Hartford — Connecticut awarded a $150,000 grant Wednesday to help it come up with a plan to reduce the number of people jailed while awaiting trial or serving short sentences.

The grant is one of 20 announced by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation to jurisdictions across the nation. Ten of those jurisdictions will be chosen to receive up to $4 million in grant money to implement their plans.

Mike Lawlor, the state's undersecretary for criminal justice and planning, said there are about 4,000 prisoners in Connecticut jails awaiting trials or serving sentences of a year or less.

"For example, there are 300 people sitting in jail right now on bond, where the most serious charge is possession of drugs," he said.

He said the state will work with foundation experts to come up with a plan that will dovetail with Gov. Dannel P. Malloy's Second Chance Society initiative, designed to help nonviolent offenders in the justice system gain better access to housing and jobs.

Among other things, the Democratic governor has proposed reclassifying the possession of drugs as a misdemeanor and eliminating mandatory sentences for drug possession.

About 200 jurisdictions applied for the grant money. The foundation said the winners were chosen because they showed the "motivation, collaboration, and commitment needed to make real change in their local justice systems."

Malloy said Connecticut has proven it can been tough, but smart, about crime.

"We have seen our crime rates drop to a 40-year low while we have reduced our prison population to an all-time low," he said in a statement.