Nevada Veterans Treatment Court Programs

NRS 176A.280 lets a district court, justice court or municipal court set up a programme for veterans and members of the military. A defendant qualifies who is a veteran or member and is diagnosed, after an in-person clinical assessment by a licensed or certified counsellor or a certified physician, or by a mental health or substance use screening, with a mental illness, an alcohol or other substance use disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder or a traumatic brain injury that appears related to military service, including readjustment after combat, or with military sexual trauma, and who would benefit from the programme. Who is barred. NRS 176A.287 excludes a category A felony and a sexual offense punishable as a category B felony, and a defendant discharged or released under dishonorable conditions, though the court may still assign a dishonorably discharged defendant if it finds extraordinary circumstances. An other-than-honorable or bad conduct discharge is not a bar in the statute. A justice or municipal court without its own programme may transfer the case to the district court (NRS 176A.285). Outcome. Under NRS 176A.290 the court can defer judgment and place the defendant on probation with the programme as a condition. On completion a district court must discharge the defendant and dismiss the proceedings or set aside the conviction unless the defendant has a prior felony conviction or has failed a specialty court before, in which case it may; a justice or municipal court must dismiss. The dismissal is not a conviction for employment, civil rights, licensing or any questionnaire, and NRS 176A.295 then requires the records to be sealed. Sanctions for a violation can include up to 25 days in jail. A local court may describe its eligibility more narrowly than the statute; the county pages say where it does.