Governor Brown Vetos 'Veteran Court' Bill

Bill AB 201 (Butler) 'Veterans courts' was vetoed by Governor Brown Friday with the explanation that the courts are experiencing "painful budgets cuts" and that the expectation of creating a new program would be an additional financial burden and would be "better left to the sound discretion of the judiciary."

In California, several Superior Courts have created a special court for combat veterans, called Veterans Court. Through this process, Veterans who have suffered from experiences many of us will never see in our lifetime are not only shown the support they deserve, but taxpayers are indirectly benefiting from the lower overall costs, with some previous veterans court models showing a $2,300 per person per year savings.



The following goals are the goals of the Orange County veterans court.

• Cooperative, therapeutic treatment strategy for veterans in the criminal justice system who suffer from post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), psychological or substance abuse problems, as a result of having served in a combat theater.

• The goal and purpose of creating the Veteran's Court is not to incarcerate defendants, but to give them access to the kind of treatment they need, which is often intense, depending on the circumstances they endured while at war.

• Veterans who will benefit from Veterans Court often suffer from addictions, mental illness and traumatic brain injuries. This newly-designed court does not follow the same procedures that Orange County courts follow, as these men and women who experience symptoms of PTSD need to be tried differently, according to their mental and physical condition.

Bill AB 201 follows:

Existing law provides for the diversion of specified criminal offenders in alternate sentencing and treatment programs.
This bill would authorize superior courts to develop and implement veterans courts for eligible veterans of the United States military with the objective of, among other things, creation of a dedicated calendar or a locally developed collaborative court-supervised veterans mental health program or system that leads to the placement of as many mentally ill offenders who are veterans of the United States military, including those with post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury, military sexual trauma, substance abuse, or any mental health problem stemming from military service, in community treatment as is feasible and consistent with public safety. The bill would provide that county participation is voluntary. The bill would declare the intent of the Legislature that, where there are statutory requirements for certain education or counseling programs to be included in the terms of probation, the components of those counseling terms would be required to be incorporated into the treatment programs that are designed to treat the underlying psychological disorders rather than requiring them in lieu of the psychological treatments.