Third District Veterans Court (Salt Lake County)

The Judicial Council creates veterans treatment courts by judicial district under 78A-5-303; the Utah entry on veterans treatment courts sets out the screening criteria and the plea in abeyance or probation they require. The Third District, which covers Salt Lake, Summit and Tooele counties, runs one in Salt Lake City; the Utah courts' list of problem-solving courts names it the "Veteran's Drug Court". The programme. The Salt Lake Legal Defender Association, the county's public defender, says it takes at least eighteen months and usually 20 to 24, with abstinence from alcohol and illegal drugs, drug and alcohol testing, any treatment the VA recommends, and graduated sanctions that can include changed treatment conditions, community service, fines or jail. Ask defence counsel to screen you. Who is eligible. The public defender's page says veterans "who have been honorably discharged" may be eligible. The statute's test is wider: 78A-5-302(7) defines a veteran as "a former service member who qualifies for health care benefits from the Veterans Administration", and VA can find service honorable for health care despite a general or other than honorable discharge. A veteran whom VA treats should ask to be screened whatever the discharge says, and the defendant must also have a mental health condition, a traumatic brain injury or a substance use disorder.