The state prison population increased last year. That is not necessarily earth-shattering news. As of Dec. 31, 2013, Pennsylvania’s prisons housed 51,512 people, up 328 from the same date in 2012. The increase was enough to require the state Department of Corrections to ask for a supplemental increase to the current year’s budget.
According to the Harrisburg Patriot-News, the corrections budget is projected at more than $2 billion next year, despite the passage of Justice Reinvestment Initiative (JRI) legislation to save money by reducing the size of state prisons.
