ALMOST ALL OUT-OF-STATE PRISONERS BACK HOME
Monday, January 10th, 2005 -- 1:39 PM
The state has brought all but about 50 inmates back to Wisconsin from out-of-state prisons, five years after thousands were being held in Oklahoma, Minnesota, Mississippi and Tennessee, Corrections Secretary Matt Frank said Saturday. Wisconsin first began sending inmates out of state in 1996 to privately run facilities in order to alleviate overcrowding in the state prison system. Frank said having prisoners out of state makes it difficult for them to keep "positive links" with family that can prevent them from re-offending once they are released. The Wisconsin State Journal first reported in Saturday's editions that the only inmates not back in Wisconsin are 53 prisoners enrolled in a treatment program in a privately run prison in Minnesota. Corrections officials want them to complete the program before returning. The state's out-of-state prison population peaked at 5,085 in 2000, according to the newspaper.Feel free to contact us with questions and/or comments.