To be eligible for Veterans Court, you must be 18 years old, be charged with an eligible probationable offense, have been assessed as having a behavioral health diagnosis, be willing to voluntarily sign the Consent to Participate, be willing to comply with all treatment and probation supervision requirements, be willing to take medications as prescribed, and have been staffed by and approved for enrollment by the entire Veterans Court Team. Certain offenses are specifically excluded from eligibility in Veterans Court. Those exclusions include the following crimes if committed within the past 5 years or are the current charges: first degree murder; second degree murder; predatory criminal sexual assault of a child; aggravated criminal sexual assault; criminal sexual assault; armed robbery; aggravated arson; arson; aggravated kidnapping; kidnapping; aggravated battery resulting in great bodily harm or permanent disability; stalking; aggravated stalking; any offense involving the discharge of a firearm or where serious bodily injury or death occurred to any person; aggravated domestic battery resulting in great bodily harm or permanent disability, aggravated criminal sexual abuse by a person in a position of trust or authority over a child, home invasion, aggravated vehicular hijacking and aggravated driving under the influence that resulted in the death of another person or when the violation was a proximate cause of the death, unless the court determines that extraordinary circumstances exist. Defendants currently charged with those offenses or any offense that is non-probationable where the prosecutor is unwilling to amend to a probationable offense are also excluded from eligibility.
Veterans Court operates without discrimination on the basis of gender, race nationality, ethnicity, limited English proficiency, disability, socio-economic status or sexual orientation. If you have any language needs or other need requirements should be directed to the Court Coordinator.
Anyone can make a referral to Veterans Court by submitting a completed Referral Form to the Court Coordinator. This form is available in the Trial Court Administration office at Suite 215 of the Winnebago County Courthouse or on-line at www.illinois17th.com. When your referral was received, the Court Coordinator screened it to make sure no exclusions applied and sent it to the VJO to schedule the clinical assessment appointment with you. At your appointment, you signed a release of information to the Veterans Court Team to allow the information from the assessment to be shared with and discussed by the Veterans Court Team. The Probation Department also conducted the Adult Risk Assessment with you. Following the completion of these assessments, the Veterans Court Team reviewed and discussed all of the information at a Veterans Court Team staffing and determined that you met the eligibility criteria for