Webb County Regional Veterans Treatment Court (the Veterans Treatment Program)

The programme. "Based on the successful Drug Court model, the Veterans Treatment Court will serve veterans struggling with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), substance use disorders, mental health, and/or co-occurring disorders. The long-term goal of this problem-solving court is to restore the veteran's quality of life and reduce conflicts that might lead to additional incarceration events." Contact: Margarita D. Garza, MPA, BSCJ, Webb County Veterans Treatment Program Director, 956-523-4654; 4101 Juarez Ave., Laredo, TX 78040; 956-523-4797; fax 956-791-6325; Monday to Friday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Eligibility, from the court's own criteria sheet: be a veteran or current member of the U.S. Armed Forces including the Reserves, National Guard or State Guard; have a pending misdemeanor or felony charge; have a service-related mental-health condition, TBI or substance use disorder with a nexus - the condition "must have occurred during or resulted from your military service and affected the criminal conduct at issue"; participate voluntarily; enter a guilty plea; abstain from alcohol and non-prescribed controlled substances; comply with treatment and random drug and alcohol testing; and attend regular court appearances. Referral comes "likely ... by your prosecutor or public defender", then "a comprehensive assessment ... by Veterans Justice Outreach (VJO) specialists or other court professionals". The money. The Commissioners Court's record carries both grants through the year: the TVC regional grant - an application authorized October 27, 2025 "for salaries, fringe benefits, drug testing, supplies, travel/training, and financial assistance to veterans participating in the regional VTC program ... for at-risk veterans charged with misdemeanor and/or felony offenses" serving "veterans and their families within the eight-county region" (regional director Eduardo P. Chapa, grant fund #2872), extended by the TVC from 12 to 14 months without new funds (county-funded bridge, June 8, 2026), and renewed at $300,000 August 24, 2026; and the SAMHSA grant - "awarded ... on 09/30/2024" at $400,000 a year, with the year-3 non-competing continuation application authorized January 26, 2026. The service contracts the court approved run from Cordant Forensic Solutions drug testing (November 24, 2025) and Recovery Monitoring Solutions monitoring devices (December 8, 2025) to the Orion AccuCare electronic health record (October 27, 2025 and October 26, 2026 renewals), La Familia Consulting and Counseling Services' programme evaluation and Christina Lee Garza's telehealth counselling (both September 30, 2026 - September 29, 2027), and a Texas A&M International University memorandum of understanding August 10, 2026 that keeps the programme a counseling practicum and internship site for graduate students. The building. The programme sits in the county's veterans building at 4101 Juarez Avenue, whose "rehabilitation and preservation project" the court funded with ARPA money (project no. 0027) - material testing at $10,500 authorized April 27, 2026 and Stoddard Enterprise LLC engaged as construction manager at risk September 2, 2026.