§ 25-2908.Director; duties.

Section 25-2908 turns the director’s general charge in section 25-2904 into a working checklist. Acting consistent with the act’s purposes and in consultation with the council, the director approves centers that meet the requirements, builds uniform systems for collecting statistics and evaluating how approved centers perform, and prepares the yearly budget that distributes funds to those centers.

A second cluster of duties centers on people rather than money: developing fee-scale guidelines centers use to charge parties on a sliding scale, approving curricula and training for mediators and facilitators, running volunteer training programs, and maintaining a statewide roster of approved centers and restorative justice facilitators that courts and county attorneys can consult.

The 2019 amendments added a third cluster focused on restorative justice specifically: supporting centers as they build restorative justice programs, coordinating new programs across the state, tracking software and data quality, reviewing state and federal law affecting restorative justice for juveniles and adults, and seeking funding — public and private — to sustain the work. Public awareness and fundraising run through several of the twenty-one duties, reflecting how much of the office’s job is building a network of centers rather than resolving disputes directly.