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A Veterans Treatment Court a Circuit Judge May Build — With the Prosecutor Holding the Key

Chapter 25 of Title 9 lets a circuit court judge establish a Veterans Treatment Court, either as its own programme or as a component of an existing intervention court, and lets one county in a circuit district run it for veterans from every county in that district. Two things must happen before a defendant gets in: the attorney representing the state must consent, and the court must find the defendant is a veteran as defined in Title 38. Violence offences and a prior felony crime of violence exclude.

Verified August 23, 2026

What this benefit is

Chapter 25 of Title 9 lets a circuit court judge establish a Veterans Treatment Court, either as its own programme or as a component of an existing intervention court, and lets one county in a circuit district run it for veterans from every county in that district. Two things must happen before a defendant gets in: the attorney representing the state must consent, and the court must find the defendant is a veteran as defined in Title 38. Violence offences and a prior felony crime of violence exclude.

What it's worth: A treatment docket instead of the ordinary track — where the circuit runs one and the prosecutor agrees

  • No sum is claimed. What is at stake is custody, supervision and a record, which the corpus does not attempt to price.
  • Availability is discretionary twice over: a circuit judge MAY establish a programme, and no person has a right to participate in one.
  • Testing costs can fall on the participant. A participant may be held liable for the costs associated with all chemical tests required, though a judge may waive the fees.

Who is entitled to it

  • You served.
  • You are 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

  1. 1Ask counsel two questions in this order: does this circuit court district run a Veterans Treatment Court, and will the prosecutor consent. Subsection (3)(a) makes the consent of the attorney representing the state a precondition, so no amount of merit gets a defendant in without it.
  2. 2Do not assume the court sits in your county. Subsection (2) lets the judge operate the court in ONE county within the circuit court district and allow veteran participants from all counties in that district — so the answer may be a courthouse an hour away rather than no court at all.
  3. 3Proving service is deliberately flexible and worth using. Subsection (3)(g) lets the court accept proof in any form it thinks appropriate, including military service and medical records, previous determinations of a disability by a veterans’ organisation or by the federal VA, testimony or affidavits of other veterans or service members, and prior determinations of eligibility for benefits by any state or county veterans office.
  4. 4Check the exclusions before hoping. A defendant is excluded where the crime before the court is a crime of violence, where the defendant does not demonstrate a willingness to participate in a treatment programme, or where there is a previous felony conviction for a crime of violence — the section lists murder, rape, sexual battery, statutory rape of a child under sixteen, armed robbery, arson, aggravated kidnapping, aggravated assault, stalking, and any offence involving the discharge of a firearm or where serious bodily injury or death resulted.
  5. 5It stays a choice. Subsection (3)(f) requires the court to let an eligible defendant choose whether to proceed through the programme or otherwise through the justice system.
  6. 6Expect chemical testing as a condition, and ask about the fees up front — the section allows a participant to be held liable for the cost of all tests, and allows the judge to waive them.
  7. 7Certification is a real lever if the programme is run badly. The Administrative Office of Courts may require, as a condition of operation, that each veterans court be certified by it, and may revoke authorisation where a programme does not comply with the rules.
Form
No application form — admission is through the criminal case
File with
The circuit court where the criminal case is pending, through defence counsel
Documents you will need
dd214
No renewal
Once granted it does not need renewing.
CorrectionThere is no municipal veterans treatment court. A 2024 bill would have let a municipal court judge establish one wherever a municipal drug court already existed; the section as brought forward in 2025 still authorises the circuit court level only. A veteran charged in municipal court is not in this chapter.
Worth knowingSubsection (3)(e)(i) excludes a defendant where "the crime before the court is a crime of violence as set forth in paragraph (c) of this subsection" — but paragraph (c) is about chemical testing and defines no such thing. The cross-reference is broken on the face of the section, so what counts as a crime of violence will be argued from elsewhere in the code rather than from this chapter.
Worth knowingThe money side is unusually protected: all monies received by the programme accumulate in a fund used only for its purposes, and anything left at the end of the fiscal year does not lapse into the General Fund.

Sources

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