CHESHIRE, Conn. -- More details are being revealed on Gov. Jodi Rell's sweeping changes to the state's parole system.

Days after Rell announced a ban on parole for all violent offenders, the state's prison population was under discussion.

Social furloughs for parolees at state halfway houses have also been temporarily suspended.

The Board of Pardons and Paroles is reviewing the cases of 400 to 600 inmates who were scheduled for release on parole.

The Department of Correction is reviewing the files of 1,200 level one inmates to identify non-violent offenders to release to halfway houses to open bed space for violent offenders.

"They can go into the community release program and free up space within the prison for those who have been convicted of a violent crime," Rell said.

Rell said that there are no current or expected plans to build new or expand the state's current prisons. She said that despite the new bans, Connecticut will not ship prisoners out of state, a practice that she ended.

"I am the governor that brought all of the prisoners home from out-of-state. I don't expect us to do that again," she said.

East Haven Rep. Michael Lawlor, co-chairman of the Judiciary Committee, said the state's prison population has grown by 280 inmates since the July 23 Cheshire home invasion, in which a mother and her two daughters were killed.

Click Here For More Coverage, Past Reports

Two parolees were arrested in connection to the home invasion.

Judges are setting higher bond for burglars and other criminals; defendants are receiving longer sentences; and the Board of Pardons and Paroles is more conservative about who gets parole.

Lawlor said if violent offenders can't receive parole, the state's prison population will only grow more.

"A lot of these options come with a price tag …. some options are better than others, but we need to have a sense of what course the governor's going to chart," Lawlor said.

There are more than 19,000 inmates in Connecticut's prisons, originally designed to house 17,000. Lawlor said that the federal courts could order a mass release.

E-mail news tips to Eyewitness News, or dial: 866-289-0333. Refresh WFSB.com often and watch Channel 3 Eyewitness News for the latest news updates.