Harmonized Carceral Mortality Database: a dataset on mortality in state-operated correctional facilities

The Harmonized Carceral Mortality Database (HCMD) is a collection of publicly available mortality records from state-operated correctional facilities in the United States. The database contains data from administrative, nonprofit, and public sources and standardizes information about decedent characteristics, facility identifiers, locations, dates of death, and causes of death. At the time of the article's writing, the database includes 49,682 deaths from at least 1,089 prisons across 50 states covering the period from 1996 to 2024, with regular annual updates. Documenting mortality in correctional facilities is essential for understanding the health consequences of incarceration and identifying preventable deaths. The database supports carceral health research across various disciplines and is used not only by scientists but also by journalists, lawyers, and community-based organizations.