Do inmates have to be released to a halfway house or can they be released to their home address?

This depends on the release terms set by the case manager. If your sentence is over two years, there is likely to be some halfway house. The counselors in the halfway house are motivated to send residents for home confinement as soon as they meet some minimum requirements like a safe place to live, a job to go to and the promise to avoid known felons while on probation,