{"slug": "more-day-releases-to-help-prisons-bursting-at-the-seams-nos", "title": "More day releases to help prisons bursting at the seams: NOS", "summary": "The Dutch justice ministry plans to expand day release for prisoners to alleviate overcrowding and staff shortages, according to leaked documents. Prisoners would work outside with electronic tags and return at night, while post-prison coaching for short sentences may be cut. If insufficient, early release could be extended to inmates serving up to two years.", "body_md": "# More day releases to help prisons bursting at the seams: NOS\n\nSee more DutchNews articles in your Google search results\n\nSee more DutchNews articles in your Google search results\n\n[Add as a favourite source on Google Add DutchNews as a favourite source on Google](https://www.google.com/preferences/source?q=dutchnews.nl)\n\nOvercrowding and lack of staff could prompt prisons to put more prisoners on day release, according to justice ministry plans leaked to broadcaster [NOS](https://nos.nl/artikel/2620112-nieuwe-noodmaatregel-om-volle-cellen-meer-gedetineerden-overdag-naar-buiten).\n\nPrisoners would be allowed to work outside the prison walls wearing an electronic tag and return to the prison at night, sources said, citing junior justice minister Claudia van Bruggen.\n\nAn “action plan”, expected to be discussed at a ministerial council meeting on Friday, will propose to broaden conditions so more prisoners can participate in the scheme.\n\nStaff-saving measures are said to include cutting back post-prison coaching for people who are released following sentences of up to 12 weeks.\n\nIf these measures are not sufficient, the cabinet may resort to releasing prisoners even earlier than the two-week reprieve currently in place. That measure could be extended to people who are serving a sentence of up to two years, instead of one.\n\nThat plan was already [mooted](https://www.dutchnews.nl/2025/09/prisoners-may-be-released-even-earlier-for-lack-of-space-nos/) in 2025, when prison authorities said it did not do enough to relieve pressure on prison capacity.\n\nThe cabinet has pledged an extra €75 million for next year to solve the problems but prison services said that apart from measures, “hundreds of millions” are needed to make sure prisoners serve their allotted sentences.\n\n###### Thank you for donating to DutchNews.nl.\n\nWe could not provide the Dutch News service, and keep it free of charge, without the generous support of our readers. Your donations allow us to report on issues you tell us matter, and provide you with a summary of the most important Dutch news each day.\n\n[Make a donation](/donate-to-dutchnews-nl)", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/more-day-releases-to-help-prisons-bursting-at-the-seams-nos", "canonical_source": "https://www.dutchnews.nl/2026/06/more-day-releases-to-help-prisons-bursting-at-the-seams-nos/", "published_at": "2026-06-25 09:41:51+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-06-25 09:45:01.943450+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["ai-policy"], "entities": ["NOS", "Claudia van Bruggen", "DutchNews.nl"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/more-day-releases-to-help-prisons-bursting-at-the-seams-nos", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/more-day-releases-to-help-prisons-bursting-at-the-seams-nos.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/more-day-releases-to-help-prisons-bursting-at-the-seams-nos.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/more-day-releases-to-help-prisons-bursting-at-the-seams-nos.jsonld"}}