Expansion and Enhancement of VTCs in across the state of Kansas

The Kansas judicial branch is dedicated to its mission of resolving disputes and protecting individual rights by ensuring equal, fair, and timely justice under the rule of law for all people of Kansas. With this mission in mind, the Supreme Court adopted Rule 191 forming the Specialty Court Committee and tasked it with making recommendations to the Court regarding the development and administration of specialty courts across the state of Kansas, including Veterans Treatment Courts (VTCs).

There are currently 30 specialty courts in Kansas, including five VTCs. These courts are specialized dockets that utilize therapeutic or problem-solving procedures to address underlying factors that may contribute to a party’s involvement in the criminal justice system, such as mental illness or drug, alcohol, or other substance use disorders. Kansas specialty courts are operated by judicial branch judges and personnel.

The Kansas judicial branch seeks this grant to establish an additional VTC, enhance and sustain programming already occurring in existing VTCs, and expand the technical assistance provided by the Kansas Office of Judicial Administration by conduction program and policy evaluations over the course of the grant period. During the lifetime of the grant, the Kansas judiciary’s VTC Team will further define their roles and responsibilities, attend educational trainings, fine tune the states VTC model and the VTC policies and procedures manual, as well as collaborate to better serve court users through specialty courts.