JACKSON, MS (Mississippi News Now) -
The Mississippi Department of Corrections is using early release house arrest and probation to save at least $5 million dollars.
One such example is Mark Seepe, a former crematorium owner who was put on house arrest in January 2011 after serving less than two years of a 10-year sentence for personal use of advance funeral payments.
The legislative budget committee praised the corrections department for not seeking a budget increase this fiscal year.
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.
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