. AltReform prediction scores (0,100) are generated by our ML model trained on 20+ years of state-level reform outcomes, weighting recidivism reduction, racial equity impact, cost-effectiveness, and political feasibility. Statistics are the most recent available (2021,2024).

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