'Honor restored:' Henrico launches its first veterans' docket, targeting vets with substance use and mental health challenges

At the Henrico General District Courthouse, Judge Nicole Fox overlooks the first defendant on the docket, a man charged with his second DWI offense. 

In a typical courtroom, the defendant would stand before the judge alone, or maybe alongside their attorney. But Fox allows her defendant to approach the bench with his wife next to him, and even asks him questions about himself: "How many children do you have? What about grandchildren? Can I see photos of your grandchildren?"

Unlike any other court, this docket allows defendants to be surrounded by their family and their mentors when standing before the judge. Rather than just punishment, the docket has another priority – restoring the badge of honor the defendants once had. And that starts with acknowledging the family members involved in the process, Fox said.

“There is not a thing you will do through this docket that you will do alone,” she said. “What you are doing today, coming into this docket, was a difficult move. The fact that you are making this commitment today is telling me that you’re willing to do the difficult step, and when you walk out that door, you’re one step closer to conquering what you might have presumed as impossible.”

This is the inaugural veterans' docket in Henrico, launched by the county in July with two defendants.

For the next 13 to 18 months, the participants will undergo mental health and substance abuse treatment while meeting several strict requirements, including drug testing twice a week, attending court twice a month, meeting with a probation officer every week, and staying clean of any drugs or alcohol.

But participating in the docket also comes with incentives; after completing the program, many defendants will have their sentences reduced, the offense level of their charges reduced, or may even have a charge dismissed. 

There are about 50 justice-involved veterans in Henrico, with some veterans in jail and some veterans out of jail but facing charges at a Henrico court. The county’s goal is to get as many local justice-involved veterans as possible to join the docket, according to Henrico Deputy Commonwealth's Attorney Michael Jagels.

However, defendants with more serious charges, such as homicide, sex offenses, or other violent crimes, would not be an appropriate match for the docket, Jagels said, because of the docket’s emphasis on counseling and community service, which require defendants to be out in the community. On the other end of the spectrum, defendants with a lower level, incidental or one-time crime would also not be ideal candidates because of the program’s intensity.

The docket aims to target “high-risk” veterans with more “serious needs,” such as veterans who have charges related to substance abuse or mental health struggles, said attorney Sean Breit-Rupe, the docket’s mentor coordinator.

“We’re talking about people that have serious needs. It may stem from their veteran background, it may not,” said Breit-Rupe. “Either way, the idea is that this person has been willing to sign on the dotted line and sacrifice themselves for the country. And therefore, they earn the right to have a second chance at finding a way to restore themselves into the community and restore the honor that they once had.”

'We want to get them back on track'

As a result of their service, or due to other life experiences, some veterans will deal with lifelong mental health issues, said Breit-Rupe, who is a veteran himself. In recent years, about one-third of veterans across the country reported struggles with mental illness, such as post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, or substance abuse, and less than half received mental health screening or treatment. 

“You see people that have had their life gone off the rails. And these are people with families, young kids, and you see them kind of lose their way and fall into hopelessness,” Breit-Rupe said. “There’s the shame of, you had honor at one point, now you don’t anymore. And we want to get them back on track, give them that turnaround so that they are no longer going to be involved in the justice system.”

"You were once part of a community that brought you honor in your life. You can be part of that community again."
– Sean Breit-Rupe,
Henrico veterans' docket mentor coordinator

The docket aims to treat the root of the problem, not just the symptoms, Breit-Rupe said, and that means including the perspectives of “all parties” in the justice system. The veterans' docket includes a treatment coordinator and mental health professionals, but also representatives from the Henrico Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office, Henrico Sheriff’s Office, Henrico Police, the Community Corrections Program, and both state and federal Veterans Affairs representatives.

“What the police officer sees when he encounters these veterans is going to be different than what staff see at the jail, or what attorneys from the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office see,” Breit-Rupe said. “And if you don’t have buy-in from mental health professionals and the defense attorneys, you never get to complete the puzzle.”

One of the most important parts of the docket – and something that is unique to veterans court – is the veteran mentorship program. Once defendants join the docket, they are assigned a mentor, who is also a fellow veteran, that they will meet with each week for the entirety of the program. 

But more than just a weekly requirement to check off, Breit-Rupe says he hopes each mentor will be someone the veterans can lean on for support, and relationships that will last after the docket ends.

“This person is there to remind them, ‘Hey, you were once part of a community that brought you honor in your life. You can be part of that community again, both in Henrico and amongst your veteran community,’” he said. “They can contact this person 24/7 and be able to voice what’s going on. But also build that relationship, even if it’s just going golfing or fishing together.”

Cutting off 'generational trauma'

Since the Virginia Supreme Court first authorized the creation of veterans' dockets in the state in 2019, several have been formed in counties such as Prince William, Rappahannock, Spotsylvania, and Chesterfield – the first county in the Richmon-area.

However, proposed federal cuts to the Department of Veterans Affairs, including eliminating thousands of VA employees and billions from the VA’s direct medical care budget, may impede the work of Henrico’s veterans' docket, although future impacts are still unknown, said Henrico Commonwealth’s Attorney Shannon Taylor.

“We are talking about budget cuts that come from the federal government that are impacting our veteran services and what does that mean,” Taylor said. “Hopefully it’s not going to interrupt what we’ve got going on here, but we do know that our veterans are being impacted by some of the budget cuts that have been implemented and are being proposed.”

In a year or so, Henrico will likely see some of the positive impacts of the docket, Breit-Rupe said, with individuals getting the treatment they need to turn their life around. 

But the long-term impacts – how one person’s treatment will affect their family, their children, and the generations after – will be less visible, he said, because the impact will be shown through the people who will never have to show up at the courthouse, or go through the justice system, in the years to come.

“We want to see people’s lives changed and saved. And you’re not only saving the life of one person, but in theory, that life had an impact on kids and families and friends in the community,” Breit-Rupe said. “And I’ve seen it happen in the other dockets – you cut off the generational trauma that doesn’t get passed down.”

Liana Hardy is the Citizen’s government and education reporter. Support her work and articles like this one by making a contribution to the Citizen.