Attention is focused on jail personnel and on the jail population, including juveniles and adults, the mentally ill and mentally retarded, substance abusers, and female inmates. Administrative problems confronting local jails can largely be attributed to the number of disparate groups that make up jail populations. Service provision for those incarcerated for relatively short periods is considered, including health care, education, counseling, training, and library services. Pretrial alternatives to prosecution and incarceration are analyzed, including pretrial release and diversion. Community-based corrections is defined, and its scope, ranging from single programs to integrated systems, is described. Posttrial programs such as probation, work release, and restitution are addressed. These alternatives to incarceration, both for pretrial defendants and for convicted misdemeanants, are shown to be effective and relatively cost-efficient ways of alleviating some of the institutional stress that jails are experiencing. States' responsibilities for local jails are enumerated, and the way they discharge those responsibilities is examined. Finally, Federal policies that influence jails are noted; jails are shown to be profoundly affected by decisions made at other government levels. Recommendations for improving the jails are included, and center on prisoners and sentencing policies, interlocal agreements, State and Federal roles, and constitutional considerations. Included are 27 tables, 4 graphs, 2 charts, 10 figures, and 140 references.