Pretrial Diversion

Abstract

Pretrial diversion practices are designed to reduce the number of offenders formally processed within the criminal justice system. Initially designed to target juvenile offenders away from formal court processing, formal diversionary efforts are now aimed at both juvenile and adult offenders in a range of criminal justice settings. This entry provides a brief overview of the development and use of pretrial diversion over time and examines some of the existing research on pretrial diversion practices.