Restorative Justice Laws Database

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).

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150 results found

Oklahoma - Implementation of Restorative Justice for Non-Violent Crimes

An Act relating to criminal procedure; amending 22 O.S. 2011, Section 305.2, which relates to deferred prosecution programs; authorizing district attorneys to create restorative justice programs for certain nonviolent offenders; authorizing the District Attorneys Council to develop and administer a…

Oklahoma - Pilot-Program for Restorative Justice

A. Beginning November 1, 2021, the District Attorneys Council is hereby authorized to develop and administer a five-year restorative justice pilot program that shall utilize citizen-led mediation panels. The purpose of the program shall be to divert offenders from the…

Oregon - Restorative Justice Confidentiality Exceptions

(2) A restorative justice communication is not confidential if: (a) A restorative justice program staff member or facilitator reasonably believes that disclosing the communication is necessary to prevent the commission of a crime that is likely to result in death…

Rhode Island - Social Equity Funds

(3) To implement and administer programming for restorative justice, jail diversion, drug rehabilitation and education workforce development for jobs related to cannabis cultivation, transportation, distribution and sales.

New York - Service Providers in NYC

Service provider. The term “service provider” means any non-government organization, funded in whole or in part by the city, or any agency under the jurisdiction of the mayor, that provides social services to crime victims, including but not limited to…

North Carolina - Racial Equity Task Force

Violence prevention, including evidence-based community violence intervention programs, restorative justice programs, youth crime reduction efforts and School Justice Partnerships