Between 1985 and 2005, the prison population in Texas jumped 300 percent. However, the report, by the Pew Public Safety Performance Project, claims there is some good news for the Lone Star state this year. It points to Texas as an example. This year, instead of spending money on more prison cells, legislators decided to spend more on drug treatment and programs that would divert lower risk criminals out of the prison system.

As far as the numbers, it seems to be working. While the number of inmates around the country grew this year, it dropped slightly in Texas. Our prison population is now at about 171, 800, the highest number in the country, but still 300 fewer than last year. New Mexico also saw a slight drop. New Mexico has 6,540 prisoners--100 fewer prisoners than last year. The report says prisons are a huge burden on state tax dollars. Texas Dept. of Corrections spent more than 3.2 billion dollars this year, almost nine percent of the general fund. New Mexico spent 241 million dollars, about 4 percent of the general fund.

The report says the changes Texas is making to divert some criminals out of prison should save about 200 million dollars over the next two years.

You can view the complete report by clicking here.