Incident report by Corrections on inmate's hospital visit flight sees minister face questions about staff fatigue.

Corrections Minister rejects claims of organised prison violence.

Not a single person interviewed for an inquiry into violence at Mt Eden Corrections Facility has confirmed the practice of "dropping" inmates from balconies, Serco says.

A prisoner was found unresponsive in his cell this morning while staff were conducting routine rounds.

Almost 7000 prohibited items have been seized from inmates at prisons in 2015.

Corrections Minister Judith Collins says she stands by tough bail reforms that have led to a bigger prison population and stretched the Corrections Department's budget.

An inmate at Christchurch Men's Prison has been stabbed in the head by a group of men.

Private prison operator's contract to run troubled corrections facility will not be renewed.

Corrections Minister Sam Lotu-Iiga has defended the past ranking of privately run Mt Eden Prison as the best in the country, saying it was based on its record at the time.

Reprimand after prison worker says he doesn't like term 'inmates'.

A Rimutaka prisoner is in a serious condition after being assaulted by another inmate, the prison director confirmed.

Heroic fantasy books, Jack Reacher novels and crime thrillers top the reading list inside our prisons.

Serco has gone to the High Court to challenge a draft report by the prison inspectorate on claims about 'fight clubs' and contraband in Mt Eden Prison.

It's not often you'll see a lama wandering around the grounds of a prison.

Prime Minister John Key says he did not go too far by accusing the Labour Party of supporting rapists, child molesters and murderers.

Riot police have stormed the embattled Christmas Island detention centre, allegedly using gas canisters and rubber bullets to restore order.

Prime Minister John Key said it was likely New Zealanders were involved in the riots, but he did not have official confirmation of that. "My office has had an update...we're obviously aware of what's taking place there. It's a difficult situation to get all the facts on," he said. "My understanding is that there could be a small number of New Zealanders involved but we haven't been advised of any injuries to New Zealanders."

The Government has confirmed plans to urgently pass laws which will allow it to impose parole-like conditions on ex-criminals deported from overseas.

Among young offenders, the rate of reconviction within five years after release is 91 per cent, much of which happens within the first 12 to 24 months, writes Jarrod Gilbert.

Almost 100 offenders have been issued final warnings under the country's "three strikes" law, but no offender has reached a third qualifying offence.

Labour MP Kelvin Davis says the NZ detainees he met in Australia's Christmas Island detention centre told him they are so frustrated they are thinking of rioting.

Dunedin's Methodist Mission has begun a literacy and numeracy programme at the Otago Corrections Facility.

A dismissed addiction counsellor says her case has exposed unsafe understaffing at the prison unit where she worked.

Firefighters have been called to a fire at Spring Hill Prison in the Waikato.

Heather du Plessis-Allan writes a letter to Malcolm Turnbull on her views of Kiwis criminals in Australia being deported to detention centres.

Turnbull's and Key's burning issue on their agenda is the detention and deportation of non-Australian citizens who have been convicted of crime.

Funding will be needed to help criminals settle in New Zealand after they are deported from Australia, Prime Minister John Key says.

An organisation that helps former prisoners reintegrate into society says it is buckling under the strain of helping deportees from Australia.