Smith County Veterans Treatment Court

Smith County runs a veterans treatment court under Government Code chapter 124; see the Texas entry. The Office of Court Administration's specialty court registry of October 1, 2026 lists two Smith County programs: a felony "Smith VTC" (court ID 34) presided over by Debby Gunter, with Tammy Camp-Miller as coordinator, and a misdemeanor "Smith VTC" (court ID 218) presided over by Jason Ellis, with Phyllis Duke as coordinator. The county's FY 2026 budget book names Gunter's court as the 241st District Court and Ellis's as a County Court at Law. Mission. The county's page: "The Smith County Veterans Court's mission is to successfully rehabilitate the justice-involved veteran by diverting them from the traditional criminal justice system (jail) and providing them with treatment and the tools they need to lead a productive and law-abiding lifestyle while improving mental health recovery and successful re-entry into the community." Eligibility. "Our purpose and duty through this pre-trial diversion program... is specifically for veterans who have an honorable discharge or can be active duty with the United States Military, Reserves, National Guard, or State Guard. There must be a diagnosis for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), traumatic brain injury (TBI), a mental health disorder, conditions caused by/made worse by a veteran's military service, or be a survivor of Military Sexual Trauma (MST)." The page adds that the county must "draw a nexus to the diagnosed mental health disorder or condition from the time in service," and that "[n]ot all may be eligible or accepted into this program." Smith County has both a felony track, lasting two years, and a misdemeanor track lasting one to two years depending on the charge; the county's FY 2026 budget book describes the misdemeanor track as for "non-violent misdemeanor offenses" tied to PTSD, Substance Abuse Disorder or TBI "or other mental health problems resulting from their military service." Disqualifying charges. The county's page lists capital murder, pre-meditated murder, aggravated kidnapping, any sex crime, any crime against the elderly, a child or a disabled person, and the sale, manufacture or distribution of a controlled substance; a prior conviction of any of those also disqualifies an applicant. How it is going. The FY 2026 budget book reports Veteran Treatment Court graduates of 7 in FY 2021, 12 in FY 2022, 15 in FY 2023, 7 in FY 2024 and 10 in FY 2025, and sets increasing Veteran Treatment Court participation as a goal for FY 2025, alongside continuing each service officer's Texas Veterans Commission accreditation. Narrower than the statute on discharges. The programme takes only an honorable discharge for a veteran applicant, though a current servicemember needs none. Chapter 124 sets no discharge test for a veteran and expressly reaches the reserves, the National Guard and the State Guard, as the Hays and Cameron County entries also note; a veteran with another discharge should ask a defence lawyer about the statute rather than assume the county's page is the only route in.