The Kansas secretary of corrections says the state’s prison system is at capacity and expected to add about 2,100 more inmates in the next decade.

The Wichita Eagle reports that Kansas Department of Corrections Secretary Ray Roberts said Friday that get-tough-on-crime laws have had a lot to do with the rising prison population. Roberts was the featured speaker Friday at the Wichita Pachyderm Club.

He said Kansas will have to come up with innovative programs to avoid having to pay millions of dollars on more prison beds to keep up with the growing inmate population.

Roberts also said about 66 percent of the state’s inmates are drug abusers, and 38 percent are mentally ill. He says it’s important that they have access to drug programs and mental health treatment.

—

Information from: The Wichita Eagle, http://www.kansas.com