Kankakee County Veterans Treatment Court (21st Judicial Circuit)

Illinois circuits run veterans and servicemembers courts under 730 ILCS 167; see the Illinois entry. The AOIC's Certified Illinois Problem-Solving Courts list (updated August 4, 2025) includes the Kankakee Veterans Treatment Court. The Veterans Assistance Commission's page: the court "provides an inter-agency, collaborative, non-adversarial treatment strategy for Honorably Discharged Military Veterans and for Veterans discharged with General Under Honorable Conditions currently involved with the criminal justice system, who suffer from PTSD, psychological problems, and/or substance abuse problems". The commission screens applicants, collects documents, makes referrals, provides case management, runs the volunteer mentor programme and helps with transport. Apply through the court coordinator, Karen Smietanski, 815-937-8489. The handbook (February 2021, on the county's Documents and Forms page): the programme lasts "no less than 18 months" in four phases (90, 180, 90 and 180 days), and is "limited to defendants who are eligible for VA benefits": 90 days of active duty for service before September 8, 1980, and after it "2 years active duty and an Honorable discharge"; a probationable charge; a treatable diagnosis; residence in the 21st Circuit (Kankakee and Iroquois Counties). It excludes a crime of violence charged now or a conviction "within the past 10 years". Stricter than the statute. 730 ILCS 167/10 and 167/20 set no discharge or length-of-service test and bar a violent conviction within five years, not ten. The commission's page admits general discharges where the 2021 handbook asks for honorable; ask the coordinator which governs.