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).
Subdivision 1. Definition. As used in this section, “restorative practices” means a practice within a program or policy that incorporates core restorative principles, including but not limited to voluntariness, prioritization of agreement by the people closest to the harm on…
Subdivision 1. First-time juvenile petty offenders; applicability; procedure. (a) This subdivision applies to a child alleged to be a juvenile petty offender who: (1) has not been previously adjudicated delinquent or as a petty offender; (2) has not previously participated…
The agency shall adopt policies, rules, and regulations that improve crime victim satisfaction with the criminal justice system, including all of the following: […] (e) Facilitating victim-offender dialogue if the victim is willing.
(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…
(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) 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…
(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,…
(b) Any principal, headmaster, superintendent or person acting as a decision-maker at a student meeting or hearing, when deciding the consequences for the student, shall consider ways to re-engage the student in the learning process; and shall not suspend or…
A child against whom a complaint is brought pursuant to this chapter may participate in a community-based restorative justice program pursuant to chapter 276B.
(a) There shall be established a restorative justice advisory committee to review community-based restorative justice programs. The advisory committee shall consist of 17 members: 1 of whom shall be: the secretary of public safety and security or a designee who…