Utah has one of the lowest prison incarceration rates in the nation — only six states have lower rates — but it’s a different story with county jails, where the incarceration rate in Utah is the 15th highest.
Part of this disparity is due to the criminal justice reform enacted in 2015 designed to keep people convicted of nonviolent crimes — mostly drug offenses — out of prison. That goal is being met, with a 12 percent drop in Utah’s prison population from 2014 to 2016, according to research from the nonpartisan Utah Foundation.