Judge David J. Carruthers - became Chairperson of the New Zealand Parole Board on 1 July 2005. He was appointed a District Court Judge, with Family Court and Youth Court warrants, in 1985. In 1995 he was made Principal Youth Court Judge. He was Chief District Court Judge from June 2001 to June 2005.
The Hon Marion Frater - was appointed a District Court Judge with a Family Court warrant in 1990 and in 1999 was granted a Jury warrant. She was Chair of the Arohata Prison Board from 1999 to 2002 and from 2003 to 2007 was a Judge of the High Court. Appointed: 2007
Judge Peter Butler - was appointed a District Court Judge in 2003. A lawyer in the Manawatu from 1974 to 2000, he was a Crown Prosecutor in Palmerston North from 2000 to 2003. Appointed: 2006
Judge Russell Callander - a District Court Judge from 1981. Judge Callander holds a Youth Court warrant, and presided over more than 700 jury trials, before retiring in 1994. He also held the position of Chief Justice of Western Samoa. Appointed: 2002
Judge Michael Crosbie - was appointed to the District Court bench in 2001. Judge Crosbie served as Chair of the Wanganui District Prison Board from 2001 to 2003. Appointed: 2003
Judge Avinash Deobhakta - became a District Court Judge in 1981 and was a former member of the Waikeria District Prison Board. He practised as a barrister in Auckland and was Uganda’s Chief Magistrate in the Department of Public Prosecutions. Appointed: 2002
Judge Carolyn Henwood - was the first Women District Court Judge appointed to the Wellington District Court in 1985, Judge Henwood is involved with Youth Justice, and has carried out an international study on victims’ rights. Appointed: 2006
Judge Raymond Kean – is the Board’s Southern Regional Convenor. Judge Kean became a District Court Judge in 1988 and later became a Family Court Judge. A former solicitor, Judge Kean was a founding member of the NZ Legal Association and the Otago branch of the Family Courts Association. Appointed: 2002
Judge Bernard Kendall - was appointed as a District Court Judge in 1982. He holds a warrant as a Family Court Judge and served as the Northern Region Executive Judge for the District Courts from 1991 to 1994. Appointed: 2003
Judge Barry Lovegrove - was appointed as a District Court Judge in 1995. As Chair of Manawatu District Prison Board, he has ensured effective Maori representation on the Board and advanced Maori-based initiatives in rehabilitation. Appointed: 2003
Judge Jane Lovell-Smith - is the Board's Northern Regional Convenor. She became a District Court Judge in 1994 and chaired the Auckland District Prison Board. Judge Lovell-Smith worked as a solicitor with law firms in New Zealand and London. Appointed: 2002
Judge John Macdonald - became a District Court Judge in 1990 and formerly chaired the Canterbury District Prison Board. He provided legal services to the NZ Prisoners' Aid and Rehabilitation Society. Appointed: 2002
Judge Patrick Mahony - was appointed Principal Family Court Judge in April 1985. Has expertise in mental health legislation, child support, and domestic violence. The Judge has made several visits to The Hague to attend Special Commissions on Hague Children’s Conventions, where he participated in settling the 1996 Convention on the Protection of Children. Appointed: 2006
Judge James Rota – was appointed a Judge of the Maori Land Court in 1990, and a District Court Judge in 1993. He served as the Chair of the Gisborne-based Waikato No 1 Land Valuation Tribunal from 1994 to 2002. Appointed: 2004
Judge David Saunders - was appointed to the bench in 1993. He is experienced in parole related issues and served as Chair of the Invercargill District Prison Board from 1997 to 2002. Appointed: 2002
Judge Ian Thomas - was appointed a District Court Judge in December 1988, serving five years in Gisborne and, since January 1994, in Tauranga. He is currently on the District Court Civil Committee and Co-Editor of the District Court Bench Book. Appointed: 2006
Judge Arthur Tompkins - was a barrister in Auckland for 10 years prior to his appointment as a District Court Judge in 1997. Appointed: 2004.
