Maryland getting Veterans' Court

State’s first veterans’ court may launch in Prince George’s
Officials hope to help former service members suffering from combat-related mental illnesses
Maryland Community News
By Sophie Petit Staff Writer
November 8, 2013

With the state’s largest population of veterans, Prince George’s County is being eyed as the future site for Maryland’s first veterans’ court, state officials said.

“I was in combat, and it’s very difficult coming back and going through the regular daily routine,” said state Sen. Douglas J.J. Peters (D-Dist. 23) of Bowie, who served during Operation Desert Storm in the early 1990s and is chairman of the special veterans task force that recommended the court. “A lot of these young people have post-traumatic stress disorder, which is basically combat stress.”

Veterans suffering from PTSD and other combat-related mental illnesses are more likely to commit crimes, Peters said, but instead of time behind bars, they need rehabilitation and mentoring services to get their lives back on track.

With the support of Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown (D), also a veteran, Peters said officials hope to open the court by 2015 and want to start the program in Prince George’s.

“Our veterans deserve our full support as they work to transition back into civilian life,” Brown said in a Nov. 8 statement.

Maryland is home to 443,076 veterans, with 62,744 living in Prince George’s — the most in the state, according to U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs data.

The task force released its final report recommending the court on Nov. 7. The next step is getting approval from the Office of Problem-Solving Courts in Annapolis, which oversees the county’s drug court, a similar system to veterans’ court.
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