By Rose L. Thayer
Next month Bell County will become the 20th county in Texas to offer a specialty court for veterans.
Unanimously approved by the Bell County Commissioners Court on Tuesday, the veterans court will serve as a pretrial diversion program for veterans who are accused of committing primarily nonviolent misdemeanor offenses and suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder or traumatic brain injury, according to information presented Tuesday by Todd Jermstad, director of Bell County’s Community Supervision and Corrections Department.
With veterans counting for about 13 percent of Bell County’s population, it’s time for this to happen, said Maureen Jouett, executive director of Bring Everyone in the Zone, a nonprofit that offers peer-to-peer counseling to veterans. The organization will provide this service to the court.
“It’s not to give them an easy out,” she said. “It’s very structured. They have to comply with all
the court’s program. … Instead of penance, it’s a treatment plan.”
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