With Veterans Day coming up, we would like to take this time to congratulate the different municipalities in the valley that have recently begun offering veterans courts for veterans who are facing misdemeanor criminal charges. We’ve talked about veterans courts in our past blogs. We’ve outlined how veterans courts are popping up nationwide, and the benefits they provide to our veterans dealing with mental illness, substance dependency and traumatic brain injuries, in order to limit the amount of veterans serving extended sentences in custody. Since our last blog on veterans courts, several new veterans courts have been created around the valley. With the start of the East Valley Regional Veterans Court the participating courts have pooled their resources to create a veterans court for those courts that cannot create a separate court altogether. The participating courts include, Chandler Municipal Court, Carefree-Cave Creek Consolidated Court, Fountain Hills Municipal Court, Gilbert Municipal Court, Paradise Valley Municipal Court, Scottsdale City Court, and Tempe Municipal Court. The East Valley Regional Veterans Court now allows veterans to have the benefit of veterans courts, even if the court they are charged in does not offer their own. For a full list of the offered veterans courts, visit the VCMProject.org.

There are over 527,000 veterans living in Arizona, according to a study performed by ASU [1]. The top two diagnoses for returned veterans are musculoskeletal ailments at 56% and mental disorders at 52%. Twenty-three percent of all veterans are at risk for mental health problems such as PTSD, depression, and substance dependency. Many veterans also return home with traumatic brain injuries, which have been linked with criminal behavior. (hyperlink to past article). Many veterans end up in the criminal justice system because they do not receive proper treatment and have a hard time transitioning back to mainstream society. Veterans courts were created to do just that: put veterans through rigorous treatment programs that often last up to 18 months, during which the veteran is accountable for their actions, meaning if they do not follow through with the treatment process, they must return to their assigned court and be sentenced without leniency.

Castillo Law welcomes these new veterans courts to the valley. It’s always our job to show all the mitigation that we can to the State in order to present the accused in the best light possible. Often, there is some work that needs to be done to get the State to see all of the factors that led the accused into the criminal justice system. However, with veterans courts, the State and the Defense are on the same page in terms of the accused, they know the accused needs treatment and rehabilitation, not harsh jail or prison sentences, and they are working together to get the accused restored and able to return to the community through healthy and therapeutic means.

Stay tuned for future updates about new veterans courts around the valley. If you or someone you know is a veteran and facing criminal charges, contact Castillo Law PLLC today at 480-206-5204. We are available 24/7, and we would be happy to take your call.

1 – The ASU Center for Applied Behavioral Health Policy completed a study on veterans courts which can be found here.