Saint Lucie County Veterans Treatment Court

The Nineteenth Judicial Circuit runs veterans treatment courts in Indian River, Martin, Okeechobee and Saint Lucie Counties under section 394.47891 of the Florida Statutes; see the Florida entry. The Saint Lucie County court began August 8, 2014 and addresses non-violent offenses by veterans with service-related conditions including post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury, military sexual trauma, and mental health or substance use disorders. Who. The county's Veterans Court page says the programme is for veterans or service members charged with or convicted of non-violent criminal offences who suffer from service-related conditions, that entry is not automatic, that "eligible participants must reside in St. Lucie County", and that veterans must apply for admission through the State Attorney's Office. The court's June 2025 participant handbook adds the two routes in: as a diversion, where a successful completion withdraws the plea and dismisses the charges, or as a condition of probation, where completion does not dismiss the charges but can end probation early. Where that is narrower than the law. Section 394.47891 defines a veteran as anyone who has served, admits Defense contractors and allied veterans, sets no residency test, and leaves the admission decision to the court with its team; only whether a dishonorably discharged veteran may take part is reserved to the chief judge and state attorney. The county page's residence requirement and its State Attorney application route are local additions a veteran outside them should still ask about. The programme. Court is held at the St. Lucie County Courthouse, third floor, in the courtroom of County Judge Jeffrey Hendriks, every other week at the start, tapering by phase. The misdemeanor track runs about six months to a year; the felony track, for medium-high to high risk and need, runs about twelve to eighteen months in four phases with clean-time thresholds to advance. The team includes VTC Coordinator Alexander Gust ([email protected], 772-807-4388), a VA Veterans Justice Outreach Specialist, probation, treatment and a volunteer veteran mentor programme coordinated by Jerry Johnson (917-664-2658, [email protected]). There may be fees to probation, the court, treatment and testing, but "no one will be denied treatment or access to Veterans Treatment Court due to inability to pay".