New Zealand Parole Board

The New Zealand Parole Board is an independent statutory body established in 2002 that considers offenders for early release or parole from prison. The Board's task "is to undertake an assessment of the risk that long-term sentenced offenders might pose to the safety of the community if they were to be released before the end of their sentence".

The Board reviews all prisoners serving sentences of more than two years (defined in the Corrections Act as 'long term') – after the prisoner has served one third of their sentence. However in certain cases, the sentencing judge may designate a longer minimum non-parole period. Short-term prisoners (on sentences of less than two years) are not required to appear before the Parole Board; they are automatically released after serving half their sentence. In other words, an offender sentenced to 18 months in prison will be released after nine months.

For long term prisoners released by the Board, the Board also sets release conditions, such as a requirement to live at a specific address, or not to consume alcohol or drugs. Once the conditions have been set, it becomes the responsibility of Community Corrections to manage the offender for the period of time the conditions apply. If an offender breaches any of his or her conditions when released before the end of their sentence, Corrections may apply to the Board for them to be recalled to prison to complete their full sentence.