Electronically monitored house arrest.

Electronically monitored house arrest — colloquially the ankle tag (Fußfessel) — is a form of sentence execution outside the institution. Regulated by Sections 156b et seq. StVG (Strafvollzugsgesetz / Austrian Execution of Sentences Act), it allows custodial sentences with a remaining duration of up to twelve months to be served at home. This article takes the imprisonment-side perspective — the ankle tag as an alternative to serving time in a correctional institution. For the overarching treatment of house arrest, see the standalone focus page House Arrest.

When the ankle tag is an option

The central threshold is a remaining sentence duration of twelve months. It is reached in the following situations: the original sentence does not exceed twelve months (application possible immediately), or, within a longer sentence, the point has been reached at which only twelve months remain — typically following part-execution of the custodial sentence, or in combination with release at half-time (Halbstrafenentlassung) or at two-thirds (Zwei-Drittel-Entlassung).

This opens strategic room for manoeuvre. A person serving a 24-month sentence can, after twelve months inside, serve the remaining twelve months on the ankle tag. A person aiming for release at half-time with a probationary period can use the ankle tag as a bridge if conditional release is refused. The ankle tag is therefore not merely a substitute for starting the sentence, but also an instrument during execution.

The personal requirements

Three points are examined: housing, employment, social environment.

The home must be spatially suitable — a self-contained unit, with an internet connection available for electronic monitoring and basic sanitary facilities. Co-residents must consent in writing, because the ankle tag shapes their daily life too. In family homes with children, consent of both parents is sensible. Sublets or shared rooms in flatshares are suitable only exceptionally.

Employment must be structured. A regular occupation is required — full-time, part-time, self-employment or training — demonstrably existing and allowing defined daily residence and movement windows. Someone unemployed can obtain the ankle tag only to a limited extent; the examination then turns to whether voluntary work, therapy programmes or other structuring activities can take that role.

The social environment must be supportive. Family, a partner, a stable circle of friends or a settled professional setting help — particularly in the early phase, while the electronic monitoring beds in. Acute addiction issues, unstable housing or conflict-laden relationships within the household regularly lead to refusal.

What daily life looks like

Someone wearing the ankle tag lives at home, goes to work or training and returns at set times. Electronic monitoring is operated by NEUSTART (the Austrian association for probation and social work), which runs execution together with the correctional institutions. Movement windows are set out in the individual schedule — commuting, shopping, medical appointments and, where applicable, therapy. Outside those windows, presence at home is mandatory.

Breaches — leaving the home without authorisation, tampering with the device, withdrawing cooperation — lead to immediate transfer to the institution for completion of the remaining sentence. The ankle tag is therefore not a lax form of execution but a tight regime with daily supervision.

Application and procedure

The application is made by the convicted person to the sentence-execution court (Vollzugsgericht). The following must be enclosed: proof of accommodation (tenancy agreement, title deed), written consent of co-residents, employer confirmation or evidence of self-employment and, where applicable, therapy or counselling certificates. The court decides after hearing the institution, NEUSTART and the probation service (Bewährungshilfe).

In practice it pays to file the application before sentence execution begins — for instance, on a sentence of up to twelve months, immediately after the judgment becomes final. On longer sentences, the application for transition from institutional detention to the ankle tag is prepared roughly three to six months before the twelve-month threshold is reached, so that the handover is seamless.

Who does not get an ankle tag

The ankle tag is typically excluded in cases of: serious sexual offences against minors, serious organised crime, significant pre-existing medical conditions that make medical care outside an institution difficult, and acute addiction issues without stable housing. A person who has repeatedly evaded criminal proceedings or sentence execution is likewise excluded in practice. A blanket refusal, however, is rarely permissible — it always requires individual reasoning.

Technical practice: device, battery, faults

The ankle tag is a closed system consisting of a transmitter on the leg and a receiving station in the home, communicating via mobile network and GPS. The transmitter's battery must be charged regularly — charging typically takes around two hours, during which the person stays within movement range of the charging dock. An empty battery does not trigger an immediate alarm, but repeated disregard of the charging prompts does.

On power failure or loss of mobile reception, the receiving station briefly takes over logging; NEUSTART calls to clarify. Anyone who leaves the home without authorisation during a fault risks revocation despite the fault — the burden of proving correct use always lies with the wearer. Swimming, saunas above 70 °C and air travel are prohibited; showering and bathing are permitted.

Important for daily life: every change to the schedule — an extra doctor's appointment, a parents' evening, a funeral — must be cleared with NEUSTART, as a rule several working days in advance. Short-notice emergencies (sudden illness, a family accident) are handled pragmatically but demand an immediate call-back. Anyone who drills this coordination routine in early avoids the most common ground for refusal on extension or follow-on applications: unreliable communication with the monitoring office.

A case from Salzburg

One client — a mother of two, sentenced to eight months for a property offence — was facing the start of her sentence. We prepared the ankle-tag application in parallel with the request for deferral of execution: the tenancy agreement for the family home, written consent of the husband, employer confirmation for a part-time position and school confirmations for the children. NEUSTART inspected the home and confirmed suitability. The sentence-execution court granted the application, and the sentence was served in full at home — without separation from the children, without interruption of employment. The decisive factor was the complete documentation of the family and employment setting.

What co-residents should know

Co-residents' consent is not a mere formality — it is legally load-bearing and practically consequential. Anyone living with a person on an ankle tag accepts three things: visits from NEUSTART to the home, sometimes unannounced, to check compliance; restricted spontaneity in the daily routine (shopping, outings and visits must be coordinated with the affected person's movement windows); and the fact that technical equipment — Wi-Fi, power sockets, a place for the charging dock — must be continuously available. Conflicts within the household arising during execution of sentence can hardly be resolved by moving out or living separately, because the housing situation forms part of the basis on which authorisation was granted.