Many state officials are seeking ways to cut spending. States like Mississippi are now open to reviewing alternative ways to reduce the budget of prison costs.

Members of the Mississippi House Corrections Committee met this week where Marc Levin of the Texas Public Policy Foundation and Dave Louden of Justice Fellowship on behalf of the Right on Crime Coalition shared ways they have worked to reduce spending in other states.

By releasing non-violent offenders into supervised work release programs, ex-offenders are able to reenter the society and be closer to their family. In states like South Carolina, crime rates have dropped and the incidence of repeat offenders has lessened.

Dave Louden of Justice Fellowship shared an example of what South Carolina has been able to accomplish over the last two years with reforms:

"In South Carolina where you got a very Republican legislature and a very Republican governor, they enacted these reforms two years ago, they saved close to 200 million dollars."

The Mississippi article described the dire need for reform saying, "the state of Mississippi spends $330 million dollars a year on adult corrections. The cost per day to house a prisoner is $41.74, which officials say is lower than what most states spend."

Click here to read the full article and watch the video.