Placement and allocation of prisoners

The prisons can be either closed prisons or open institutions. Prisoners who participate in work or rehabilitative activities, who are assessed to adapt to freer conditions, and who are assumed not to leave the open institution premises without permission are allocated in open institutions. They are also required to commit themselves to supervised abstinence from substances.

The new legislation on imprisonment, which entered into force in October 2006, emphasises the promotion of the abilities of prisoners to live without crime. Imprisonment is seen as a three-phase, planned process, which consists of the arrival in prison, serving the sentence and release.

Each of the five District Prisons has their own assessment and allocation unit. The unit is situated in one of the prisons belonging to the district prison and it is responsible for allocating the prisoners to the institutions of the district. People sentenced to unconditional imprisonment are summoned to come to the assessment and allocation unit for an assessment. In some cases, the assessment and allocation are made based on documents.

In the assessment and allocation unit, the prisoners receive a detailed plan of the sentence term, which is based on a risk and needs assessment and an assessment of the functioning capacity of the prisoner. The allocation institution is chosen according to the activity and rehabilitation needs of the prisoner and the required level of security in the institution.

The measures recorded in the sentence plan are aimed to help the prisoners to live without crime and promote their reintegration into the society. The plan also prevents recidivism in the institutions and during prison leaves or supervised probationary freedom. The allocation institution is responsible for implementing and updating the sentence plan.

Allocation of prisoners

Prisoners are transferred from the assessment and allocation unit to serve their sentence either in a closed prison or an open institution. In open institutions, prisoners are required to commit themselves to supervised abstinence from substances. In certain cases, the assessment and allocation unit may decide to place a sentenced person in an open institution directly from freedom.

In principle, prisoners are allocated to a district prison closest to their place of residence. Issues taken into account in the allocation include, among other things, the prisoners' contact with close relatives, age, sex, health, prior offences, wish, and possibility to be allocated to an activity (work, education, rehabilitation) according to the sentence plan.

Men and women are placed in separate wards. Hämeenlinna Prison has a ward for mothers and their children where prisoners may be allowed to take their small children with them if it is in the best interest of the children. Children can stay in closed institutions until they are two years old and in open institutions until they are three years old. Besides Hämeenlinna Prison, female prisoners can be allocated to eight other prisons.