The report by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation says the reduction of two-point-four percent in the recidivism rate means some 27-hundred fewer offenders returned to prison. That translates to a savings of 30-million dollars.
The report focused on offenders who were released during the 2006-2007 fiscal year and afterward tracked them for three years. Among the report's findings: Nearly half of the released felons - and 85 percent of sex offenders-- who returned to prison did so for parole violations, not new crimes.
California's recidivism rate now stands at 65-percent. Despite this year's drop, that's still one of the highest in the nation.