SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Deeply conservative Utah has become a focal point for an effort to reduce the number of people on probation and parole.

State corrections leaders and the chief prosecutor of Utah’s most populous county signed on to a national push this month encouraging officials to use the tactics more sparingly and instead opt for less intrusive methods of monitoring offenders.

Earlier in the year, the overwhelmingly Republican state Legislature unanimously called for new guidelines for supervising offenders and eliminated mandatory parole for some charges.

Supporters say the changes will keep people out of jail and allow the state to use its money more efficiently.

The push has met little opposition.

It builds on wide-ranging reforms lawmakers made in 2015 intending to keep people out of prison and save millions of dollars over coming decades.