4th Judicial District Veterans Trauma Court (El Paso and Teller Counties)

The 4th Judicial District (El Paso and Teller Counties) Veterans Trauma Court "began in December 2009 and was the first Veterans Trauma Court in Colorado and one of the first in the United States to take in felony cases". The judicial branch's page: it "provides an alternative to incarceration for U.S. military veterans and active-duty military personnel with trauma spectrum disorders and/or substance use issues who have proven to be high risk and high need", with the district's courts, the District Attorney's Office, the public defenders, "El Paso and Teller County Sheriff's Departments", the VA, the UCCS Veterans Health and Trauma Clinic, Home Front Military Network, Mt. Carmel Veterans Center and other providers on the team. "The VTC takes veterans regardless of their discharge status as we recognize that veterans lacking VA healthcare eligibility need our assistance." How a veteran gets in. Referrals come from anywhere - the public defender, private attorneys, family, peer mentors in the jail, or the veteran directly - but "the VTC is a post-plea program": a veteran who intends to contest the charge should not seek entry. The first step is a VTC briefing, held twice a month in the basement training room at the El Paso County Judicial Center; then a service interview, proof of service (DD-214 or ERB/ORB) and a risk-and-needs triage. The District Attorney's Office "serves as a gatekeeper for admission". The docket is heard in Colorado Springs; Teller County veterans appear there. Contacts. VTC Coordinator Kisten Born, 719-452-5039, [email protected]; Veteran Lead Peer Mentor Coordinator Anthony Griego, 719-452-5056. The District Attorney's Teller County office is at 112 N. A St., Cripple Creek (719-520-7168).