There are approximately 1700 state prisons in the United States. Texas has the most state prisons with 105. Texas had more inmates in its jurisdiction than any other state, with nearly 158,000 inmates as of 2012. No state had a higher incarceration rate than Louisiana, with 893 people behind bars for every 100,000 residents. Many state prisons are extremely overcrowded. The Federal courts have confronted California and Gov. Jerry Brown over its overcrowded prisons. California’s state prisons are operating at 40 percent above capacity.