Hudson County Veterans Diversion Program

The county's page. "The Office of the Hudson County Prosecutor has instituted a Veterans Diversion Program for eligible residents within Hudson County. Under the VDP, as codified in the New Jersey Criminal Code at N.J.S.A. 2C:43-23 to 2C:43-31, veterans who are charged with certain non-violent crimes may be eligible for diversion to rehabilitative treatment in lieu of the traditional criminal justice process. The program involves intensive supervision and monitoring of a veteran's treatment by an applicable treatment provider, the Veterans Administration, and the Prosecutor's Office. Participants must meet all diversion requirements to remain in the VDP, and ordinarily, the program must be successfully completed within two years from the date of diversion. Upon successful completion of the VDP, the participant may have their charges dismissed." Eligibility. The applicant must be an active or former member of the armed forces, a reserve component or the state's organized militia discharged under conditions other than dishonorable, "and the charges must have some causal relation to their military service. Only non-violent, third-degree and fourth-degree crimes are eligible for diversion under this program. Veterans charged with more serious crimes, or who were previously convicted of a violent crime, will be deemed ineligible... In addition, offenses involving domestic violence are presumptively ineligible for diversion." A mental illness or condition must have caused or contributed to the offense. "The Prosecutor's Office retains sole discretion over who is admitted into the VDP in accordance with N.J.S.A. 2C:43-26(b)(1)." How to apply. "Attorneys who believe their clients qualify for this program must apply within 45 days from the date of arrest. Applicants must complete the VDP Application Form, VDP Acknowledgements Form and VDP Medical Release Form." Completed forms go to Supervising Assistant Prosecutor Andrea Hellinghausen at [email protected], (201) 795-6400 ext. 6530, or Assistant Prosecutor Priya Ramrup at [email protected], ext. 6761. The page names the program's partners: the VA Secaucus Vet Center at 110A Meadowlands Parkway, Secaucus; the Hudson County Office of Veterans Affairs at (201) 369-3430; and the State's DMAVA Hudson County Office at (201) 536-3401. Prosecutor Wayne Mello's office publishes the program on its own site (an application read through the platform's own API). New Jersey has no per-county veterans treatment court list on njcourts.gov; the prosecutor-run diversion program is the state's veteran criminal-justice mechanism.