INDIANAPOLIS | Indiana's prison sentencing rules will get their first top-to-bottom review in more than a quarter-century.

Gov. Mitch Daniels on Monday announced a partnership among Indiana, the Pew Center on the States, and the Council of State Governments' Justice Center to examine the state's sentencing laws, recidivism rates and incarceration practices with the aim of saving money.

"Having more dangerous and repeat-offending criminals in prison is the best way to protect Hoosiers, but if our current laws and practices result in nondangerous offenders taking up space at high cost to taxpayers, there may be better ways to manage that," Daniels said.

Since the last sentencing review in 1976, Indiana's prison population has increased from about 7,500 adults to nearly 29,000 today. While the average sentence for an Indiana prisoner is approximately 19 years, last year 4,583 offenders were sentenced to fewer than 90 days in the Department of Correction, with 1,361 serving fewer than 30 days.

Constantly moving people through the prison system for short sentences costs a lot of money, said Adam Gelb, project director for the Pew Center. The state spends about $700 million a year on prisons. 

"The fundamental premise here is that prisons are a government spending program. And just like any government spending program, be it education or health care, it needs to be put to the cost-benefit test," Gelb said. "Are we getting the best return possible on our public safety dollars?"

The state is paying $100,000 for the review, with Pew and the Council of State Governments kicking in the remainder of the estimated $1 million study cost. A final report is expected by December, so potential changes can be acted on when the General Assembly convenes in January.

State Rep. Linda Lawson, D-Hammond, a former Hammond police officer, said the review is long overdue.

"We've got to get past the idea that community corrections doesn't work, because it does," Lawson said. "We need to work in that direction instead of making sure that everyone goes to jail regardless of what they do."

Chief Justice Randall Shepard, of the Indiana Supreme Court, said he's been encouraged by the success of innovative sentencing in Indiana that doesn't necessarily include prison.

"The smartest sentence at the end of the day is the one that does the most to try to prevent another crime," Shepard said.