Senator Jeff Howe (R-Rockville) yesterday presented a bill in the Senate Judiciary Committee that offers a technical fix to the successful Veterans Restorative Justice Act (VRJA), which passed in 2021. 

The VRJA aims to divert at-risk veterans towards probation and social service programs instead of jail time when they commit certain less-severe crimes, and provides incentives for sentencing courts to create positive outcomes for veterans suffering from service-connected trauma and/or mental health conditions, such as post-traumatic stress disorder. Though veterans courts have reporting requirements, the original bill did not include any similar requirements.

To better understand outcomes for veterans in the judicial system, this bill creates this reporting requirement as a way to ensure the program is working as intended.

“The Veterans Restorative Justice Act is an important resource for veterans, and we want to ensure we are providing them with the best services possible,” said Howe. “This bill makes a simple change that requires data to be collected during sentencing of military veterans. Veterans courts already have these reporting requirements, and this change simply ensures we are collecting the same data with the VRJA. This is a critical tool to help ensure that the VJRA is serving Veterans in the best ways possible.”

The bill was laid over.