Butler County Veterans Treatment Courts

Common Pleas Court. The Butler County Common Pleas Court's Veterans Treatment Court, established in 2017 and presided over by Judge Michael A. Oster Jr., 315 High Street, Hamilton (513-785-5721), is certified by the Supreme Court of Ohio. Its 2025 to 2028 program description sets these criteria. Legally, the defendant must have been convicted of, or applied for intervention in lieu of conviction (Revised Code 2951.041) for, a third, fourth or fifth degree felony, with companion cases, be eligible for community control or already under the county's adult probation, and be drug or alcohol dependent or have a mental illness that treatment would help. Clinically, the defendant must be a veteran with a mental illness or substance use disorder, willing to take part in long-term treatment, without an acute health condition, and with a moderate or higher Ohio Risk Assessment System score or a reason to override a low one. The judge decides admission; the criteria create no right to enter. The court can carry up to 50 participants. Other courts. The Supreme Court's list also certifies veterans dockets in Middletown Municipal Court (Judge James E. Sherron) and Butler County Court, Area II (Judge Kevin C. McDonough), for misdemeanour cases in their areas. The Common Pleas description asks only that the defendant be "a veteran of the United States Armed Forces" and sets no discharge test. The Veterans Service Commission supplies peer mentors for the court.