A new Denton County program gives criminal courts the ability to give deference to veterans who have committed criminal offenses and suffer from certain disabilities caused by their military service.

If eligible for the program, a veteran may be given a sentence that doesn’t involve jail time, such as community supervision, probation and fines. Those in the program must meet criteria set by the court or they will be disqualified from the program and sent through the standard court system.

County commissioners approved the program this month.

“It’s a good thing because it’s more important for a veteran who is mentally unstable to get help than it is to put them in jail,” said Roger Cortez, veterans service officer with Denton County.

The state Legislature created the program during its last session and the program went into effect Sept. 1.

Cortez said a veteran would be eligible for the program if his or her criminal behavior occurred because of a brain injury, mental illness, mental disorder or post-traumatic stress disorder that occurred while the person was in military service in a combat zone or a hazardous-duty area.

Mitch Lyles, director of adult probation for Denton County, said a positive outcome of this program would be to bring awareness of services available for veterans.

“We’re all getting educated on the services, and we can make sure they are referred to the proper resources,” he said.

The program is not going to be a free pass for men and women accused of crimes just because they have a military background, Lyles said.

“Not at all. If they don’t comply with the specific orders they have for treatment, then they go through the system. They lose the privilege of having those charges dropped,” he said. “There is a big hammer if they don’t comply with what they are supposed to.”

The program has been bandied about for the last couple of months with Judge Joe Crouch taking the lead on how it would be implemented in Denton County, Lyles said. Included in talks were representatives from the veterans services office and district attorney’s office.

Tom Whitlock, chief of the felony trial division of the district attorney’s office, said he thinks the program is “workable.”

“It’s one of those things to keep veterans out of the courtroom and keep into account their background and what they have been through and see if we can help them out,” Whitlock said.

While he supports the program, Whitlock does have a few questions about it going forward.

Among them are how to determine if veterans were in a combat zone or similar situation, how to deal with economic issues and how law enforcement and prosecutors would keep up with those in the program, he said.

All the courts in the county have been open to having this program, which can help now and in the future, Lyles said.

“We’re probably going to need more and more of this as time goes on,” he said.

BJ LEWIS can be reached at 940-566-6875. His e-mail address is blewis@dentonrc.com .