Swedish Prison and Probation Service

Swedish Prison and Probation Service logo.
The Swedish Prison and Probation Service's recruitment bus visiting Ystad in 2025.

The Swedish Prison and Probation Service (Swedish: Kriminalvården) is a government agency that is part of the Swedish judicial system, tasked with incarcerating suspects during pre-trial and trial and convicts after sentencing. The Main Office of the agency is located in Norrköping.

The agency also handles deportations of individuals not allowed in the country.[1] Due to the increase in Swedish prison populations,[2] the agency announced it would consider sending incarcerated individuals to other countries[3] as it aims to increase the number of prison spaces from 9,000 to 27,000 by 2033.[4]

History

The predecessor of today's agency was established on 3 February 1825 under the name Board of Prisons and Work Institutions in the Realm (Swedish: Styrelsen över fängelser och arbetsinrättningar i riket),[5] with its headquarters at Långholmen, Stockholm. In 1859, it was renamed the National Swedish Prisons Board[6] (Swedish: Fångvårdsstyrelsen) and in 1970 to the National Prison and Probation Administration[7] (Swedish: Kriminalvårdsstyrelsen, KVS). In 2011, the agency changed its name to the Swedish Prison and Probation Service[8] (Swedish: Kriminalvården).

Directors-General

National Prisons Board

  • February 1855 – May 1855: Louis de Geer (acting)
  • 1855–1867: Wilhelm Stråle
  • 1867–1885: Gustaf Fridolf Almquist
  • 1885–1910: Sigfrid Wieselgren
  • 1910–1927: Viktor Almquist
  • 1927–1936: Gustaf Vilhelm Masreliez
  • 1936–1960: Hardy Göransson
  • 1960–1970: Torsten Eriksson

National Prison and Probation Administration

  • 1970–1987: Bo Martinsson
  • 1987–1987: Ulf Larsson
  • 1987–1994: Björn Weibo
  • 1994–2003: Bertel Österdahl
  • 2003–2004: Lena Häll Eriksson
  • 2004–2011: Lars Nylén

Prison and Probation Service

  • 2011–2012: Inga Mellgren (acting)
  • 2012–2019: Nils Öberg
  • 2019–2020: Stefan Strömberg (acting)
  • 2020–2026: Martin Holmgren
  • 2026–2026: Peter Yngve (acting)
  • 2026–xxxx: Rikard Jermsten

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Kriminalvårdens transportenhet". Kriminalvården (in Swedish). Retrieved 2018-01-25.
  2. ↑ "Swedish prison service declares 'crisis' amid cell shortage". The Local Sweden. 2024-02-13. Retrieved 2025-06-30.
  3. ↑ "Sweden eyes sending inmates abroad as prisons full due to gang crime wave". The Straits Times. 2025-01-29. ISSN 0585-3923. Retrieved 2025-06-30.
  4. ↑ "Swedish government admits beiing "out of control" on crime". Brussels Signal. 2025-01-30. Retrieved 2025-06-30.
  5. ↑ "Styrelsen över fängelser och arbetsinrättningar i riket 1825-1859" (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 2016-03-05. Retrieved 26 August 2026.
  6. ↑ Gullberg, Ingvar E. (1977). Svensk-engelsk fackordbok för näringsliv, förvaltning, undervisning och forskning [A Swedish-English dictionary of technical terms used in business, industry, administration, education and research] (in Swedish) (2nd ed.). Stockholm: Norstedt. p. 246. ISBN 91-1-775052-0. SELIBR 8345587.
  7. ↑ Utrikes namnbok: svenska myndigheter, organisationer, titlar, EU- och EG-organ, EU-titlar och länder på engelska, tyska, franska, spanska, finska och ryska (PDF) (in Swedish) (6th ed.). Stockholm: Utrikesdep., Regeringskansliet. 2002. p. 25. ISBN 9138319357. SELIBR 8450358. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 December 2008.
  8. ↑ Utrikes namnbok: svenska myndigheter, organisationer, titlar, EU-organ och länder på engelska, tyska, franska, spanska, finska och ryska (PDF) (12th ed.). Stockholm: Utrikesdepartementet, Regeringskansliet. 2024. p. 42. ISBN 978-91-527-6803-7.
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