Wisconsin Policy Forum notes the longer offenders are under supervision, the greater the chance to break the rules.

If that happens, truth-in-sentencing laws can put offenders back behind bars for longer than the old laws, which only allowed re-incarceration for the remainder of an offender’s original prison sentence. Currently, offenders can be thrown back behind bars for the entire length of their extended supervision.

During his campaign, Evers called for reducing the prison population by 50 percent, a proposal for which he received pushback since about 66 percent of Wisconsin prisoners are serving time for a violent offense.

Legislators behind the Lincoln Hills effort aren’t tying themselves to halving the prison population, but they do see room for changes aimed at reducing the population.

“It’s just not practical,” Sen. Van Wanggaard, R-Racine, who chairs the Senate Committee on Judiciary and Public Safety, said of the 50-percent target. “But there is a percentage we can look at.”

Smarter sanctions?