About Veterans Treatment Court


Mission

The Hamilton County Veterans Treatment Court will serve those who willingly sacrificed for our country & find themselves involved in the criminal justice system by providing needed treatment & services under judicial supervision in order to restore the veteran to their honored status within our community.


Goals

  1. Improve Public Safety
  2. Reduce Criminal Recidivism
  3. Improve Quality of Veterans’ Lives
  4. Connect Veterans with Available Services
  5. Reduce Costs to Hamilton County Tax Payers

What does participation in the program entail?

  • Track 1 (General Sessions) is a minimum of 12 months; it consists of four (4) Phases.
  • Track 2 (Criminal Court) is a minimum of 18 months; it consists of five (5) Phases.
    Participants are required to attend VTC Court sessions weekly, meet with Case Management and Probation as directed, complete random urine screens at least twice per month, establish care with the VA and develop an individualized treatment plan. Program requirements decrease as the participant progress through phases.
    (Learn more in the Participant Handbook)

    Participant Handbook (PDF)


History of the Hamilton County VTC

Hamilton County, Tennessee, is home to over 22,000 veterans—an important and valued part of our community. Recognizing the unique challenges some justice-involved veterans face, local leaders began exploring specialized court programs aimed at supporting veterans in the justice system.

The first Veterans Treatment Court (VTC) was established in 2008 by Judge Robert Russell, an associate judge in Buffalo, New York. Judge Russell was conducting a hearing, when an individual was standing before him who appeared withdrawn, would not make eye contact, and barely spoke. Judge Russell identified the individual as a veteran of the armed services. He stopped the hearing and asked a couple of court employees who he knew had also served in the military to take the individual out of the court room and talk with him. When the individual returned to court he stood at the podium, looked Judge Russell in the eye and stated, “I will try harder to work on my problems”. Judge Russell noted the impact the fellow veterans had on the individual and used that encounter to launch what is known as the Veterans Treatment Court (VTC).

Today, there are over 600+ VTCs operating in the United States and Guam. Hamilton County is the 13th VTC in the State of Tennessee.

Interest in establishing a VTC in Hamilton County began as early as 2015, when General Sessions Court Judge Gary Starnes started gathering information on existing programs. In subsequent years, Anna Protono-Biggs, then serving as Mental Health Court Director, expressed interest in adding a VTC track and convened a steering committee to explore the idea.

By 2018, Judge Starnes and Assistant Public Defender Boyd Patterson had joined the steering committee. Although the project was put on hold in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, efforts to connect justice-involved veterans with services continued from 2020 to 2022 through the work of Boyd Patterson and Mentor Coordinators Chris Dooley and Alan Syler.

In September 2022, following his election as Criminal Court Judge, Boyd Patterson began reassembling a broader team. The District Attorney’s Office, Public Defender’s Office, Sheriff’s Office, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, CADAS, McNabb, probation services, and Judge Starnes all recommitted to the initiative. Judge Starnes played a pivotal role in designing the overall program structure, and handbook, incorporating national best practices to establish Track 1 and Track 2.

In 2024, the reestablished team successfully completed AllRise’s VTC Foundational training. That same year, Mayor Weston Wamp approved the addition of a dedicated VTC Case Manager to the county budget. The Hamilton County Veterans Treatment Court officially launched in December 2024 and accepted its first participant.