One shuttered prison in Connecticut has been repurposed for document storage. Another is used to process and train newly hired correction officers. A third that was emptied of prisoners within the last decade remains unused.

With the state’s inmate population down by more than half from its peak of almost 20,000 in 2008, decisions will need to be made about what to do with three more prisons slated for closure, including the Northern Correctional Institution that once housed death row, which is scheduled to be shuttered next month.

It’s a predicament and opportunity facing many states around the country as declining crime rates, and an emphasis on alternatives to incarceration for nonviolent offenses, especially drug crimes, allow them to explore new uses for prisons.