Cameron County Veterans Treatment Court (444th District Court)

Cameron County runs a veterans treatment court under Government Code chapter 124; see the Texas entry. The Office of Court Administration's specialty court registry of October 1, 2026 lists the "444th District Court-Veterans Treatment Court Program" as serving Cameron and Willacy Counties, presided over by David A. Sanchez, with Elva Olivo ([email protected]) as coordinator. The 444th's page on the county site carries the programme's own overview, a scanned document read here with tesseract. What it is. "The Cameron County Veterans Court Program is a pre-trial diversion program for Veterans who are charged with misdemeanor or felony offenses that may be related to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) or other mental health problems resulting from their military service." Participants get "an evaluation for psychological, chemical dependency and other issues that can be addressed through various types of treatment and supportive services"; the programme "may also assist participating veterans with obtaining employment, education, health and housing services"; and it "offers veterans an opportunity to avoid prosecution and a criminal conviction", using "a non-adversarial approach in which a team that includes the judge, the defense attorney, the prosecutor, the program manager and a Veterans Administration outreach specialist work together with the veteran". A Strategic Action Plan is developed with the programme manager, the veteran appears before the court through the plan's objectives, and once the objectives are met "the case will be dismissed from prosecution". "The Veterans Court Program is a 12 to 24 month program." Eligibility. The overview's criteria: "Veteran or current member of the United States Armed Forces, including a member of the Reserves, National Guard, State Guard or Coast Guard. Discharge from the military must be Honorable or General Under Honorable Conditions. Also, the veteran must have or receive a clinical diagnosis of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), a traumatic brain injury (TBI), or mental disorder that resulted from military service, and materially affected the veteran's criminal conduct for which they are being charged." Applications go from the defence attorney to the Veterans Court Manager, who screens for eligibility, schedules the assessment and staffs the case with the County Attorney's Office; an accepted case transfers to the Veterans Court docket, and a court-appointed veteran's case goes to the programme's contract defence attorney. Where. Cameron County Courthouse, Cameron County Veterans Treatment Court, 974 E. Harrison St., Judicial Building, First Floor, Brownsville, Texas 78520. Civil and Veterans Treatment Court inquiries go to Court Administrator Elva Olivo. Funding. The Commissioners Court's January 27, 2026 agenda carries the resolution authorizing the 444th District Court to apply to the Office of the Governor's Criminal Justice Division specialty courts grant programme "for funding of the Cameron County Veterans Court fiscal year 2027", and the county's 2026 fee schedule carries the Veterans Treatment Court program fee (Government Code 124.005, $1,000 or more, to the agency the court designates) and reimbursement fee alongside its other court costs. Narrower than the statute on discharges. The overview takes only Honourable or General Under Honorable Conditions discharges. Chapter 124 sets no discharge test and expressly takes veterans and current members of the reserves, the National Guard and the State Guard, and its eligibility does not require the conduct to trace to service if rehabilitation would protect the public - as the Hays County entry notes, that narrowing is a local choice. A veteran with another discharge should ask a defence lawyer about the statute. In Willacy County. The registry lists the programme for "Cameron and Willacy", as it does three other Cameron County specialty courts (the Cameron County Mental Health Divert Court, the Divert Court and the Cameron County Youth Offender Court); a veteran charged in Willacy County should ask the defence lawyer or the Court Administrator, Elva Olivo, whether the case can go to the Brownsville docket. Willacy County's own site, read on 2026-11-01, describes no veterans court of its own, and its Veterans Services page (see willacy-tx-veterans-services) does not mention this one.