Leon County’s Restorative Justice Program

Join us in ensuring peace and safety.
Consider Restorative Justice (RJ) for your conflicts.

If you or someone you care about has been involved in an incident where harm was caused or experienced, Restorative Justice (RJ) may be an option to consider.

RJ is a voluntary process that promotes healing and accountability through facilitated conversations. Connection First facilitates free RJ conferences for incidents that occurred in Leon County. The person responsible for the harm must be 18 or older.

Start Your RJ Referral

What is Restorative Justice?

Restorative Justice (RJ) is a voluntary process that promotes accountability and healing. The RJ process includes a free, safe, and facilitated conversation among the remorseful person and the impacted parties.

RJ asks:

What happened?
What are the root causes?
Who has been impacted and how?
What can be done to repair the harm?

Benefits of RJ:

For those responsible: Encourages accountability, personal growth, and the opportunity to make amends.
For those harmed: Provides a voice in the process, promotes healing, and offers a sense of closure.
For the community: Strengthens community ties, reduces recidivism, and helps reintegrate individuals back into the community.

How does RJ work?

Referral: Cases are referred to our program by community members, community agencies or organizations, and the State Attorney and Public Defenders.
Preparation: All parties are prepared individually to ensure they are ready for the RJ process.
Facilitated Meeting: In a safe and structured setting, those harmed and those responsible engage in a facilitated dialogue with program staff to discuss the harm, its impact, and ways to make amends.
Agreement: Together, participants develop an agreement that outlines steps to repair the harm and rebuild trust.

Restorative Principles

Crime is impactful and harmful to individuals and the community. While a law may have been broken, the harm is centered around relationships and people rather than a violation of the law and the state.
Those most impacted are meaningfully involved and empowered. The restorative approach is collaborative and rooted in dialogue and consensus on the restorative agreements to repair harm, centering the needs of the impacted parties. Giving impacted parties a voice in the process is an empowering hallmark of RJ, and something that does not typically happen in the criminal legal system.
Crime creates harm, needs, and obligations. The responsible person takes accountability for what happened and both the impacted and responsible parties, along with community members, are engaged in the entirety of the process to address the harm, needs, and obligations.

RJ for Leon County

The City of Tallahassee and Connection First (CFI) signed a contract in January 2024 to offer Restorative Justice conferences in Leon County.

Currently, CFI is accepting cases from the Offices of the State Attorney and Public Defender (or private attorney), closed/post-conviction cases, or community/non-criminal harm cases. See below section on "Types of RJ Cases" to learn more.

We have a multi-stage and multi-year plan to expand, and we are just getting started.

Types of RJ Cases

Open Criminal Cases for Diversion

Must be a nonviolent misdemeanor or a non-domestic battery that happened within Leon County, where the responsible party is an adult (18 or older). These cases are jointly referred through Leon County Offices of the State Attorney and Public Defender (or private attorney). Both the assigned prosecutor and public defender must be in agreement for the case to come through RJ as a diversion. If the responsible person successfully completes the RJ process and fulfills their agreements developed in the RJ conference, they will have the opportunity to have their charges dismissed.

Open Criminal Cases as part of a Plea Bargain

These cases are also jointly referred and agreed up by the prosecutor and the assigned public defender.

Criminal Cases that are Closed

We accept referrals for cases that are closed, or in other words, are not pending adjudication in the criminal legal system. The responsible party has to have been an adult (18 or older) at the time the harm happened, and it either happened in Leon County or one or more of the parties lives in Leon County. In these cases, the RJ conference will not have any bearing on sentencing.

(Example: Re-entry folks who want to make amends with family members or the main impacted party; victims of crime who want clarity and closure post-conviction)

Community Harm (Non-Criminal)

We accept referrals for conflicts or situations between at least two parties in which one party is clearly responsible for the harm. The responsible party needs to be an adult (18 or older) at the time the main harm happened, and it either happened in Leon County or one or more of the parties lives in Leon County.

