Jeremy, introduced by a committee member as a representative of the Dwyer peer program, briefed the Health & Human Services Committee on peer-support work with veterans and urged the county to consider establishing a veterans justice court similar to programs in Warren County and Buffalo.

"I would like to see us do the same thing in Washington County," Jeremy said, describing peer programming, sporting and social activities that help veterans connect to services and to each other. He told the committee the Dwyer program can provide mentors and noted the VA has assigned a justice liaison (named in the discussion as Alyssa Gibbon) who can participate in court-related work.

Supervisors asked about when a veteran would be referred to such a court, whether it is voluntary and the types of cases that qualify. Committee members were told that in Warren County the program typically focuses on felony-level, nonviolent cases and is voluntary; Jeremy noted some jurisdictions have expanded eligibility to misdemeanors but that the process can become arduous.

One supervisor raised legal concerns, noting earlier challenges to specialized court tracks, and asked whether ACLU-style litigation was a risk. A respondent said Buffalo’s model and the associated training are designed to be legally defensible; "they try to keep it airtight so as to avoid those types of challenges," one speaker said.

Members also discussed resourcing. Jeremy said federal and state grants can offset start-up and training costs and offered to provide Warren County’s documentation and rough cost figures for the committee to review. "I can gather all the materials, especially when it comes to cost," he said, and the committee encouraged getting that information and reviewing pertinent Washington County budget lines.

The committee did not vote on creating a veterans court at this meeting; members instructed staff to gather more detailed materials, cost estimates and examples from Warren County and to explore feasibility with the district attorney and the judiciary.

Next steps described on the record include obtaining Warren County’s program documents and a potential outreach plan to judges and the public defender’s office so the county can weigh operational and legal trade-offs before deciding whether to pursue a veterans justice court.