New Jersey Veterans Diversion Program

P.L.2017, c.42 set up the Statewide Veterans Diversion Program in N.J.S.A. 2C:43-23 to 2C:43-31. Who. A "servicemember": any veteran, or any current member of the Armed Forces, a reserve component or the New Jersey organized militia. A veteran here is anyone discharged or released "under conditions other than dishonorable", so an other than honorable discharge qualifies. The person must be charged with an "eligible offense", a non-violent petty disorderly persons or disorderly persons offense or a third or fourth degree crime, and must have a prior diagnosis of mental illness or show behaviour giving a reasonable belief of one, including post-traumatic stress disorder. How it works. N.J.S.A. 2C:43-25 requires the officer who takes anyone into custody for an eligible offense to ask whether he or she has served, and to note it on the complaint either way. The officer may divert an eligible servicemember to a Veterans Diversion Resource entity, usually VA or a Vet Center, instead of filing a complaint, with a stated preference for diversion. The officer may not divert before charging where the offense involves restitution, violence or a threat of it, a restraining order, or a victim who objects, and may file the complaint later if the servicemember does not cooperate. At the start of court proceedings the judge must tell every defendant in the courtroom that prosecutorial diversion is available to eligible servicemembers. Mentors. The Department of Veterans Affairs recruits veteran volunteers as mentors to help a diverted veteran deal with the underlying problems, and its guide invites veterans to apply as mentors. This is separate from pretrial intervention and from the veterans treatment courts some counties run, and a veteran may be eligible for more than one.