The number of those entering Maryland prisons has fallen by 19 percent over the last ten years.
Much of that is due to a 43 percent decline in the Baltimore area.
The Crime and Justice Institute in conjunction with the Pew Charitable Trust also found that 58 percent of those going into prison are there for non-violent crimes.
There has also been a drop in the number of drug offenders.
But the length of prison time has been going up by 25 percent over the last decade while the number of those prisoners over the age of 55 has doubled.
The study also found that African Americans make up 70% percent of Maryland’s state prisoners while making up only 30 percent of the state population.
Whites made up only 28 percent of the prison population.
