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A Veterans Court Instead of the Ordinary Docket — In 26 Counties

A veteran charged with a crime while struggling with addiction, mental illness or a co-occurring disorder may be handled by a Veterans Court: court supervision, mandatory treatment, testing, and a veteran mentor.

Verified August 23, 2026

What this benefit is

A veteran charged with a crime while struggling with addiction, mental illness or a co-occurring disorder may be handled by a Veterans Court: court supervision, mandatory treatment, testing, and a veteran mentor.

What it's worth: Supervised treatment and a veteran mentor in place of the ordinary criminal docket

  • There is no payment here. What is at stake is a sentence and a record, which is worth more than money and cannot be reduced to a figure.
  • DMVA states that 26 counties currently have a Veterans Court Program in place, out of the Commonwealth’s 67.

Who is entitled to it

  • You served in the military.
  • Your home is in Pennsylvania.

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: As early in the case as possible — diversion decisions happen early
  1. 1Tell your lawyer you are a veteran at the first meeting. Nothing in this programme happens unless someone raises service status, and it is not on the charge sheet.
  2. 2Ask whether your county is one of the 26. DMVA states that 26 counties currently have a Veterans Court Program, so the first question is geography rather than eligibility.
  3. 3Contact the county director of veterans affairs as well. DMVA states its field staff work across all 67 counties and can connect a veteran to the programme.
  4. 4Understand what you are agreeing to: regular court appearances, mandatory treatment sessions, and drug and alcohol testing. It is a heavier week-to-week commitment than an ordinary probation, and that is the point of it.
  5. 5Ask about the mentor. Support from veteran mentors and probation officers is part of the model DMVA describes, and the mentor is often the reason people finish.
  6. 6Ask how the programme connects to federal VA care. Access to VA mental and physical health services is described as part of it, and enrolment questions are better settled before you start than during.
File with
Your defence lawyer, and your county director of veterans affairs
Documents you will need
dd214
No renewal
Once granted it does not need renewing.
CorrectionThis is not a state-wide right. Twenty-six of sixty-seven counties have a programme, so a veteran in the wrong county has no veterans court to be diverted into however well they fit the description.
Worth knowingThe department’s description covers addiction, mental illness and co-occurring disorders together. A veteran whose problem is mental health rather than substance use should still ask, rather than assuming these are drug courts by another name.
Known gapDMVA states no eligibility rules on offence type, service length or discharge characterisation, and names no statute or rule of court. Which counties participate, and what completing the programme does to the charge or the record, are the questions to put to a defence lawyer in that county.

Sources

Why only one source type: The judiciary’s own page at pacourts.us, which DMVA links to for the county list and the programme rules, returned HTTP 403 to every request this session. We publish what the department states and no county list we could not read.

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