KEY POINTS:
A man with a significant criminal conviction has been employed as a prison officer at the Otago Corrections Facility since November last year after the conviction went undetected.
The Corrections Department declined to reveal details of the man's offending but it is understood it was violence-related.
The man is still employed at the prison. Acting facility manager Peter Henderson said all prospective employees received a Ministry of Justice criminal conviction check.
Corrections demanded an "extremely high level of personal integrity" from staff, he said.
Except for "very minor" offences, those with criminal convictions would not be employed. In this case, the conviction was not picked up because the man was given name suppression.
"We are working with the Ministry of Justice to see how this can be prevented."
Ministry finance and support services manager Philip Maitland said the ministry received about 200,000 requests for criminal records a year, most from prospective employers.
Ways were being looked at to alert third parties without breaching permanent suppression orders.
Given that permanent suppression orders are relatively rare, a case like the present one would be "very unusual", Mr Maitland said.
The Corrections website explains the grounds for those not usually considered for employment: a custodial sentence; a conviction for drugs, dishonesty, violence or sexual-related offending; a conviction which included supervision (in the past 20 years); those with any offence in the past 10 years.
"We also check through the Ministry of Justice to see if an applicant has a criminal conviction as part of the standard recruitment process," the website says.
Mr Henderson said the department had reviewed sentencing notes and interviewed the officer concerned.
The officer's work had been of a very high standard and the man had not deliberately hidden his conviction.
Mr Henderson said he would not make any further comment on the man or the case "in the interests of natural justice".
National Party law and order spokesman Simon Power said any systems breakdown in Corrections reinforced "a view the public has" that the department could not carry out its basic functions without controversy.
HIRING POLICY
* Corrections will not normally consider hiring people if:
* They have received a custodial sentence.
* They have been convicted for violence, dishonesty, drugs or a sexual offence.
* They have a conviction which incurred a sentence of supervision within the previous 20 years.
* They have committed any offence in the past 10 years.
* They have a continued history of minor offences.
- OTAGO DAILY TIMES
