Most local prisons house remand prisoners waiting to be tried, those who have been found guilty and are awaiting sentence, fine and maintenance defaulters, prisoners serving short sentences, and other sentenced prisoners waiting to be transferred to training prisons. The assessment of six local prisons confirms that local prisons are the oldest and most overcrowded buildings in the prison system. Many inmates are contained in their cells for the majority of every 24-hour period. They must rely on chamberpots for sanitation, accompanied by the unpleasant practice of "slopping out" each morning. Local prisons also have the most restricted regimes, as they have fewer opportunities for work, education, and exercise than other types of prisons. The facts presented in this paper indicate the need for determined efforts to reduce the local prison population if conditions in these facilities are to attain even minimal standards of human decency. 1 table