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).
The Department shall design training for its personnel and shall enter into agreements with the Department of Corrections or other State agencies and through them, if necessary, public and private colleges and universities, or private organizations to ensure that staff…
The purpose of this Article is to create the Department of Juvenile Justice to provide treatment and services through a comprehensive continuum of individualized educational, vocational, social, emotional, and basic life skills to enable youth to avoid delinquent futures and…
(a) The purpose of sentencing is to advance public safety through punishment, rehabilitation, and restorative justice. By providing a means to reevaluate a sentence after some time has passed, the General Assembly intends to provide the State’s Attorney and the…
The law enforcement agency, other first responder entity, local government agency, licensed treatment providers, and community members or organizations shall establish a local deflection program plan that includes protocols and procedures for participant identification, screening or assessment, case management, treatment…
(c) Subject to appropriation, the State Board shall, by adoption of emergency rules under subsection (rr) of Section 5-45 of the Illinois Administrative Procedure Act if it so chooses, create a grant program for school districts, special education nonpublic facilities…
(d) As used in this subsection (d), “trauma-informed intervention” means a method for understanding and responding to an individual with symptoms of chronic interpersonal trauma or traumatic stress. In order to qualify for a community school grant under this Section,…
(e) Subject to appropriation, the State Board of Education shall establish and implement a grant program to provide grants to public schools, public community colleges, and not-for-profit, community-based organizations to facilitate improved educational outcomes for historically disadvantaged students, including African…
(b) To receive a grant under this program, a school district must submit with its grant application a plan for implementing evidence-based and promising practices that are aligned with the goal of this program. The application may include proposals to…
(a) This Section1 is intended to encourage the use of restorative justice practices by providing a privilege for participation in such practices and ensuring that anything said or done during the practice, or in anticipation of or as a follow-up…
(3) District policies shall include a series of graduated consequences that may include, but are not limited to, referral to counseling, diversion, use of juvenile specialty courts, restorative practices, on-site suspension and expulsion for any student who commits an act…