BENTONVILLE — One person has been accepted into a planned veterans court, and a local circuit judge hopes to have space for as many as a dozen people once the court gets its footing.
Tom Smith, Benton County circuit judge, sees the court as a way to assist veterans in a setting similar to drug court. The difference is the new court would be able to utilize Veteran Administration services.
The Arkansas Supreme Court still needs to approve the plan, and Smith believes that will happen. If approved, Benton County’s veterans court will be the sixth such court in the state. Washington County started one in October 2011. It will take 12 to 18 months to complete the program.
The first person accepted will be part of the drug court program until the veterans court actually starts. Smith sees veterans court as an independent program from drug court.
“The goal will be to help veterans, not only with drug issues, but mental health treatment if needed. Especially if it involves post-traumatic stress,” Smith said.
Probation officers in drug court will supervise the veterans in the program, but participants will have access to the Veteran Administration when it comes to medication and counseling, Smith said.
“They will get treatment with other veterans and be treated by other veterans,” Smith said.
Certain violent offenses will not be allowed in the court. The court will handle drug crimes and some crimes involving violence when the issue could have been caused by post-traumatic stress disorder, Smith said.
Van Stone, Benton County prosecuting attorney, said he and Bryan Sexton, deputy prosecutor, will help establish eligibility criteria for the court. Sexton will then handle the cases on a daily basis, as he does with drug court and juvenile court.
“We believe that veterans court will expand the resources available for those veterans who need and qualify for intensive treatment, unique to the needs of qualifying veterans, apart from the normal aspects of the criminal justice system,” Stone said. “As with drug court, the hope is that positive and lasting changes can be made through a system of accountability tailored to individual needs with the goal of reducing incarceration and recidivism.”
The court will meet monthly on the same day drug court is on Smith’s docket.
Jay Saxton, Benton County chief public defender, sees the court as an opportunity for some veterans who aren’t eligible for drug court.
“Veterans court will be able to help those veterans who are required to be on medication and need the assistance of a drug court type program,” Saxton said. “A person is not allowed to be on any type of a controlled substance while in drug court. So, veterans were excluded if they had to take medication for any conditions such as PTSD.”
Smith presides over juvenile court, but is also assigned juvenile and adult drug court. Another court could be added to his docket as a mental health court is in the early stages of planning.
The first veterans court was started in Buffalo in 2008, according to the National Center of State Courts.