The number of women housed in Alaska's prisons nearly doubled between 2004 and 2013, and the overall population of state prisoners grew by about 29 percent in the same period, according to statistics released Monday by researchers at the University of Alaska Anchorage.
Over the 10-year period, about a quarter of all admissions to Alaska Department of Corrections facilities were women, according to the data. While there are still more men than women imprisoned in Alaska, the female inmate population has increased by about 87 percent. The male population increased by about 24 percent, according to the data.
There were 593 women in state custody in 2014, according to the Department of Corrections' most recent offender profile. Five years earlier, the number was 479.
According to the same profile, 4,489 men made up the "institutional population" in 2014.
Overall, the state's incarceration rate remained relatively stable during the 10-year period, averaging 9 inmates for every 1,000 Alaska adults.
But women are outpacing men by a large margin in admissions growth.
"On average, the female admission rate per 1,000 Alaska females increased by 18.9 percent, while the male admission rate per 1,000 Alaska males decreased 15.9 percent over the period," according to the data.
The admission rate refers to anytime someone is placed in DOC custody, said researcher Khristy Parker of the UAA Alaska Justice Statistical Analysis Center. The admissions can happen before or after trial, and multiple admissions may represent a single person, she said.
DOC spokesperson Sherrie Daigle said the department is aware of the increase in female inmates and has made several changes to deal with it.
Beds for women have been added at the Anchorage Correctional Complex, Daigle said. At Hiland Mountain Correctional Complex near Eagle River, the state's only facility dedicated to housing women, the size of a mental heath unit has been doubled by adding a second housing unit with 20 beds.
The department is also making use of beds in community residential centers -- or halfway houses -- for those female inmates who qualify, Daigle said.
John Skidmore, director of the Alaska Department of Law's Criminal Division, noted women are moving in and out of jail much more quickly than men. Data shows on average over the 10-year period, about 69 percent of female offenders served six months or less.
Skidmore said there are two possible reasons: Women are committing more misdemeanor crimes, or "judges simply don't give women as much time in jail as they give men.
"I don't know which is the answer, and they're two very different ideas," he said.
As for the overall increase in the female population, Skidmore said the change hasn't caused concern in the state's law department.
"I can't tell you what's contributing to the increase, but it's nothing that shocks me," he said. "What I'm more concerned about is what we can do to decrease the number of people we're sending to jail, because it's economically unsustainable."
More Alaska inmates are staying in the state than in the past. The incarcerated population in Alaska increased by more than half, or 50.2 percent, in 10 years. The out-of-state population decreased at nearly the same rate, dropping 53.6 percent, according to the data.
That's largely attributable to the opening in 2012 of Goose Creek Correctional Center, a new prison at Point MacKenzie in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough.
Since Goose Creek quickly filled to near-capacity, the state's politicians have championed efforts to slow the prison population boom. Last week, lawmakers announced that a nonprofit would help review Alaska's criminal justice system and propose reforms.
Daigle said DOC currently has no plans to start sending inmates outside Alaska.
"We are currently reviewing our entire population to determine whether we can increase community placements," such as electronic monitoring and halfway houses, Daigle said in an email.