Inmates released early to save state money

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) - A former crematorium owner is out of prison after serving less than two years of a ten-year sentence for personal use of advance funeral payments.

The Clarion-Ledger reports that Mark Seepe is among inmates released because the Mississippi Department of Corrections is using early release, house arrest and probation to save at least $5 million on inmate housing.

Seepe was put on house arrest in January 2011.

The Legislative Budget Committee praised the department for not seeking a budget increase this fiscal year.

But House Corrections Chairman George Flaggs says the department will end the year with a $30 million deficit, which the Legislature will have to make up in 2013.

Department spokeswoman Tara Booth says a growing prison population is the reason for the deficit.

(Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)