Inmates released from California prisons are less likely to be sent back for new acts of wrongdoing than they were a few years ago, according to the latest state report. But the rate of arrests after release is largely unchanged, making it unclear whether the lower re-imprisonment levels reflect any reduction in crime.

Figures released Thursday by the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation showed that 95,690 prisoners were released after serving their sentences between July 2010 and 2011, and 42,661, or 44.6 percent, were back in prison after three years. That is 9.7 percent less than the previous year and marks the fifth straight year of reduced re-imprisonment. The numbers also show a sharp decline from 2005-06, when 67.5 percent of the released inmates returned to prison within three years, the department said.

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The report is evidence that the new law is “relieving pressure on the prisons,” said Stanford Law Professor Robert Weisberg, co-director of the school’s Criminal Justice Center. But it’s unclear “how much it shows an actual reduction in recidivism,” he said.