The History of Veterans Treatment Court

The first Veterans Treatment Court program was established in 2008 in Buffalo, New York, by Judge Robert T. Russell, Jr. 

Judge Russell recognized that veterans who served in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars developed serious mental health issues and were ending up in criminal courts, "charged with offenses tied, in one way of another, with those service-connected issues." Russell, Honorable Robert T. (2015).   Veteran Treatment Courts, Touro Law Review: Vol. 31: No. 3, Article 8.

Veterans Treatment Court evolved from Judge Russell's observation that veterans "derive from a unique culture and have unique experiences and needs that are not being met." Id.