Panhandle Regional Veterans Treatment Court (Potter and Randall Counties)

Texas veterans treatment courts rest on Government Code chapter 124; see the Texas entry. The Office of Court Administration's registry of October 1, 2026 lists program 314, the Panhandle Regional Veteran's Treatment Court, for Potter County, with Judge Walt Weaver and Justin Mays. The court's policy manual, revised March 2, 2026 and signed by Judge Weaver on March 12, traces it to a 2016 District Attorney diversion programme with the Amarillo VA Health Care System and says that since 2019 it has taken misdemeanor cases from the Potter County Attorney and cases "from Randall County (both misdemeanor and felony cases)"; 37 veterans had graduated by 2026. Who. "a Veteran, active-duty service member, National Guard, State Guard, or Reserve member who has served in the U.S. Military" with a pending eligible felony or misdemeanor, a U.S. citizen or legal resident, with "a mental health disorder, substance use disorder, or traumatic brain injury that occurred during or resulted from military service and materially affected the criminal conduct", and VA or community treatment available. It gives priority to high-risk, high-need participants. A prosecutor can exclude a case, and so does a serious mental illness that would keep the person from taking part. The manual sets no discharge test. It is narrower than chapter 124 in two ways: it does not name military sexual trauma, and it leaves out the statute's second route, a defendant whose taking part is likely to achieve public safety through rehabilitation. How it works. Pre-plea, post-plea, pre-adjudication and probation violation cases, in three phases over 12 to 24 months: court every Monday in Phase I, the first and third Mondays in Phase II and the first Monday in Phase III, with treatment, probation supervision and testing. Veterans not eligible for VA care are placed through the Veterans Resource Center or Texas Panhandle Centers. A graduate on a diversion track can have the case dismissed or expunged. "PRVTC does not charge program fees." The Texas Veterans Commission's directory lists rent, utility, transport, child or adult care and dental help for participants, under the $81,000 grant (VTC27-V-018) the Commissioners' Court accepted on September 14, 2026 for September 1, 2026 to August 31, 2027. How to apply. Any attorney, judge, probation officer, officer or provider may identify a veteran; the VA's Veterans Justice Outreach officer checks service, and defence counsel sends the application packet to the Director of Specialty Courts ([email protected]) within 60 days of discovery. The court: Potter County Courthouse, 500 South Fillmore, Suite 405, Amarillo (806-379-2375); Director Justin Mays, 806-379-2338, [email protected]; coordinator Avis Morris. The State's grants directory gives the programme as 900 South Polk, Suite 716, 806-349-2338; the county's own page is the one to use.