CT Inmate Population Is Lowest In 30 Years

CONNECTICUT — For the first time in more than 30 years, the number of people incarcerated in Connecticut jails has dropped below 9,000 inmates.

The population total was logged at 12,409 at the beginning of March of last year. The all-time high, according to the state Department of Corrections, was 19,894 at the start of February 2008.

According to the state's Office of Policy and Management’s Criminal Justice Policy & Planning Division, in 2020, the state’s prison population contracted by 27 percent.

Corrections officials are attributing the steady drop in inmates to the efforts of the agency's Community Release Unit, "along with the Parole and Community Services Division working collaboratively with the Board of Pardons and Paroles to responsibly review and approve all eligible inmates for release."

In large part due to the declining incarcerated population, Commissioner Angel Quiros recently announced the agency’s plan to close the Northern Correctional Institution by July 1, 2021. Two other, yet to be determined, facilities are also slated for closure by July 1, 2022.

"Although the population numbers have dropped significantly, this was accomplished in a methodical and responsible manner," Quiros said. "We remain committed to the release of eligible individuals back into the community, and working collaboratively with stakeholders to improve the chances for successful reentry. The hope is that the number of incarcerated individuals continues to decline, without an adverse effect on the public’s safety.”

The last time the incarcerated population was below 9,000 was on April 16, 1990, when it stood at 8,972.