SPRINGFIELD (AP) – Gov. Pat Quinn signed legislation Friday that gives the General Assembly’s blessing to resume early release of inmates from the state’s overcrowded prisons, but with some new restrictions.

Anyone getting early release must be nonviolent, display good behavior and serve at least 60 days in the Corrections Department. That’s how releases were supposed to be handled in the past, but in 2009, The Associated Press revealed that the department had released inmates just weeks or even days after their arrival.

Some violent offenders were set free under the program named MGT Push, a reference to speeding up the process of granting “meritorious good time” to inmates. The Democratic governor denied knowing about MGT Push, called it a “big mistake” and shut it down in 2009 – along with all other early releases.