Official: Michigan Has Enough Beds to Sustain Population

LANSING, Mich. — After nearly two decades, the state prison system in Michigan has enough beds to accommodate its inmate population, according to the Department of Corrections.

DOC Deputy Director Dennis Schrantz told a state Senate committee in February that the state should have enough beds in its prisons until at least March 2008, when 51,000 inmates are projected to be housed in state prisons.

At the conclusion of 2005, 49,377 inmates were housed in state prisons, 370 fewer than October 2002 when the population peaked. The inmate population has been growing by 104 inmates a month since February 2005, according to DOC officials.

The state is trying to reduce the population by providing re-entry programs that provide services to inmates, such as drug counseling and employment help. Michigan spends about $1.7 billion on prisons each year.