Arkansas Veterans Treatment Courts

Arkansas Code chapter 101 of Title 16 authorises veterans treatment specialty courts, subject to Supreme Court approval of each circuit's administrative plan. Who can take part. Section 16-101-103: a person with a substance use disorder or mental health disorder, 18 or older, who "is a veteran or a service member of the United States Armed Forces or National Guard", and who agrees to follow the court's policies. There is no discharge requirement in the statute. Individual courts set their own admission criteria, often excluding violent offences. How it works. Section 16-101-102: judicial monitoring with intensive treatment and supervision for high-risk, high-need defendants, before or after adjudication. The team must include a judge, prosecutor, defence lawyer, probation officers, treatment providers, law enforcement and "one (1) or more veterans justice outreach specialists", which is the VA's own role. The participant may be ordered to pay court costs, treatment, testing and a program fee. What changed in 2025. Act 691 of 2025 repealed the veterans court's own dismissal and sealing section and replaced it with a single one, section 16-90-1602: on successful completion, a specialty court judge may dismiss and seal the case on the prosecutor's recommendation. It also set a statewide specialty court program user fee of up to $250 and tied the program standards to national standards rather than those of January 1, 2021. Act 506 of 2025 requires jails and prisons to give VA and the Department of Veterans Affairs reasonable access to help a veteran inmate apply for a veterans treatment court, and to share the veteran status check with specialty court coordinators.