When Matt Stiner joined the Marine Corps in 2000, he intended to follow family tradition and make military service his career.
Instead, he is making a career out of helping veterans.
Stiner, in charge of veterans affairs for Tulsa Mayor Kathy Taylor, has helped create one of the first courts in the nation specifically for veterans.
The Tulsa County Veterans Treatment Court is intended to help people whose problems seem tied to military service. In October alone, 158 veterans were arrested in Tulsa County on drug and alcohol offenses.
The idea is modeled on special drug courts, which have long been effective in handling cases of substance abusers, giving them a chance to participate in programs to end the addictions causing their legal problems.
In early 2008, the city of Buffalo, N.Y., started holding sessions in what is recognized as the nation's first Veterans Treatment Court.
The veterans court in Oklahoma, which began in December, is a specialized docket within the Tulsa County Drug Court. Treatment, counseling and other veterans-related services are coordinated by a network of organizations.
Special Judge Sarah Smith calls it her favorite court and not just because the defendants still know how to stand at attention when she enters the courtroom.
"I feel very strongly about the men and women who are willing to give their lives for us," she said. "When they find themselves in circumstances where they are here in the criminal justice system, it gives me a chance to give them their dignity back and help them get some treatment and back on their feet instead of sending them to prison."
District Attorney Tim Harris' office determines who is eligible for the court. According to state law, only those with a nonviolent felony arrest can participate.
One of the first orders of business at a recent hearing was to recognize a program participant, Army veteran Henry Ward, who had just secured a job as a telemarketer. Ward, who will soon turn 60, became addicted to hashish combined with other drugs in the early 1970s.
He ended up hooked on crack, and even hocked his prized saxophone to pay for his drug addiction.
"Oh, man, you wouldn't believe the resources here," said Ward, who was unemployed when he signed up for the Tulsa veterans court.
The Veterans Administration in Muskogee has assigned volunteer service officers _ veterans themselves who understand what is going on in the minds of returning soldiers.
Ward's service officer helped him pay his rent and utilities until he found a job, and the service officer helped him retrieve his saxophone.
Ward recently played the instrument for a drug court graduation.
Clients in veterans court undergo substance abuse tests as often as three times a week. They get counseling, treatment and weekly help from veterans service officers.
One out of six veterans will likely have a substance abuse disorder, according to a 2008 National Survey of Drug Use and Health. Rose Ewing, the Tulsa judge's assistant, said Oklahoma is getting a head start because soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan will need these services.
"If you come back and see us in 18 months, I think the age will have trended down," she said. "Some of these Afghanistan and Iraq soldiers are just getting back; some are still serving."
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