Judge Richard Watson - is the Board's Central Regional Convenor. He became a District Court Judge in 1990 and is the former Chair of the Taumarunui and Turangi District Prison Board. Appointed: 2002
Associate Professor Philip Brinded – is currently clinical director of the Mental Health Division, Canterbury District Health Board, and also clinical director of Forensic Psychiatry Service. He is clinical associate professor with the Department of Psychological Medicine, Christchurch School of Medicine. He also has a private practice with four forensic psychiatric colleagues. Appointed: 2004
Susan Baragwanath - has education experience spanning four decades from early childhood to the tertiary level and founded the He Huarahi Tamariki School for teenage parents in Porirua. She worked extensively at the front line of urban Maori, Pacific and migrant communities and does voluntary aid work overseas. Appointed: 2008
Darlene Cullen – has been a tenancy adjudicator and mediator in Auckland for 17 years. She completed a Bachelor of Social Sciences from Waikato University and has two young children. Appointed: 2004
Janice Donaldson - She previously held positions in health and social service agencies, including the Community Probation Service and assisted various Maori and community-based legal services in Christchurch. Appointed: 2002
Fleur Grenfell - joined the Prison Service in 1974, managed Arohata Women's Prison for 16 years, and prior to the appointment to the Board, managed Otaki Children's Health Camp. She is credited for her efforts in introducing the first prison-based Drug Treatment Unit and Victim Awareness programme. Appointed: 2002
Matt Hakiaha – was a probation officer and worked extensively in youth justice for the Department of Social Welfare. He has been involved with the recruiting and training of restorative justice facilitators and also with social and community development and the Te Whanau O Waipareira Trust. Appointed: 2002
June Jackson - was appointed to the former Parole Board in 1986. She worked as a Commissioner for the Treaty of Waitangi Fisheries Commission, and is the CEO of the Nga Whare Waatea Marae and its prisoner re-integration programme. Appointed: 2002
Richard Lewis – is a former senior probation officer in Christchurch and has had 17 years experience in the criminal justice sector in New Zealand and the United Kingdom. He has a degree in social sciences, and a postgraduate diploma in social policy and social work, and was involved in the planning and running of the Kia Marama risk management group for sex offenders. Appointed: 2004
Bryan Mc Murray - retired from the New Zealand Prison Service in 2008. He has 37 years of experience working with offenders in the criminal justice field. Bryan has managed prisons and held senior leadership and project manager roles in the Prison Service. Appointed: 2008
Lavinia Nathan - has in-depth experience working with offenders and victims from Maori and Pakeha perspectives. She previously managed the Te Piriti Unit for offenders convicted of sexual abuse against children. Appointed: 2002
Shannon Pakura - is currently the Professional Advisor for the Social Worker Registration Board and is completing a PhD. She has worked extensively in the child protection and youth justice sector. She was the former Chief Social Worker for Child Youth and Family. Appointed: 2008
Dr Jeremy Skipworth - is a forensic psychiatrist at the Auckland Regional Forensic Psychiatry Services. He has worked in forensic services since 1997, principally in Auckland and Wellington in a variety of roles, including the Deputy Director of Mental Health at the Ministry of Health 2003-2007. Appointed: 2008
Rhonda Pritchard - Before joining the Parole Board, Rhonda Pritchard was in practice in Wellington as a counsellor, psychotherapist, supervisor, trainer and mediator for twenty nine years. Between 2006 and 2008 she was a senior research analyst in the Ministry of Social Development conducting research on preventing family violence, child maltreatment and on homicides within families. From 2003-2006 she was the Convenor of the Ethics Committee of the New Zealand Association of Counsellors. Appointed: 2008
Alan Ritchie - Alan Ritchie holds a Bachelor of Laws from Otago University. In 1971 he was admitted as a barrister and solicitor in Dunedin, he practised as a lawyer in Ashburton and Wellington until 1985, when he accepted the position of CEO and Executive Director New Zealand Law Society, Wellington. Appointed: 2008
Jim Thomson - was a long-serving probation officer and service manager responsible for home detention in Christchurch. He was the Community Probation Service member of the Rolleston and Christchurch District Prison Boards. Appointed: 2002
Neville Trendle
Neville Trendle MBE LLB (Hons) LLM (Virginia) is a barrister and a consultant at the Law Commission, part time. He retired from the New Zealand Police after 38 years’ service in 2001, including 10 years as an Assistant Commissioner in a variety of roles and 12 years as Police Chief Legal Adviser. He was a Harkness Fellow in 1975-76 and has been an updating and contributing author of Adams on Criminal Law since 1974. Appointed: 2008
Robin Wilson - retired in 1994 after 34 years in the Public Service with notable appointments as Deputy Director-General of Social Welfare and GM of the NZ Children and Young Persons Service. Prior to his Board appointment, he was the Ombudsman’s South Island representative for penal issues. Appointed: 2002