McLennan County Veterans Treatment Court

McLennan County's Veterans Treatment Court is one of the county's Specialty Courts, all presided over by Associate Judge Rob Swanton; the Office of Court Administration's registry of October 1, 2026 lists the court with Rob Swanton as judge and Amy Lowrey, the county's Director of Specialty Courts, as coordinator ([email protected]). The department is in the McLennan County Courthouse Annex, 219 N. 6th Street, Suite 100-E, Waco; 254-759-7557. What the county's page says. VTC is a voluntary, court-monitored treatment programme addressing the mental health and/or substance abuse issues of a veteran defendant. Its primary target population is offenders whose military experience or exposure to combat contributed to the commission of the offense. Additional eligibility: able to prove veteran or active duty status and be eligible for VA care, by providing a copy of the DD-214. How the treatment courts work. All three - Veterans' Treatment Court, Mental Health Court and Recovery Court - are four-phase programmes for adults charged with a misdemeanor or felony offence who are diagnosed with a substance use disorder and/or mental illness, with a minimum 12-month commitment. Applications are approved by both the District Attorney and the defense attorney; participants pay a $350 one-time programme fee plus monthly supervision, urinalysis, treatment and court-assessed fees. Basic eligibility: at least 18; charges in McLennan County with residence and/or work there (adjacent-county residents sometimes); no holds, warrants or other pending cases; physically and mentally capable of participating; and a biopsychosocial evaluation. Disqualifying: a previous treatment-court admission; unwillingness to terminate use of lawfully prescribed controlled substances; a possession, manufacture or delivery of controlled substances charge above the sentencing-guidelines threshold or a second such offence; or a prior conviction or pending charge for DWI with injury, any case involving a weapon or firearm, or a sexually based offence or crime against children. Funding and partners. The Specialty Courts department's dashboard report in the October 7, 2025 Commissioners Court packet describes a 48-month $750,000 federal grant from the DOJ Bureau of Justice Assistance and a $120,000 Texas Veterans Commission grant; three veterans graduated on September 8, 2025, thirty since inception. Groups include Relapse Prevention, Moral Reconation Therapy, Seeking Safety and Strength at Home. Partners named: the county courts, the District Attorney's Office, the Community Supervision and Corrections Department, defense attorneys, treatment providers, Baylor University, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, the Baylor Law Veterans Clinic and the Heart of Texas Veterans One Stop. Discharge. No page sets a discharge-characterization test; the application's DD-214 proves veteran or active duty status, as chapter 124 requires no discharge characterization at all.