More than 90 percent of the men and women entering Iowa's prisons have had mental illness or an addictive disorder, and 30 percent are at risk for suicide, according to a new University of Iowa study. The findings, released Wednesday by the U of I, didn't surprise prison officials or inmate advocates.

The drug court coordinator for the state of Montana made a strong case for the effectiveness of jail diversion programs Wednesday during the annual meeting of the Rimrock Foundation. Jeffrey Kushner, who was hired for the new position in January, told a lunchtime audience at the Mansfield Health Education Center that when the criminal justice system teams up with treatment providers like Rimrock Foundation, governments save money, prison populations decline, and more offenders kick their drug addictions.

Gov. John Baldacci set aside another bill he won't sign into law Wednesday -- one he said would narrow the circumstances under which a person convicted of a sex crime between 1982 and 1992 would be required to register under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act. Citing Department of Public Safety estimates, the governor's office said as many as 580 currently registered sex offenders would no longer be required to register.

Legislation to help police keep better track of convicted sexual predators by requiring them to renew their driver's license every year will be introduced today in the state House. The bill, sponsored by Rep. Vincent A. Lofink, R-Bear, would require felony sex offenders to renew their licenses yearly, for a $5 fee. Senate Majority Leader Anthony J. DeLuca, D-Newark East, will be the bill's Senate sponsor.

In 2002, Missouri became one of the first states to overhaul its prisoner release program by linking state agencies, employers, non-profit groups and drug and mental health counselors to help inmates fix the problems that led them to crime. Because nearly all inmates eventually are released, states across the country have been looking to copy ideas and methods that researchers and prison officials say are working best in Missouri and Oregon.

House and Senate lawmakers reached a tentative compromise Thursday on a massive plan to overhaul Vermont's prison system. After two days of back-and-forth meetings, House lawmakers agreed to the main thrust of the proposal — the closing and reorganization of several state prisons — while senators agreed to some changes in how to spend the expected savings from the move.

Policymakers say continued growth of Michigan's sprawling, $2-billion-a-year prison system is unsustainable when the state is struggling to pay for such priorities as education, health care and police. Some of the top thinkers regarding Corrections strategies are convening in the capital today to discuss reforms that could help the state get a handle on prison spending without compromising public safety.

Lawmakers have revived a pair of bills to overhaul California's criminal sentencing laws, but majority Democrats are still wrangling over which approach to push. Both measures would create a panel appointed by the executive, legislative and judicial branches that would be empowered to stiffen or reduce prison terms on its own, subject to a majority vote by the Legislature.

California corrections officials are again diverting thousands of parole violators into community programs instead of sending them to prison, hoping this time the experiment doesn't fail. Since August, the prison population has steadily declined as the state pours millions of dollars into community programs like drug treatment and electronic home detention.

Reversing decades of tough-on-crime policies, including mandatory minimum prison sentences for some drug offenders, many cash-strapped states are embracing a view once dismissed as dangerously naive: It costs far less to let some felons go free than to keep them locked up.

A federal law that requires states to establish a new system for registering sex offenders by 2009 is prompting some states to mandate retroactive registration — forcing offenders to register even if their crimes were committed before registry laws went into effect. Under the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006, states have until next year to establish a tier system for offenders to register for 15 years, 25 years or life, based on the nature of their offenses.

The old county jail atop the Cuming County Courthouse closed in 1980 after 26 years of use, when its outdated design was deemed incompatible with modern jail standards. Now, facing rising costs for sending prisoners elsewhere, increasing inmate populations and the prospect of the closest neighboring jail shutting down, Cuming County is asking taxpayers to build a $7 million, 50-bed jail on the outskirts of town.

The Illinois Department of Corrections has backed off closing a wing of Stateville prison north of Joliet and now wants to shut Pontiac Correctional Center and transfer its 1,600 inmates to a facility near the Iowa border. The DOC director presented the plan in a letter to state Sen. A.J. Wilhelmi (D-Joliet), one of the chief opponents of the recent proposal to close the maximum-security wing of 83-year-old Stateville prison.

Legislation designed to reform Alabama's juvenile justice system was signed into law by Governor Bob Riley Monday. The new law is designed to reduce the number of children in state custody and redirect them toward community-based programs.