RJ is a great option for those impacted by harm if any of the following apply:

You don’t want this harm to ruin the relationship you have/had with the other party.
You want clarity or understanding about why the harm happened, or why it happened to you.
You want an opportunity to be fully heard about your experience, thoughts, feelings, and needs.
You do not want to press charges, but you would like there to be some accountability and action taken regarding the harm.
You would like to have a say in how the harm can be addressed, the type of repair that needs to happen, and strategies to keep the responsible party from committing similar harm in the future.
You want to feel a sense of safety again in places/situations in which you don’t now because of the harm.
You want closure, or to be able to mentally and emotionally move on.

RJ is a great option for those responsible for harm if any of the following apply:

You are taking accountability and responsibility for what happened. (mandatory requirement)
You have remorse around what happened and want to make amends.
You are trying to grow and better themselves.
You do not want to be defined by this one action/harm, but rather by who you are.
You want to repair the relationship with the impacted party.
You want to contribute to a safer and more connected community.

Some scenarios of community harm that could benefit from RJ are below. It's important to note this list is NOT exhaustive, but rather a few examples to provide an idea of what might be appropriate for RJ.

A Domestic Dispute

One partner is angry with the other and keys their car. Car owner does not want to press charges, but would like to handle the dispute in a safe, respectful, and effective manner.

Roommate Dispute

One roommate accidentally runs over the other’s cat while drunk. They feel terrible about it, but the cat owner is incredibly angry with the roommate.

Neighbor Dispute

Neighbor A lies to neighbor B about the timing of an HOA meeting because they don’t want neighbor B to be able to vote on a pressing neighborhood matter. Neighbor B learns of the lie after the meeting and wants neighbor A to take accountability. Others in the neighborhood hear of the lie and also want neighbor A to make it right. Neighbor A feels remorse for their actions and also wants to make things right again.

Friend Dispute

Friend A promises to help friend B move to a new apartment. Friend A forgets, makes other plans, doesn’t pick up the moving van like they said they would, and friend B is delayed in moving out in time because they are doing it themselves, they get stuck paying extra fees for not moving out in time, and they throw out their back trying to move large pieces of furniture by themselves.

Community referrals can be made around almost any harm or conflict. Conflict happens daily. If there is any situation that seems too overwhelming to handle alone, or you simply would like extra support from professionals in conflict resolution, make a referral. We can always discuss the issue with you and let you know if it is appropriate for RJ or not.

Start Your RJ Referral

Evidence for Restorative Justice

Impacted parties express high levels of satisfaction and healing through RJ

RJ brings high levels of satisfaction and healing to impacted parties. They value the pre-conferencing process, the ability to help develop RJ agreements, and the opportunity to share their experiences of harm. Studies show that 90% of victims who participate in RJ recommend it over traditional criminal procedures, and RJ helps reduce post-traumatic stress symptoms significantly compared to traditional justice methods.

RJ lowers recidivism and reduces crime rates

RJ practices have proven effective in lowering recidivism and reducing crime rates. Communities across the nation, such as St. Croix Valley, Vermont, and Longmont, report recidivism rates as low as 7.3%, 8.9%, and 10%, respectively. RJ programs can reduce recidivism by 7% to 45% two years post-program, and participants often reoffend at lower severity levels. Responsible parties in RJ programs are also more likely to complete restitution payments.

Local Success

In Tallahassee, the Community Connections juvenile diversion program, which teaches Nonviolent Communication through a restorative justice lens, boasts a recidivism rate of less than 7%. Remarkably, the program has had no fights in over a decade, despite many participants being referred for fighting. Additionally, over 30% of these teens return to volunteer.

RJ reduces costs

Research supports the cost-effectiveness of restorative justice conferencing. Strang et al. (2013) found RJ programs provided up to 14 times as much benefit in costs by crime prevention. Another study shows that every one dollar spent on RJ saves the community eight dollars in preventing crime.