Jefferson County Veterans Treatment Court (Louisville)

The Veterans Treatment Court is a Kentucky Court of Justice programme for Jefferson County, run with the Robley Rex VA Medical Center, the Jefferson County Attorney and the Commonwealth's Attorney, Legal Aid, Community Corrections, Seven Counties Services and the Louisville Metro Police Department. Kentucky has no veterans court statute, so its admission rules are its own. Who it takes. "Qualified" veterans, men and women, charged with a felony or a misdemeanour in Jefferson Circuit or District Court; cases from other counties are considered case by case. The criteria: no pending charge excluded by its guidelines and no violent felony conviction as 28 C.F.R. 93.3 defines it; no charge or prior conviction for a sexual offence or major drug trafficking; no open warrant; willingness to follow the treatment; physical ability to take part; "preference to combat veterans"; and the veteran "must be currently involved with the VA and have an honorable discharge". A veteran with any other discharge, or not connected to VA care, "will be considered on a case-by-case basis", so a general or other than honorable discharge should not stop a referral. The programme. Four phases over at least 18 months (30 days, 8 months, 3 months, then 6 months of graduation and aftercare), with weekly individual and group counselling, testing, mental health treatment, recovery meetings, court reviews, and home visits and curfew checks by a Louisville Metro Police liaison. Under the Court of Justice's statewide participant handbook, on completion the judge may dismiss the charge of a participant on diversion, or modify a probated sentence to a conditional discharge, in either case only once any restitution is paid in full. How to get in. The judge, the prosecutor, the VA's Veterans Justice Outreach specialist or defence counsel refers the case, and the County Attorney's inquiry form starts a legal screening; the VA and the Jefferson County Drug Court then assess the veteran.