Hays County Veterans Treatment Court

Hays County runs a Veterans Treatment Court under Government Code chapter 124; see the Texas entry. The county describes it as a 12 to 24 month, three-phase specialized treatment court "designed to address the unique needs of Honorably Discharged Veterans and currently serving active duty service members of the U.S. Military". Participants are typically charged with misdemeanors, and the court diverts them from traditional or other specialty courts to its own docket. Successful completion, the county says, results in the erasure of the participant's case-related criminal records. Eligibility, by the county's page. Programme-eligible veterans are those in the criminal justice system for behaviour connected to physical and emotional injuries sustained during deployments to hazardous duty locations or war zones, or conditions developed during service that have bearing on the defendant's criminal conduct. Eligible veterans are identified through jail and court screening and assessments, lawyer and District Attorney referrals, and self-referrals. Participation is voluntary on the veteran's part, subject to the consent of the attorney representing the state and of the court team. Where it sits and who runs it. The page hangs under the County Courts at Law, and the County Clerk's Courts Division says its staff assist the Mental Health and Veterans specialty courts. The Office of Court Administration's registry of October 1, 2026 lists the Hays County Veterans Treatment Court as serving Hays, Caldwell and Blanco Counties, with Chris Johnson as judge and Gerald Ramcharan ([email protected]) as coordinator. A veteran charged in Caldwell County reaches the court through it: Caldwell has no veterans court of its own on the registry (its only other registered specialty court is the Challenge Court, an adult drug court under Judge Chris Schneider with coordinator Steve Thomas), and Caldwell County's own pages name no other route. The same holds for Blanco County: the registry lists no other specialty court there, and Blanco County's own pages, read on 2026-11-01, name none. The county says the programme is supported by a Texas Veterans Commission Fund for Veterans' Assistance grant. Narrower than the statute. The page's own words limit the court to honourably discharged veterans and serving active duty members. 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. A veteran with a general or other discharge should ask a defence lawyer about the statute, as Harris County's misdemeanor court, which takes every discharge, shows the difference is a local choice.