Jails in the United States are facing a crisis resulting from overcrowding and dilapidated physical structures. Prisoner lawsuits alleging unconstitutional conditions of confinement have promoted close scrutiny of criminal justice practices that produce overcrowding. At the same time, such lawsuits have increased substantially the cost of incarceration by the imposition of standards regarding conditions of confinement. Jail overcrowding puts stress on the entire criminal justice system and forces reevaluation of traditional practices relating to incarceration of pre-trial and sentenced offenders. Our analysis of the jail population of Midwest Urban County, currently under federal court order, found significant variation in the sentencing behavior of judges. The greatest variation was reflected in incarceration rates for civil and non-violent criminal offenders. The demonstrated variation in the use of judicial discretion has important ramifications for the population of the jail and the fiscal situation of county government. (Publisher abstract)