The state's prison population has dropped 6.6 percent in the past two years, a new study shows.

The news comes as the state is preparing for the opening of a new 625-bed private prison in Clayton next month.

A study done by the New Mexico Sentencing Commission and presented Wednesday at a meeting of the Legislative Finance Committee says several factors have led to the decline.

The number of people released from prison is outpacing the number of people admitted, according to the report. In particular, more nonviolent and drug offenders are being released than are being put in jail. Violent offenders are being admitted and released at the same rate, however.

The study cites the following reasons for the decline:

u The Corrections Department is increasingly imposing sanctions other than prison for technical parole violations, such as missing a counseling session. The alternative sanctions include house arrest, Global Positioning System monitoring, drug counseling and stricter parole reporting requirements, according to the department.

u A 2006 state law allows the department to let nonviolent inmates earn time off their prison time during the first 60 days of their stay. Previously, inmates had to wait to start earning time.

u The state now has 31 felony drug courts to treat offenders, and the report says the courts may indirectly keep offenders from being rearrested and potentially going to prison.

The state for years had seen population growth, hitting an all-time high of 6,803 inmates in June 2006. Last week, it was down to 6,269.

Corrections Department Secretary Joe Williams in a recent interview said New Mexico — which has seen its share of prison violence — is in a good spot.

"We're in a great state as far as corrections go for the first time in many, many years, I think," he said last week. "I think we're in a position a lot of states wish they were. We have room and capacity to grow."

The report notes, however, that New Mexico's prison population could always increase. In particular, it says average lengths of stay are increasing for serious violent offenders.

The prison population here is projected to increase just 1.4 percent over the next 10 years, according to the report.

New Mexico isn't alone in seeing a decrease in its number of prisoners. JFA Associates, a company the state uses to make its population projections, said the number of prisoners decreased in seven other states during the first six months of 2007 — Iowa, Louisiana, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, Vermont and Washington. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, the number of prisoners in federal or state custody also dropped during the first six months of 2007.

All the recent projections are a change from what the state has seen in past decades.

In previous years, New Mexico's system has been so full, the state had to plan for a new prison. The GEO Group, formerly Wackenhut, in August is expected to open a $63 million prison in Clayton.

The Northeast New Mexico Correctional Facility will have 625 beds, 600 of which are expected to be used for state prisoners.

Having a lower population gives the prison system some breathing room, Williams has said. The department soon will have enough space — and money — to refurbish cells in two of its prisons.

The department recently canceled a contract with Santa Fe County to house inmates at the county jail because it doesn't need the bed space.

Contact Kate Nash at 986-3036 or knash@sfnewmexican.com. Read her blog, Green Chile Chatter, at www.santafenewmexican.com.