Fewer prisoners in cells means more room for resources that benefit communities, and groups around the country are taking advantage of the space.

Although the overall state prison population in the U.S. rose by 6,300 inmates in 2013, the Wall Street Journal reported last September, not all states have been upping their numbers in recent years. Since 2011, at least 17 states have reduced prison capacity, for a total of more than 35,000 beds....

"Reuse is a new territory in corrections," Nicole Porter, director of advocacy for the Sentencing Project -- which compiles an annual report on prison closures -- told The Marshall Project.

Last Thursday, officials announced that the Bronx’s Fulton Correctional Facility will be torn down and turned into a reentry center for newly released former prisoners, The Marshall Project reported. Florida's Gainesville Correctional Institution was transformed into a homeless shelter in early 2014. And there are several ideas in the works for a vacant upstate New York prison -- including a Native American cultural center, a veterans' cemetery and a summer camp for kids.