Hamilton County Veterans Treatment Court (11th Judicial District)

Hamilton County's Veterans Treatment Court follows the model in the Tennessee entry on veterans treatment courts, in two courts: Track 1 in General Sessions Court, Division 5, before Judge Gary W. Starnes, and Track 2 in Criminal Court, Division 3, before Judge Boyd Patterson, both at 600 Market Street, Chattanooga. A designated assistant district attorney, an assistant public defender and a case manager sit on the team, and the court may be funded in part by the Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services. Who can apply. A veteran or active-duty member, 18 or older, living in the 11th Judicial District (Hamilton County), who volunteers, signs the releases and pleads to a charge eligible for probation, with charges in other courts resolved or considered case by case. The court excludes violent charges or convictions, Class A or B felonies, registered sex offenders, gang members and child-related charges; other charges are weighed by the District Attorney's representative. The discharge rule. "Applicants must have been honorably discharged", though the court "may consider other than honorably discharged applicants on a case-by-case basis". The Tennessee act leaves admission rules to each programme, so a veteran with a general discharge should apply and ask to be considered. The programme. Track 1 lasts at least 12 months in four phases and Track 2 at least 18 months in five, with drug testing, treatment, mentoring, court reviews and a payment plan for fines and court costs, and graduation on 90 days' abstinence and a reassessment. The court's site posts the application, handbook and contract. Case manager: 423-994-5967.