Report: Arkansas prison population to continue to grow

According to the group, Arkansas' inmate population will climb 2.4 percent a year and increase from more than 17,000 inmates last year to more than 22,000 inmates by 2026.

The state prison population started to drop after a law was in 2011 that changed some thresholds for felony crimes and allowed for some administrative actions to keep offenders out of prison.

According to Ware, the policy changes resulted in the biggest one-year jump in the state's incarceration rate that she had ever seen.

Ware warned that the 2026 population prediction is based on the assumption that officials will continue to efforts to curb parole revocations, and that judges and prosecutors continue to pursue slightly shorter sentences for offenders.