The Douglas County Veterans Treatment Court is continuing to help area veterans as it reached its third anniversary last Sunday.

There are the 15 graduates so far, plus 35 former service members currently participating. Then there are their loved ones – children, spouses, siblings and other family members and friends – who have more stability in their lives as a result of the court’s assistance.

The veterans being helped by the court have all pleaded guilty to committing felonies. Most have spent years digging themselves deeper and deeper into a hole, often spending time in jail or living on the streets, before taking responsibility and seeking help.

“We try to take the shovel away,” said Mick Wagoner, an attorney and founder of the Veterans Legal Support Network. “They have to hit rock bottom first themselves. They have to realize it.”

The Veterans Legal Support Network does exactly what their name would suggest: It provides criminal and civil legal support to all veterans who need assistance navigating the legal system.

Many of those veterans are part of the roughly 10% whose discharge papers have a designation less than honorable. The Veterans Legal Support Network helps individuals seek upgrades in their discharge papers so they can qualify to receive benefits they need.

The network also helps veterans in legal trouble in other ways, working alongside the Douglas County Veterans Treatment Court and meeting with inmates serving time in the veterans housing unit at Douglas County Corrections.

The Veterans Treatment Court is a problem-solving court tailored to support veterans. The court’s goal is to resolve felony charges involving veterans by having them plead guilty to all charges and begin an intensive rehabilitation program.

Sometimes, the court team hears misconceptions that it’s a “happy court,” offering an easy path to avoid serious sentences, said Bill Harry, an attorney with the Douglas County Public Defender’s Office and the defense counsel for the veterans court.

“These guys work. These gals work,” Harry said. “It’s 18 to 24 months. You can’t fake it for 18 to 24 months.”

While this path works and has helped people, it’s certainly not easy – not even to qualify before treatment begins.

Applications from veterans are required and the program is not for everyone, such as those with misdemeanors. The court team looks for people with the motivation to turn around their lives, and who often have addiction and other barriers to overcome.

The Veterans Treatment Court aims to serve the high risk, high need population of veterans, who often have felonies and likely to re-offend. To their credit, “the 15 graduates have had zero recidivism,” said Wagoner as he literally knocked on wood during an interview. The graduation ceremonies restore the honor of the program participants, letting them know they’ve found redemption.

Some of these are as tough of circumstances one can imagine.

“We have a guy who had a 20-year heroin habit who, if he had gone through the regular courts with his other issues, he probably would have spent the rest of his life in prison,” Harry said. “We had a woman who had no relationship with any of her family for 15-plus years, and now she’s reintegrated back – she’s being a grandma.”

These successes can be attributed to the veterans and their diligence to be better, but also to the Veterans Treatment Court team, which is made up of more than a dozen professionals, including Wagoner, Harry and Deputy County Attorney Jeff Lux, who serves as prosecutor.

Other team members include two district court judges, a probation coordinator, two probation officers, a mentor, a coordinator and a psychologist from Lutheran Family Services. The group hopes to add a court graduate as it continues, as well as look for other potential partnerships.

“We try not to be static,” said Wagoner of the ever-evolving team.

Lux said the program has support and buy-in from all levels, from the Nebraska Legislature and the judiciary to individual attorneys, corrections officials and others at the local level.

The program is always seeking mentors for veterans court participants. Anyone with a history of military service can contact Shari Petersen at 402-444-7638 to volunteer.

In addition, veterans receiving treatment often face other legal hurdles, Wagoner said, which is like filing a backpack with bricks that weigh them down as they strive to reach their destination.

Family law, consumer law and other attorneys could offer support through pro bono work to assist those veterans, he said. Any attorney who wants to help should contact Wagoner at 402-765-8387 or mickw@vlsn.org. 

“It just takes one more brick out of their pack,” Wagoner said.

The court also has its own nonprofit group, which can accept donations from individuals or interested groups, companies and organizations. To give to the Omaha Metropolitan Veterans Treatment Court Foundation, contact Wagoner or another member of the court team.

Lux, a former judge advocate general for the U.S. Army Reserve, said the Douglas County Veterans Treatment Court has gone a long way to helping veterans become productive citizens instead of contributing to the overpopulation of county and state correction facilities, but the potential exists to expand its reach further as the court continues to develop.

“From my perspective as a prosecutor, I get to look at cases differently,” Lux said. “It reminds me of being a JAG again – of when I was in the military – helping the soldiers and service people out. I get to do that again.”