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Is there a specific word for a person who has just been released from jail?

tchrist
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    Related :http://english.stackexchange.com/questions/150070/what-would-you-call-a-former-criminal-who-has-been-released-from-prison –  Jul 22 '14 at 22:15

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The OED has no entries relating to "recently released from prison", so I believe the answer to your question is No: there is no specific word. The closest entry is under released:

released adj

That has been released (in various senses); spec. (a) revoked or remitted (now chiefly Law); (b) set free or made available (also with modifying adverb) (now the commonest sense).

1894 Times 27 Aug. 4 Dr. Kenny, one of the recently-released suspects, presided.
2006 New Scientist 29 July 6/4 Prendergast's team studied released convicts in San Diego who had been treated in a prison therapeutic community.

I did find the word unprisoned, for which the single citation in OED is from Dickens' The Old Curiosity Shop:

Released from prison.

1841 Dickens Old Curiosity Shop ii. lii. 88 Perhaps not one of the unprisoned souls had been able [etc.].

Support agencies use a number of terms such as those listed in the related question. Step Ahead and the Minnesota Department of Corrections use newly-released ex-offender:

Finding a job is an important part of transition after incarceration. Ideally, you will find a job that matches your skills and interests. The reality is that the first jobs many newly released ex-offenders find do not match their desired careers.

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Andrew Leach
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  • The OED also has unjailed, although its singular citation is from just a decade after the Mayflower came over here for the first time. – tchrist Jul 22 '14 at 23:50