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 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.
(b) The commissioner must award grants to applicants that operate, or intend to operate, innovative programs that target specific aspects of community supervision that align with risk, need, and responsivity principles. When awarding grants, the commissioner must seek to ensure…
A community-based organization, in collaboration with a local governmental unit, may establish a restorative justice program. A restorative justice program is a program that provides forums where certain individuals charged with or petitioned for having committed an offense meet with…
(a) Upon conviction of a misdemeanor or gross misdemeanor the court, if sentence is imposed, may, to the extent authorized by law, sentence the defendant: […] (6) to perform work service in a restorative justice program in addition to any…
Statements of a juvenile or of a juvenile’s parents, guardian or legal custodian made to a juvenile community corrections officer during an informal adjustment or during a restorative justice program or made to a clinical provider during substance use disorder,…
C. At the time a person adjudicated to have committed a juvenile crime other than a crime listed in paragraph A is finally discharged from the disposition imposed for that juvenile crime, the court, upon receipt of appropriate notice of…
15-B. Restorative justice. “Restorative justice” means a practice in which offenders take responsibility for causing harm and engage in a facilitated process with victims, family members, community members, advocates and others impacted by the harm that focuses on repairing the…
The department shall develop and implement or facilitate the development and implementation by a public or private entity of programs or initiatives providing enhanced training for criminal justice agencies and municipal officers and employees in the requirements and enforcement of…
10-B. Culturally informed prevention, diversion and restorative justice programs. The commissioner shall ensure that any prevention, diversion or restorative justice programs established by the commissioner and serving a juvenile who has been adjudicated of a juvenile crime and who has…
3. Services to schools. The center is responsible for providing the following services to schools in the State: […] H. Restorative justice assistance and assistance regarding alternatives to traditional discipline