OHIO PRISON INMATES Ohio Reports Record-Low Prison Inmate Return Rate
Reported by: Associated Press
Web Producer: Heath Harrison
Reported: Feb. 23, 2013 4:21 PM EST
Eyewitness News Photo
Columbus, Franklin County
, West Virginia
Ohio says fewer inmates than ever are going back to prison after they've been released.
State prisons director Gary Mohr attributes the drop to a focus on the importance of keeping that number low.
Mohr also said the work of community groups involved with inmates in prison has been crucial.
Mohr announced last week that only 29 percent of inmates who left prison in 2009 have returned, compared with the previous low of 31 percent.
A 2011 law aims to save the state millions of dollars by shrinking the number of inmates and also by reducing the number of offenders who might to return to prison as repeat offenders.
The prison population remains under 50,000, a level not seen since 2007.
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