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Treatment Instead of Trial — and the Charges Dismissed at the End

A veteran with a mental health condition amenable to treatment can be diverted out of prosecution on charges that are not serious. There is no fee. Finish it and the court dismisses the charges. The programme’s own definition of veteran reaches anyone not dishonorably discharged.

Verified August 23, 2026

What this benefit is

What it's worth: Dismissal of the charges on successful completion, at no fee

The Judicial Branch brochure states the programme "gives defendants who have psychiatric disabilities or who are veterans with a mental health condition that is amenable to treatment the chance to get treatment instead of going to trial".
It applies to charges of certain crimes or motor vehicle violations that are not serious.
A veteran is defined in the brochure as any person who was discharged or released under conditions that were not dishonorable from active service in the armed forces as defined in the state statutes.
A veteran route exists even without a psychiatric disability: a mental health condition amenable to treatment is enough on the veteran limb.
For the general limb, a psychiatric disability means a mental or emotional condition other than substance abuse that has a major negative impact on the defendant’s ability to function and requires care and treatment.
On application the court file is sealed and the Court Support Services Division notifies any victims, who are given a chance to state their view before the court decides.
The court sends the defendant to the Court Support Services Division for an assessment, which either recommends a treatment plan or tells the court the defendant should not be admitted.
A defendant admitted must agree to toll the statute of limitations, waive the right to a speedy trial, and accept the conditions the division sets.
Specially trained probation officers track progress during the treatment and services.
The brochure states that if the defendant finishes successfully the court will dismiss the charges, and that there is no fee for the programme.

Who is entitled to it

This record is about the person who served.
The programme’s definition of veteran reaches every discharge that is not dishonorable.
Your home is in this state.

Not sure whether that describes you?

Answer a few questions about this benefit specifically — we only ask what this one actually depends on, and we stop as soon as we know.

How to claim it

Deadline: Before the case is disposed of

1Get the veterans department to certify your veteran status first. That certification is a separate step, done by the veterans department at the request of an officer of the court, and the court programme runs on it.
2Read the discharge test carefully before ruling yourself out. The bar is a dishonorable discharge — an other-than-honorable discharge is not the same thing and is inside the definition.
3Expect victim notification. The file is sealed on application, but any victim is told you applied and is heard before the court decides.
4Understand what you give up on entry: the clock on the statute of limitations stops and the right to a speedy trial goes, so a failed programme leaves the state free to prosecute.
5Ask the division what its assessment recommends before the court rules. The assessment can itself recommend against admission.
6Ask for the dismissal to be entered on the record at the end. Dismissal on successful completion is the whole value of the programme.

Form: Application for Supervised Diversionary Program (CR-154)
File with: The court where the case is pending
Documents you will need: dd214
No renewal: Once granted it does not need renewing.

CorrectionThis is not a veterans court, and calling it one misleads. It is a general diversionary programme with a veteran limb written into it, run by probation rather than by a dedicated docket — which is why it reaches every court in the state instead of a handful of districts.

CorrectionThe discharge test here is wider than almost anything else in this state’s veteran law. Anyone told that an other-than-honorable discharge shuts them out of state veteran programmes should test that assumption against this one specifically.

Worth knowingThe statute host would not resolve this session, so § 54-56l and the veteran definition it points to were not read in the code. The brochure names both, and the figures in the section numbers did not survive extraction from the PDF’s subset font — the programme identity, not the digits, is what was read.

Sources

authority · published policyJudicial Branch — Supervised Diversionary Program (JDP-CR-137E, Rev. 11/14)
operating · published policyJudicial Branch — Application for Supervised Diversionary Program (CR-154)

This finder provides an informational match, not a government eligibility determination. The responsible agency decides your application.