RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Fewer Virginia inmates are being sent back to prison for new crimes committed after their release.

Gov. Terry McAuliffe says the state’s recidivism rate has dropped to 22.8 percent, the state’s lowest rate on record. He says this means Virginia’s prison system is returning offenders to their communities better prepared to be productive citizens.

Virginia calculates its official recidivism rate as the percentage of offenders who return to prison within three years of being released. The latest figure counts inmates who were released in 2009 and were back in prison in 2012. The previous year’s recidivism rate was 23.4 percent.

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