R.08 Release of registered child sex offenders

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The purpose of this section is to ensure that prisoners that are subject to the [Child Sex Offender (CSO) Register] who are to be released from a prison receive the appropriate documentation and to ensure that all person(s) of interest have been advised of the release (whether scheduled / planned or not).

Registered CSO Release Criteria

  1. These procedures apply to all Registered CSOs who are being released from prison on:
    1. Parole, or
    2. Their statutory release date, or
    3. Compassionate grounds, or
    4. Christmas early release, or
    5. Bail, or
    6. Substitution of sentence of imprisonment for sentence of home detention
  2. The [Child Protection (Child Sex Offender Government Agency Registration) Act 2016] notes as soon as practicable before or after a registered offender who has been in custody for 14 or more consecutive days ceases to be in custody, whether in respect of a qualifying offence or otherwise, the Chief Executive of the Department of Corrections must give written notice to the offender of their reporting obligations and the penalties for failing to comply with those obligations.
  3. As a result it is the Department’s preference to issue a [R.08.Form.01 Notice of Reporting Obligations (NORO)] at every release of a registered CSO (including a court appearance that could result in a release).
  4. The IOMS Report Tree (Report Tree > PS Prison > Court List Report) has been updated to include a column to identify registered CSOs.
  5. Relevant COBRA Reports have also been enhanced to identify registered CSOs.

Please note these procedures are in addition to any other procedures required for the above noted releases located in their relevant sections of POM.

R.08.01 Resources for release

  1. In addition to the usual release resources, the following resources are to be provided to all registered CSOs on release:
    1. [R.08.Form.01 Notice of Reporting Obligations (NORO)] - generated from IOMS
    2. [CSO Register Information Booklet]
    3. Letter from the National CSO Registry (see [R.07.07 One week prior to release –receiving office check])

R.08.02 Preparing Notice of Reporting Obligations

  1. A [R.08.Form.01 Notice of Reporting Obligations (NORO)] must be prepared and issued to all prisoners subject to the CSO Register, for all releases from custody.
  2. To assist receiving office staff in their release activities for registered CSOs the following IOMS functionality has been established:
    1. There is a ‘Subject to CSO Register’ checkbox on the ‘Remand Screen’ and on the ‘Release Details Screen’.
    2. There is a ‘View NORO Document’ link on the ‘Related Links’ panel.
    3. There is a ‘NORO Issued’ checkbox on the ‘Release Checklist’ panel.
    4. The Report Tree (PS Prison>Court List Report) has a new column titled "NORO Required".
  3. You must get the prisoner to sign the [R.08.Form.01 Notice of Reporting Obligations (NORO)], or get a witness to sign if the prisoner refuses.

R.08.03 Prior to release –receiving office

  1. On receipt of the file from the unit PCO the receiving office staff must complete the following additional release activity for registered CSOs:
    1. Prepare the [R.08.Form.01 Notice of Reporting Obligations (NORO)] from IOMS
    2. For planned / scheduled releases, check the Receiving Office inbox (please note some sites have a dedicated CSO Register outlook email inbox) for a letter from the National CSO Registry (the letter contains important information for the registered CSO regarding their unique pin number to enable contact with the National CSO Registry to arrange their 72 hour report in to their NZ Police Case Manager). If this has not been received you should contact the National CSO Registry (CSORegistry@police.govt.nz) to get this letter.

R.08.04 Release day

  1. In addition to the standard release activity and documentation, the following should apply for all registered CSOs:
  2. The prisoner must be provided with a copy and explained the purpose of the:
    1. [R.08.Form.01 Notice of Reporting Obligations (NORO)]
    2. [CSO Register Information Booklet]
    3. Letter from the National CSO Registry (for planned / scheduled releases)
  3. The registered CSO is to sign for:
    1. the [R.08.Form.01 Notice of Reporting Obligations (NORO)]
  4. The receiving office staff member must then email the National CSO Registry with a signed and scanned copy of the NORO. The email should also note that the CSO Register Information Booklet and where appropriate the National CSO Registry letter for the prisoner were also provided to the prisoner.

R.08.05 Suspended reporting obligations

  1. There are occasions when a registered offender’s reporting obligations are suspended. In these circumstances, the offender will not require the [R.08.Form.01 Notice of Reporting Obligations (NORO)], CSO Register Information Booklet or letter from the National CSO Registry to be issued upon release.
  2. These offenders will have an additional indicator in IOMS next to the "Subject to CSO Register" checkbox in the Remand and Release Details screens. This indicator will say "Register Reporting Obligations Suspended".
  3. If the registered offender’s reporting obligations are suspended the "NORO Issued" reminder on the IOMS Release Checklist will not be displayed and you will not be able to generate a [R.08.Form.01 Notice of Reporting Obligations (NORO)] from IOMS.