The National Center on Restorative Justice’s Restorative Justice Laws Database was created as a resource for restorative justice advocates, practitioners, and researchers as well as policy-makers across the United States. Our aim is to organize and display in an easily navigated format the ways in which states have codified the use of restorative justice approaches.
Thank you to Shannon Sliva (University of Denver) and Thalia González (UC Law San Francisco) for their advisement and expertise throughout the process of creating this database. Thank you to Karen Sheu and Anna VanRoy for their data collection work.
This Restorative Justice Laws Database builds on an earlier legislative directory created in 2014 by Shannon Sliva in partnership with Carolyn Lambert (Georgia State University College of Law) and hosted by the University of Denver Graduate School of Social Work from 2019 to 2024.
The laws included in this database were identified by conducting a search in Westlaw and LexisNexis using the terms visible under “Form of Practice” in the database search options below. Only laws that feature one or more of these terms are included in the database. Use of the terms in the text of the law does not necessarily mean that restorative justice practice is occurring in the given jurisdiction.
The NCORJ is committed to continuing to update this database. If you see something that is missing or a correction is required, please be in touch. For more information about the development of the database, to get assistance navigating it, or to request a copy of the raw data for research purposes, please contact Lindsey Pointer (lpointer@vermontlaw.edu).
(1) A school board or its designee shall consider using restorative practices as an alternative or in addition to suspension or expulsion under this act. If a school board or its designee suspends or expels a pupil under this act,…
(1) From the state school aid fund money appropriated in section 11,1 there is allocated $6,000,000.00 for 2023-2024 only to districts and intermediate districts for the purchase and implementation of tools that provide a common way of identifying and collecting…
(6) The legislature encourages a board or board of directors to include all of the following in the policy required under this section: […] (d) Provisions for considering the use of restorative practices in the correction of bullying behavior, as…
(1) Before suspending or expelling a pupil under section 1310, 1311(1), 1311(2), or 1311a,1 the board of a school district or intermediate school district or board of directors of a public school academy, or a superintendent, school principal, or other…
2. Report of incident of dangerous behavior. Upon receipt of a report made by a teacher or school staff person of an incident of dangerous behavior, a school administrative unit shall review the reported incident and develop an individualized response…
D. (1) The school master plans required of city, parish, and other local public school boards by this Section shall make provision for pre-service and ongoing grade appropriate classroom management training for teachers, principals, and other appropriate school personnel regarding…
(2) Restorative Justice: Included in the above General Fund (Tobacco) appropriation is $250,000 in each fiscal year to support the Restorative Justice Program administered by the Volunteers of America.
(31) “Graduated sanction” means any of a continuum of accountability measures, programs, and sanctions, ranging from less restrictive to more restrictive in nature, that may include but are not limited to: […] (f) Rehabilitative interventions such as family counseling, substance…
(a) The State Superintendent of Education shall establish a committee of no more than 21 members to make recommendations to the State Board of Education to change the professional educator licensure requirements and Professional Educator License renewal requirements for kindergarten…
(a) The General Assembly makes all of the following findings: […] (7) Many educators and schools in this State have embraced and implemented evidence-based restorative justice and trauma-responsive and culturally relevant practices and interventions. However, the use of these interventions…