CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA (AP) -- Iowa's top prison official says programs aimed at helping inmates re-enter society are a reason for a drop in the prison population.
Preliminary figures for fiscal 2009 released Tuesday show the inmate count on June 30 at 8,455. That compares to 8,840 in 2007. In 2008, the inmate population was 8,740.
Corrections Director John Baldwin says drug courts, substance abuse treatment and other programs are helping reduce the number of offenders returning to prison. There also was a drop in new commitments, due in part to a decline in drug convictions.
Corrections officials caution that the drop may be short term. They say the trend may be offset by longer prison terms for violent offenders due to Iowa's tougher sentencing standards and changes in the sex-offender law.
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