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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  • Form of Practice

105 results found

Texas - Public School Safety Measures

(C) the prevention, identification, and management of emergencies and threats, using evidence-based, effective prevention practices and including: (i) providing licensed counselors, social workers, and individuals trained in restorative discipline and restorative justice practices; (ii) providing mental health personnel and support;…

Texas - Restorative Justice Practitioners in School

C) the prevention, identification, and management of emergencies and threats, using evidence-based, effective prevention practices and including: (i) providing licensed counselors, social workers, chaplains, and individuals trained in restorative discipline and restorative justice practices; (ii) providing mental health personnel and…

Texas - School Safety Development and Restorative Justice Implementation

(3) school safety and security measures, including: (A) active shooter and emergency response training; (B) prevention and treatment programs relating to addressing adverse childhood experiences; and (C) the prevention, identification, and management of emergencies and threats, using evidence-based, effective prevention…

Utah - Definition of Restorative Justice in School

(f) “Restorative justice program” means a school-based program or a program used or adopted by a local education agency that is designed: (i) to enhance school safety, reduce school suspensions, and limit referrals to law enforcement agencies and courts; and…

Pennsylvania - School Restorative Justice Requirements

x) Risk assessment, safety-related, violence prevention curricula, including dating violence curricula, restorative justice strategies, mental health early intervention, self-care and suicide awareness and prevention curricula.

Pennsylvania - School Diversion Programs

“School-based diversion programs” shall mean programs and interventions designed to redirect youth who commit minor offenses in school from exclusionary disciplinary practices or formal processing in the juvenile justice system, while still holding the student accountable for the student’s actions.…

New Jersey - Restorative Justice Educational Fund

There is established within the Department of Education a fund to be known as the “Restorative Justice Education Fund.” The fund shall be used to provide grants to participating schools pursuant to subsection c. of section 4 [C.18A:37-41] of this…

New Jersey - Definitions

An Act concerning restorative justice in the public schools and supplementing chapter 37 of Title 18A of the New Jersey Statutes.