Dozens of Wyoming prison inmates are being shipped to other states because the state prison is full.

According to a release from the Wyoming Department of Corrections, 60 inmates are being transferred. The DOC won’t release the names of the transferring prisoners or where they are going until they have been moved.

“Transferring inmates outside the system is not our preference, DOC director Bob Lampert said. “However, we need to be able to absorb new inmates coming from county jails.”

Normally, the Doc contracts with Wyoming county jails to house low-custody inmates, such as those transitioning back to the community. The inmates being transferred out of state are high-custody prisoners who are not suitable to be moved to county jails.

Wyoming’s prison, located in Rawlins, has grown from a population of 534 in 1980 to 2,477 this year.

The Wyoming Legislature passed an act to provide some alternatives to prison for people who violate release conditions. The Legislature is also going to do an interim study on criminal justice reform this year.