Shrinking prisons: states are consolidating and closing prisons as reforms and budget cuts decrease inmate populations.

• Author: Lawrence, Alison
• Position: CRIMINAL JUSTICE

Americans believe too many people are in prison and the nation spends too much keeping them there. But they also are concerned about keeping our streets safe, according to polling from 2012.

State legislatures are addressing all three concerns with policies that reduce prison populations and maintain public safety, and at the same time lower costs. In 15 states prison populations have been reduced enough to warrant closing some correctional facilities.

Corrections officials across the country reduced expenses by 3 percent in FY 2010. That's the largest reduction of any major budget category in recent years, according to the National Association of State Budget Officers. Staff furloughs and administrative changes helped, but larger and potentially more sustainable reductions have come as a result of sentencing and corrections policy changes. Because of successful reforms, more offenders are safely supervised in the community and recidivism rates are down.

Prison Politics

Nearly $9 out of every $10 spent on corrections goes toward running state prisons, according to a recent study by the Pew Center on the States.

So while it makes budgetary sense to close prisons, it can have a negative economic impact on local prison communities. In particular, public unions have resisted prison closures, citing job losses and public safety concerns. Others say downsizing prisons is necessary for a stronger economy, to spur future job growth in other areas and lessen the burden on taxpayers. Often, officials conduct impact analysis to identify, for closure, facilities with the highest operating costs and least efficient to run. Lawmakers often direct a portion of the savings from shutting down prisons to localities to increase funding for effective community supervision programs.

Debates on closures can be laborious and contentious. In Illinois, the legislature, governor and correctional employees have been in contentious negotiations over the potential closure of two prisons for more than six months.

In Michigan as well, lawmakers were divided on whether to close another prison. Michigan's prison population has dropped by 8,000 inmates over the last five years, prompting the closing of 14 correctional facilities there already. Funding for re-entry and community supervision programs in Michigan has increased, and fewer offenders are returning to prison for breaking the rules. Parole is granted more often to nonviolent offenders, leading to an uptick in...