Augusta Judicial Circuit Veterans Treatment Court

The court is a veterans court division under Code section 15-1-17 (see the Georgia entry): the Augusta Judicial Circuit Adult Felony Veterans' Treatment Program, one of the circuit's three adult felony accountability courts with drug and mental health tracks. The District Attorney's page frames the change of era: "Previously, Veterans could not access Veterans' Treatment Court without first being disenfranchised as convicted felons", and now describes the programme as "a meaningful alternative to incarceration" - a court-imposed condition of probation for defendants "who have service connected benefits with co-occurring veterans' treatment related issues and/or alcohol/substance abuse issues". Who runs it. Superior Court Judge Jesse C. Stone presides and leads a team of district attorneys, defence attorneys, a programme director, administrative and clinical case managers, law enforcement, treatment providers and probation representatives; the team "meets every week to review the progress of every participant and holds court sessions." Programme director Amber Brewer, 735 James Brown Blvd., Suite 2101, Augusta, GA 30901 (706-261-0432); Brian Redd is the behavioural health and veterans court senior administrative case manager (706-821-1673). The Council of Accountability Court Judges' certified list also names a Richmond County Veterans Treatment Court under State Court Judge Ashanti L. Pounds, programme implemented January 2012, coordinator Khadijah Loyd, 706-849-3484. Who may enter, by the circuit's eligibility page. Age 18 or older; a U.S. citizen; a resident of Burke or Richmond County; pending felony charges ("cannot enter on misdemeanors alone"); and facts and charges "indicative of active substance abuse". Disqualified: serious violent felonies, trafficking, armed robbery, previous completion or termination of any accountability court programme, pending federal charges, parole holds, and people undocumented or unauthorised. Treatment plans cover the first 45 days and are then remade; the programme is a 24-month, five-phase intensive outpatient substance use disorder treatment programme, Phase 1 minimum three months through Phase 5 minimum six. Where that is narrower than the law. Section 15-1-17 defines a veteran as any former member of the armed forces or a state's National Guard, with no citizenship, residence, felony or substance-abuse test, and bars only murder, armed robbery, rape, aggravated sodomy, aggravated sexual battery and child molestation charges. The circuit adds trafficking to the barred charges and the citizenship, residence and screening rules besides. The money. The Criminal Justice Coordinating Council funds the circuit's courts. The Commission approved the FY27 operating grant for the Superior Court Accountability Courts (drug, mental health and veterans courts) on June 30, 2026 at the grantor's original figure of $511,864 with a $90,329 match, naming Chief Superior Court Judge Flythe as authorised official; the grantor recalculated the award on July 9, 2026 to $494,773 with an $87,313 match (subaward AW-ACFP-27-044, July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2027, total $582,086), and the corrected amount came back to the Public Safety Committee on July 28 and to the Commission, which approved it on August 4, 2026. A participant's own costs are not published on the county's pages.