ST. PAUL, Minn. — A new report shows Minnesota's prison population rate is among the nation's lowest.
The U.S. Department of Justice statistics released Thursday says Maine had the lowest rate of imprisonment at 145 per 100,000 residents. Minnesota is next with 184 per 100,000 residents.
The number of people in Minnesota prisons has remained relatively steady over the last several years and currently stands at about 9,450.
The number of inmates in state prisons across the country declined by more than 25,000 last year. There were nearly 1.6 million people in state prisons in 2012 — a decline of 1.7 percent.
