Second Judicial Circuit Veteran's Treatment Court (Clay, Craighead, Crittenden, Greene, Mississippi and Poinsett Counties, Arkansas)

The State framework is in the Arkansas entry on veterans treatment courts. The Second Judicial Circuit's administrative plan, effective January 1, 2026, lists among its specialty courts "The Second Judicial Circuit Veterans Diversion Program, Judge Scott Ellington presiding", and describes it as the circuit's Veteran's Treatment Court: "a voluntary, pre-adjudication, highly intensive supervision program designed to address the needs of criminal defendants who have a substance use disorder or mental health disorder; are eighteen years of age or older, and who are a veteran or a service member of the United States Armed Forces or National Guard." Who can enter. "The defendant must be a resident of one of the six counties that comprise the Second Judicial Circuit" (Clay, Craighead, Crittenden, Greene, Mississippi and Poinsett); must have no previous conviction for a serious felony involving violence and none that requires sex offender registration; must be assessed high-risk and high-need on a validated risk-need assessment; must have a mental health disorder; and must be found clinically appropriate by a licensed therapist. The program lasts at least 14 months. No discharge characterisation or disability rating is named. When and where. "Craighead County Veteran's Treatment Court is held every Tuesday of the month at 3:00 p.m. at the Craighead County Courthouse, 511 Union, Jonesboro." The team is a circuit judge and a back-up judge, a deputy prosecutor, a deputy public defender, a court coordinator, a probation officer, a law enforcement representative and three representatives of Mid-South Health Systems; funding comes from Craighead County, the Public Defender Commission, the prosecutor's office, the Department of Corrections, the Administrative Office of the Courts and VA. How to ask. The plan names no coordinator's phone. A defendant's attorney asks the prosecutor and the court about referral; the Circuit Clerk of the county where the case is filed can say how to reach the program (Poinsett: Misty Russell, 870-578-4420; Clay: Janet Kilbreath, Piggott 870-598-2524, Corning 870-857-3271). The Judiciary's 2022 veterans treatment court map shades Craighead only. An amendment effective January 1, 2027 changes the divisions' case assignments and leaves the rest of the plan, its specialty courts included, in force.