Nearly 75,000 women were serving prison terms in the U.S. last year -- a record number that experts say is the result of mandatory sentencing laws. This represented a 9.1 percent jump over 1995. The figures come from a recently released Justice Department report.

• Women, who make up more than half the population, constitute only 6.3 percent of the prison population.

• Almost half the female prison population is incarcerated in California, Texas, New York and Florida -- with 21 states having more than 1,000 female inmates each.

• Oklahoma has the highest percentage of female prisoners -- 9.9 percent of inmates, or 1,940 women -- most doing time for drug offenses.

• For states with large prison populations, Texas had the biggest percentage increase in female prisoners last year -- jumping more than 25 percent above the previous year's level.

Experts say mandatory prison time for drug-related crimes and truth-in-sentencing laws -- which require convicted criminals to serve a majority of their sentence -- have led to the increase. Such laws have been implemented over the past decade, spurred by federal grants to states with tough sentencing procedures.

Source: Ann Donahue, "Population of Female Inmates Reaches Record," USA Today, July 21, 1997.