Eight minimum-security inmates have walked away from the state’s prison in Lansing in the past three years. But officials there are confident in their security systems.

All eight were eventually recaptured, including the latest to escape. Paul Cohagen was found Thursday. He was a plumber at the prison, a job that gave him the freedom of movement to escape from minimum security.

Prison spokesman Jeremy Barclay tells The Leavenworth Times the number of escapes is small in proportion to the inmate population. He says higher security prisoners rarely escape. Escapes from minimum security are more likely because inmates are allowed more freedom for their jobs.

Barclay says the prison offers classes for inmates on the consequences of leaving and studies each escape to find ways to improve security.