In 2015, Governor Larry Hogan and Maryland lawmakers established the Justice Reinvestment Coordinating Council. The Council was charged with developing policies that would reduce both the State’s incarcerated population as well as its spending on corrections, increase public safety, and reduce recidivism. The Council found that while Maryland had achieved declines in its incarceration and crime rates over the preceding decade, the state still incarcerated over 20,000 offenders. In 2014, the correctional system cost Maryland taxpayers $1.3 billion annually, a 10 percent increase since 2006, adjusted for inflation.