The inmate population at the Westmoreland County Prison on Monday was at its lowest level in more than a year.

Warden John Walton told the prison board just 590 inmates were assigned to the jail, down from where it had been just a month ago.

The jail averaged 623 inmates throughout March, a 5.4 percent drop from March 2018, when the facility housed 659 inmates, according to the warden.

County officials have struggled with the rising inmate population in recent months, with the number of woman jailed increasing, at times forcing some to sleep on cots in makeshift cells. The jail can house up to 704 inmates before it is considered to be overcrowded.

According to probation officials, the number of inmates released to house arrest last month increased by more than 30.

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