Fewer young criminals means closing of prisons

Associated Press

WALES, Wis.

States across the country are quietly shuttering dozens of reformatories amid plunging juvenile arrests, softer sentencing policies and bleak budgets.

The Justice Department says the number of juvenile offenders declined 26 percent between 2000 and 2008, from about 109,000 to 80,000.

In Ohio, officials said the closures will save $40 million a year.

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