Wanganui barrister Jamie Waugh said a discharge without conviction was "harder to get" than six years ago.
"There's been no change in the law, but it may be being applied differently."
Discharges were used when the consequences of the conviction outweighed the seriousness of the offending.
But alternative measures like restorative justice and diversion could have helped reduce the number of people going through the full court process, he said.
The number of people discharged without conviction nationally also dropped from 3185 in 2011 to 2720 in 2012, to 2199 last year.
In July, Korotangi Paki, 19, the son of the Maori King Tuheitia, made headlines when he was let off charges of burglary, theft and drink driving.
His defence counsel had successfully argued a conviction would ruin his chances of succeeding to the title.
In the High Court in Auckland last month, Justice Helen Winkelmann decided not to convict the teen who assaulted 15-year-old West Auckland schoolboy Stephen Dudley before his death on June 6 last year.
Sensible Sentencing Trust national spokeswoman Ruth Money said that, while the number had come down, more discharges were being granted for "inappropriate" crimes such as assault and drink driving causing injury.
"Frequently we have victims coming through to us saying 'I was the victim in this case, how could this happen?'
"We are certainly being overwhelmed with what we would classify as unwarranted discharges."
She said it was difficult to get a grip on the real crime rate given the number of plea bargains and "alternative actions" by police.
Districts Courts general manager Tony Fisher said a judge had the ability to grant a discharge without conviction under the 2002 Sentencing Act, unless there was a minimum sentence specified for the offence.
"The court may order a discharge without conviction if it is satisfied that the direct or indirect consequences of a conviction would be out of all proportion to the seriousness of the offence.
"This allows an offender to be warned of the consequences of further offending, yet avoid the stigma and other consequences of a conviction."
However, a discharge without conviction could be accompanied by orders to pay costs or compensation, Mr Fisher said.