Fourteenth Judicial Circuit Veterans Treatment Court

The Fourteenth Judicial Circuit, which covers Bay, Calhoun, Gulf, Holmes, Jackson and Washington Counties, runs a single Veterans Treatment Court for the circuit under section 394.47891 of the Florida Statutes and the Patt Maney Veterans Treatment Act; see the Florida entry. The programme is an outpatient, four-to-five phase track of substance abuse and mental health treatment that the circuit's page puts at a minimum of twelve to twenty-four months, targeting veterans charged with felonies or misdemeanors who reside in the six counties. Participants attend treatment through the VA and AA/NA meetings, are drug tested at random, report to the judge and coordinator twice a month, and report to a probation officer as ordered. The programme is voluntary and, on the circuit's brochure, twelve to eighteen months, with charges possibly dismissed on successful completion. Eligibility, on the circuit's page. A demonstrated substance abuse, mental health or legal issue; willingness to participate in treatment; access to transportation (the programme provides trolley passes); pretrial intervention, post-conviction and probation violators are taken; approval by the Veterans Treatment Court team; an "Honorable Discharge or under Honorable Conditions"; and stable housing or the means to obtain it. The disqualifiers: violent felonies, sexual offenses, child abuse or arson charges, subject to section 948.08(7)(a); incarceration in the Department of Corrections more than once; a dishonorable discharge or ineligibility for VA benefits; and a prior termination or graduation from a veterans treatment court. Two of these run against the statute: section 394.47891 sets no discharge test for most applicants and reserves only dishonorably discharged veterans to the chief judge and state attorney jointly, and no housing test - and the manual says "some exclusions are subject to" the statute and "may be modified at the request of the ASA and approval by the court", so a veteran under one of these bars should still ask the team. How it runs. Referrals, which can come from the defence, the State Attorney, the jail, the sheriff or the veteran, go to the coordinator for a records review and assessment, then to the state attorney for legal approval; the participant then pleads in the original court with completion of the programme as part of the plea, and the case transfers to the veterans court docket. The manual names Circuit Judge Elijah Smiley's court. Phases run orientation (2 months), individualized treatment (4), reintegration and stabilisation (3), long-term recovery (3) and, for felonies, a fifth phase, each with clean-time thresholds of 60 to 90 continuous days. Misdemeanor cases generally run twelve months and felonies twelve to twenty-four. Graduation requires treatment completion, probation requirements, all outstanding court fees and restitution paid. Cost. The circuit's page lists "Funding: Offender fees". The manual adds that a participant who chooses not to use the VA or the designated community provider "may be responsible for the cost of treatment", and that additional drug tests may be imposed as fees against the participant. Contact. Shonta Covington, Veterans Treatment Court Manager, Bay County Courthouse, 300 East 4th Street, Panama City 32401; (850) 767-3567 or (850) 980-0834, [email protected].