By AP/St. Louis Public Radio
Jefferson City, Mo. – Missouri's prison population has reached an all-time high.
At the end of September, the department had 30,720 inmates. That topped the previous high mark of 30,654 set in October 2005.
Department director George Lombardi said the increase is a result of new people being sentenced to prison, not because of probation revocations for prior offenders. Lombardi said he does not know whether more people are committing crimes, whether more people simply are being convicted, or whether courts are clearing out a backlog of cases.