August 8, 2011 - District of Mission

07/14/2011 13:02 6048264319 MMSI WARDEN PAGE 04/0816DEFINITIONSBAILBail is an option for the courts or police to consider, in some cases, where an offender may be able to be released onconditions, rather than being detained in custody prior to court appearance. Bail is also known as Judicial Interim Release,TEMPORARY ABSENCES AND DAY PAROLETemporary Absences (TAs) and Day Paroles allow the temporary release of offenders from institutions in order to accessprograms and services available in the community. All provinces/territories operate TA programs, and TAs may be grantedfor personal development, medical, compassionate, employment, administrative, parental or family-related reasons. Inmost cases, TA's are utilized for pre-parole preparation and planning.TA's are either escorted (ETAs) or unescorted (UTAs). Typically, ETAs are not longer than eight hours and UTAs mayrun from 8 hours to 60 days. The type of offence and sentence length determines whether the Correctional Service ofCanada or the National Parole Board has authority to issue TAs. In simplistic form, the National Parole Board determinesall TAs for offenders serving Life sentences and for other violent offences that resulted in serious harm to the victims. TheWarden, as the head of the releasing institution, retains complete responsibility for the final clearance of offenders beingreleased on TAs and provides a written recommendation to the N.P.B. when they possess the legal authority.As a general rule, all offenders are eligible for E.TA.s the moment they commence their federal sentences. In practicehowever, very few offenders will receive authorization for TAs early within their Sentence, with the exception of TAs formedical and compassionate purposes. As a general rule, medical and compassionate TAs are escorted by what isdetermined as a security escort (two officers who possess and utilize restraint equipment). However, for other types ofETAs, the offender is usually escorted by one officer only. Variations in the level of security exist and is determined byassessing the level of risk the offender poses to the public. .In terms of offenders eligibility for UTAs, this is determined by legal calculations of eligibility and varies from one offender toanother depending on their sentence length. In the case of offenders serving a Life sentence, UTA eligibility is calculatedas three years before their full parole eligibility date.Federal offenders may qualify to participate in work release programs outside of the correctional institution for a specifiedperiod of time. These type of releases could see a single offender going out to work as well as groups of offenders.However, they are usually escorted by at least one officer. In addition, UTAs may be granted to allow offenders toparticipate in personal development programs or community service projects. UTAs are generally granted for a maximumperiod of 15 days. although if the UTA is for participation in a persona/ development program, it may be extended to 80days, renewable.Day Parole is a flexible form of release that provides an opportunity for correctional officials to employ gradual release,preparing the inmate for release on full parole and allowing the inmate the opportunity to participate in community-basedprograms and become readjusted to life outside the institution.Federal offenders, with the exception of those inmates in preventive detention or serving indeterminate sentences, areeligible for day parole six months prior. to their parole eligibility date or after having served six months of their sentence,whichever is longer. The majority of the inmates on day parole reside in community-based facilities operated by theprovincial and federal corrections services or by private agencies on contract with the Correctional Service.FULL PAROLEFull Parole is a program of conditional release that allows inmates to serve a portion of their sentence in the Communityunder supervision. Inmates are generally eligible for full parole after serving one-third of their sentence or seven years,whichever is shorter. Under the Corrections and Conditional Release Act enacted in 1992, however, sentencing judgeshave the authority to set the parole eligibility for offenders convicted of violent and serious drug offences at one-half ratherthan one-third of the sentence. In such cases, the period until parole eligibility cannot exceed ten years. Federal inmatesserving Life sentences are eligible for parole consideration after seven years in confinement, dated from the day theoffender was arrested and taken into custody. The exception to this are situations in which an offender is serving a Lifesentence with a mandatory minimum sentence. For example, a First Degree Murder conviction carries a mandatory 25years confinement before parole eligibility,STATUTORY RELEASEStatutory Release has its origins in an amendment to the Parole Act in 1970, which created a mechanism to provideassistance and control during the offender's readjustment to life in the community for inmates who had been denied parole.In contrast to parole, statutory release involves the release of offenders from the institution after serving two-thirds of theirsentence, with the remaining one-third being served under supervision of the National Parole Board in the community.Inmates released under statutory release are supervised by parole Officers and must abide by mandatory and any additionalconditions set by the NP13 that are deemed necessary to successfully manage the offender's risk in the community. Aviolation of the conditions can result in suspension and revocation and return to the institution where the offender may haveto serve the remainder of his sentence.Inmates can be Detained by the NPB and thus not released on statutory release. However, it has been determined in lawthat offenders have the right to be released after serving two thirds of their sentences and thus, to detain an offender, theremust be significant grounds to establish that the offender would constitute a grievous threat to the community, or anymember thereof, if released. Following completion of their sentence, (Warrant Expiry Date), these inmates are releasedinto the community without any supervision or assistance. However, recent changes in the Corrections and ConditionalRelease Act have made provisions to allow for the supervision of some offenders beyond their Warrant Expiry dates.However, the changes in this law are not retroactive to offenders currently serving sentences and will likely involve a verysmall group of offenders determined to be extremely dangerous.