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).

Massachusetts Minnesota Montana North Dakota Hawaii Idaho Washington Arizona California Colorado Nevada New Mexico Oregon Utah Wyoming Arkansas Iowa Kansas Missouri Nebraska Oklahoma South Dakota Louisiana Texas Connecticut New Hampshire Rhode Island Vermont Alabama Florida Georgia Mississippi South Carolina Illinois Indiana Kentucky North Carolina Ohio Tennessee Virginia Wisconsin West Virginia Delaware District of Columbia Maryland New Jersey New York Pennsylvania Maine Michigan Alaska

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258 results found

Washington - Victim Program Attendance

In addition to penalties that may be imposed under RCW 46.61.5055, the court may require a person who is convicted of a nonfelony violation of RCW 46.61.502 or 46.61.504 or who enters a deferred prosecution program under RCW 10.05.020 based…

West Virginia - Restorative Justice Programs

(a) The court or prosecuting attorney may offer a juvenile, against whom a petition has been filed alleging that the juvenile has committed any of the offenses set forth in subsection (b) of this section, the opportunity to participate in…

West Virginia - Juvenile Restorative Justice Programs

AN ACT to amend and reenact §49-1-206 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended; and to amend and reenact §49-4-725 of said code, all relating to the juvenile restorative justice programs; defining the term “restorative justice program”; authorizing…

Wisconsin - Alternatives to Incarceration

(2) The department of justice shall make grants to counties and to tribes to enable them to establish and operate programs, including suspended and deferred prosecution programs and programs based on principles of restorative justice, that provide alternatives to prosecution…

Wisconsin - Victim Impact Panels

If a person pleads guilty to or is found guilty of a violation of this chapter, the court may order the person to attend a program, such as a victim impact panel, that demonstrates the adverse effects of substance abuse…

Vermont - Restorative Justice Definition

(11) “Restorative justice program” means a program developed and implemented by the Commissioner, consistent with State policy and legislative intent as provided by section 2a of this title.

Vermont - Criminal Justice Investment Trends

H) the funding for, and utilization by, individuals served through Justice Reinvestment II and related initiatives, including: (i) domestic violence intervention programming in the Department of Corrections, including the results from the evaluation framework between the Vermont Network Against Domestic…

Vermont - DOJ Powers

(10) to charter, establish, and fund through grants such municipal entities or nonprofit organizations as may be required for providing crime prevention and restorative justice programs for offenders, victims of crime, and the public.