An Analysis of State Statutory Provisions for Victim-Offender Mediation

This article documents the existing statutory authority among states relating to victim-offender mediation. The existence of specific provisions in state codes for victim-offender mediation is important for providing a structure for states on implementing victim-offender mediation, including such factors as funding, liability, and mediator requirements. This article finds that currently 29 states have victim-offender mediation or victim-offender-mediation-type statutory authority, though the states vary on range of comprehensiveness of the statues. The victim-offender mediation provisions range from extremely comprehensive, with details on training requirements, costs, evaluation, confidentiality, and liability to a simple reference to victim-offender mediation within a long list of sentencing alternatives. This article discusses the five types of statutory authority for victim-offender mediation, the variations in statutory authority for victim-offender mediation, and the characteristics found in victim-offender mediation statutes.