Wisconsin spends more than twice the amount Minnesota does on its corrections system and imprisons nearly 14,000 more, according to a new report from the Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance.
According to the report, Wisconsin spent $1.1 billion on corrections in 2008 compared to Minnesota's $460 million. Between 1990 and 2000, the rate of growth of corrections spending in Wisconsin outpaced Minnesota; however, since 2000, both states have seen a reduced rate of growth in spending.
Wisconsin has a population of 5.7 million compared to Minnesota's 5.3 million, according to census data, and Wisconsin had 23,000 individuals incarcerated in state prisons in 2008 compared to under 9,000 individuals in Minnesota.
Higher spending and a greater prison population in Wisconsin can be attributed to differing probation and community corrections policies between the two states. According to the report, crime as a policy issue came to the forefront of state politics in Wisconsin between 1993 and 1999, which led to an increase in the inmate population and a decreased willingness to parole offenders.
Minnesota, which passed reforms to limit its prison population in the 1970s and 1980s, puts more individuals on parole or probation than Wisconsin. The report shows that incarceration costs a state over 20 times as much as probation, which could help explain the spending discrepancy between Wisconsin and Minnesota.
Kenneth Streit, UW-Madison associate law professor, has monitored both Wisconsin and Minnesota's correction systems for the past 25 years and said he ""wasn't surprised"" by the WISTAX data.
""[Minnesota has] a lot of people under probation, and their probation is comparatively much more effective,"" he said. ""They have a fairly clear sentencing policy as far as who should be in prison, and for the most part it's the most serious offenders who get a lot of prison time.""
A 2009 report from the Pew Center shows corrections spending in Wisconsin amounts to over 8 percent of the overall state budget. The report shows Wisconsin is ranked 15th nationally in total corrections spending and Minnesota is ranked 28th. California, Texas and New York were the top three states for overall corrections spending.
