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Military & Veterans affairs Committee
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he considers a key component of the VTC ’ s success . He believes changes would disrupt the relationships with local services , impact the rate of volunteering by Veteran Mentors , and “ will significantly degrade — if not nullify — this program .” VTC Judges have called Veteran Mentors “ the Secret Sauce ” of the VTC ’ s success and Col . Reyes insists that “ a significantly degraded , or worse , a non-existent Veteran Mentor component , reduces the VTC to basically another Drug Court or Mental Health Court .”
Two key parties in the success and accessibility of the program are the Thirteenth Circuit State Attorney and Public Defender ’ s Offices . Public Defender Julianne Holt believes consolidation is “ inefficient on its face .” At VTC ’ s founding , “ all defense counsel cheered ” she remembers , because “ finally , the collateral and long-term effects of their service were being acknowledged .” She remains concerned about how changes could materially impact the VTC ’ s efforts , “ with proper care and intervention their lives could be held together , recreated , and full of purpose . That is our obligation as the caretakers of our veterans and their families .”
According to State Attorney Suzy Lopez , “ The VTC offers our military heroes a second chance as we collaboratively address the underlying issues that led them into the criminal justice system in the first place .” She is dedicated to the continued success of the program , “ I will always fight for more resources for this specialized court and believe that any consolidation plan that diminishes this valuable program is a bad idea .” Regardless of the outcome of the investigation , she maintains that “ whether a consolidation moves forward or not should have no material impact on the services the court system makes available to our veterans .”
After public input , the Committee seems unlikely to recommend consolidation . It will be interesting to see how the Supreme Court and Legislature respond . n
MVAC Hosts Veterans Day Luncheon
thehcBaMilitary & veteransaffairscommitteeshostedagreat veteransDayLuncheononnovember9atthefergusonLawcenter . weappreciateourspeakercol . ericwidmar , StaffJudgeadvocate withu . S . centralcommand , forhisinspirationalremarksabout courageousandethicalleadershipintheseturbulenttimes .
Author : PatrickJ . Murphy – Lorenzo & Lorenzo , P . A .
J a n - F e b 2 0 2 4 | H C b a L a W Y e R
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