6.1 Overview

Depending on the nature of the imposed sentence, and/or judicial orders at time of sentencing, prisoners may be released at a pre-determined statutory release date, or at the discretion of the New Zealand Parole Board. The current category of offenders, "prison release-ordered offenders", includes all those who are released under such orders. This category includes those released on parole, home detention, post-release conditions and extended supervision. Corrections itself does not decide on such release dates, or on the nature of the conditions that apply, but following release these offenders are managed by Corrections’ Community Probation Service.

The noticeable growth in offenders managed as "short term released on conditions" reflects the fact that this order was created by legislative changes in mid-2002 (and subsequently modified in 2004), with numbers building to a new steady state by the end of 2006.

For purposes of brevity, an annual throughput perspective is not presented on prison release-ordered offenders, only the snapshot perspective.