The Justice Department on Tuesday announced that it will not make individuals placed on house arrest during COVID-19 return to prison once the pandemic is over.

The Office of Legal CounselĀ (OLC) on Tuesday said that after being “asked to consider” a previous Trump-era rule requiring the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) to recall all prisoners placed on home confinement once the COVID-19 emergency ended, it has decided to “give the Bureau discretion to permit prisoners in extended home confinement to remain there.”

“Thousands of people on home confinement have reconnected with their families, have found gainful employment, and have followed the rules,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement. “We will exercise our authority so that those who have made rehabilitative progress and complied with the conditions of home confinement, and who in the interests of justice should be given an opportunity to continue transitioning back to society, are not unnecessarily returnedĀ to prison.”

The BOP has “significantly increased its placement of offenders on home confinement,” according to its website.

The BOP currently has nearly 8,000 inmates on home confinement, and the total number of inmates placed on home confinement between March 2020 and the present is more than 36,000, including those who have completed their sentences.