Restorative Justice

When appropriate and voluntary, restorative processes create space for individuals who have caused harm to take meaningful accountability, while also centering the needs and voices of those who have been impacted. These processes are carefully facilitated to ensure safety, readiness, and support for all participants.  

Restorative justice can help promote understanding and accountability. It can support healing for those impacted by harm while strengthening relationships and community connection. It reduces the likelihood of future harm.  

Not all cases are appropriate for restorative processes; but when they are, they offer a powerful alternative to traditional system responses.  

 

A Holistic and Equitable Framework 

We recognize that justice system involvement often intersects with broader challenges, including mental health needs, substance use, housing instability, and systemic inequities. 

Diversion provides an opportunity to respond to these realities in a more effective and equitable way.  

Decisions about diversion are guided by a range of factors: the nature and context of the offense, the individual’s history and prior justice system involvement, needs and strengths of the individual, ability to address and repair the harm caused to the harmed party, the ability and availability to match with appropriate interventions, and community safety as a whole. This allows for more informed, consistent, and equitable decision-making.  

Building a System That Prevents Harm

This work reflects a broader shift in how we approach accountability and community safety.  

We believe that people are more than the worst thing they have done, and that meaningful accountability requires both responsibility and opportunity. By investing in responses that are responsive to the individual circumstances and grounded in community-based solutions, we are working to build a system that not only addresses harm but also helps prevent it.  

This work is ongoing and evolving. Through strong partnerships with community providers, continuous evaluation, and a commitment to equity, the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office is building a diversion and restorative justice model that is more effective, more responsive, and better aligned with the needs of our community.  

Grant Funding and Leadership 

This work is funded and made possible in part by funding from the State of Minnesota Department of Children, Youth, and Families through the 2026 – 2027 Restorative Practices Initiatives Grant Program.  

The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office is led by County Attorney Mary F. Moriarty.