LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) -- A new study by the man who wrote Kentucky's penal code puts much of the blame for overcrowded prisons on the state's repeat offender law.

The report by University of Kentucky professor Robert Lawson says the repeat offender law originally was reserved for the worst criminals. Lawmakers have extended it so much over the years that it has "pushed the state's corrections budget off the charts."

The study comes as a group of legal experts prepare to make recommendations to the governor on issues including how to decrease prison costs.

The president of the Kentucky Association of Commonwealth's Attorneys, prosecutor Chris Cohron, told The Courier-Journal that his group is opposed to limiting the law to serious or violent offenders.

Cohron says offenders who repeat crimes should have additional penalties.

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