4 Remanded in custody snapshots

4.1 Overview

Presenting data on individuals remanded in custody is quite challenging, given the complexity of the processes surrounding the incarceration of those yet to be convicted of the criminal offences with which they are charged. Prior to their cases being dealt with, persons held in custodial remand are often released on bail, some of whom are then returned to custody when bail conditions are breached. Episodes of time on remand may also be punctuated with multiple moves between Police, Court, Corrections and even psychiatric facilities. This means that counting remanded in custody episodes is far from simple.

As noted above, when a prison sentence ensues after a period of remand in custody, sentence time is offset by the time already served on remand. Data reported here is based, however, on the applicable status of the offender on any given day, so remand status applies irrespective of whether the remand time contributes to "discharging" the subsequently imposed sentence. As a consequence, sentenced volumes can tend to be artificially suppressed, and remand numbers inflated. This is the case when offenders spend longer periods on remand between being charged and sentenced.

Data in Corrections' IT systems on "remanded in custody" episodes is available from 1998 onwards, which is reflected in the figures on the following pages.

4.2 Remanded snapshot trend since 1998

For more details see: data source and enrichment methodology; data spreadsheet.

4.3 Remanded snapshot trend by gender

For more details see: data source and enrichment methodology; data spreadsheet.

4.4 Remanded snapshot trend by age

For more details see: data source and enrichment methodology; data spreadsheet.

The same age trend effect apparent in the sentenced population is also observed in the remand population, although less pronounced. Interestingly, the growth in remand numbers for 40 to 49 year olds appears to be greater than the growth in the numbers of those aged under twenty years.

4.5 Remanded snapshot trend by preferred ethnicity group

For more details see: data source and enrichment methodology; data spreadsheet; preferred ethnicity

4.6 Remanded snapshot trend by charge category

For more details see: data source and enrichment methodology; data spreadsheet; offence category

In the graph above, those remanded in custody have been grouped by the most serious remand warrant charge (according to the Ministry of Justice seriousness score) that was current for them at the balance date. However, analysis has shown that the charges faced by an individual often evolve over the course of an episode in remand. For instance, a person may be held initially on a driving offence, but this may later be superseded by a serious violence offence charge.

4.7 Remanded snapshot trend in median length of stay

For more details see: data source and enrichment methodology; data spreadsheet;

The chart above gives the median duration in days that offenders have stayed continuously with a status of "remanded in custody", at each balance date

4.8 Remanded snapshot at 30/06/2009 by gender-ethnicity-age

For more details see: data source and enrichment methodology; data spreadsheet; multiple ethnicity

4.9 Remanded snapshot at 30/06/2009 by charge group and age

For more details see: data source and enrichment methodology; data spreadsheet; offence category

4.10 Remanded snapshot at 2009-06-30 by charge group and stay so far

For more details see: data source and enrichment methodology; data spreadsheet; offence category

4.11 Remanded snapshots 1998 to 2009 showing distributions of length of stay so far

For more details see: data source and enrichment methodology; data spreadsheet;

The graph above shows the changing distribution of remand episode duration, comparing distributions for offenders with this status at each of a series of dates. On 30/06/2001 only 244 offenders had been remanded in custody for between 1 and 2 months but by 30/06/2009 this number had risen to 479.

4.12 Remanded snapshot at 30/06/2009 by major previous sanction indicator

For more details see: data source and enrichment methodology; data spreadsheet; major management category.

The "major previous sanction" indicates the major category of corrections management ever imposed on the offender (not just immediately prior) before starting the current episode of remand. The graph indicates that relatively few (259) people remanded in custody at 30/06/2009 had never been under Correction???s sentence management before, and that 67% of those remanded in custody had (somewhere in their history) been prison sentenced before