Iowa prison officials are closing a Bible-based treatment program, after a five-year court battle determined it must end.

A judge ruled that Prison Fellowship's InnerChange Freedom Initiative was unconstitutional because it was funded by taxpayer dollars. The Newton Prison program will end by mid-March.

Americans United for the Separation of Church and State has fought the program in court since 2003. In December, a federal appeals court ruled that taxpayer money could not be used to finance the program because the program advanced religion at government expense.

The Christian program has operated since then on private donations. Similar programs are sponsored by Prison Fellowship at prisons in Arkansas, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri and Texas.

Sources: CBN News, The Associated Press