State's Prison Population Drops For 2nd Straight Year

MADISON, Wis. (WTAQ) - Wisconsin’s prison population has dropped for the second year in a row – and the decline was bigger than the national average. Wisconsin had just over 23,000 inmates at the end of last year. That’s down 1.2 percent from the year before. And the Pew Center on the States said Wisconsin’s decline was 3 times larger than the national drop of 0.4 percent. The Pew Center praised those states which used alternatives to hard time, saying they could see less crime at a far less cost.

Last year’s state budget included an early release program aimed at saving money while giving prisoners an incentive to behave. State corrections secretary Rick Raemisch says the concept of locking people up as long as possible is in-effective – and more reforms are needed to keep the trend going. This week, the Legislature’s Joint Finance Committee approved $10 million on programs that help prisoners re-enter society. But Assembly Republican Scott Suder of Abbotsford called it “Freebies for Felons” which included things like free housing, scholarships, and subsidized employment.